| Wandering spiders | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Phoneutria nigriventer | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Ctenidae Keyserling, 1877 |
| Diversity | |
| 49 genera,533 species | |
 | |
Wandering spiders (Ctenidae) are afamily ofspiders that includes theBrazilian wandering spiders. These spiders have a distinctive longitudinal groove on the top-rear of their oval carapace similar to those of theAmaurobiidae.[1] They are highly defensive[2] andvenomous nocturnal hunters. Wandering spiders are known to hunt large prey, for example hylid speciesDendropsophus branneri.[3] Despite their notoriety for being dangerous, only a few members ofPhoneutria have venom known to be hazardous to humans, but the venoms of this family are poorly known,[4] so all larger ctenids should be treated with caution.
As of July 2021[update], theWorld Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:[5]
Authority control databases: National |
|---|