White tailed spiders facts for kids
Quick facts for kids white tailed spiders |
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| unidentified lamponid | |
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| Unidentified lamponiid from Castle Hill, Sydney | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Lamponidae Simon, 1893 |
| Diversity | |
| 23 genera, 198 species | |
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Lamponidae is a family of spiders. These spiders were first described by a scientist named Eugène Simon in 1893. There are about 200 different kinds, or species, of Lamponidae spiders. They are grouped into 23 different genera.
Most of these spiders live only in Australia. This means they are endemic to Australia. One group, called Centrocalia, lives only in New Caledonia. Two types of Lampona spiders, L. cylindrata and L. murina, also live in New Zealand. In New Zealand, people often call them "White Tail" spiders. Another spider, Lampona papua, lives only in New Guinea. Two other Australian types, Centrothele mutica and Lamponova wau, can also be found there.
Contents
Spider Families and Groups
Scientists group living things into families and other categories. This helps them understand how different species are related. The Lamponidae family is divided into smaller groups called subfamilies. These subfamilies then contain different genera.
Main Subfamilies
The Lamponidae family has three main subfamilies. Each subfamily contains several different genera of spiders. Most of these spiders are found in Australia.
Centrothelinae Spiders
The Centrothelinae subfamily was named by a scientist called Platnick in 2000. Spiders in this group include:
- Asadipus (found in Australia)
- Bigenditia (found in Australia)
- Centrocalia (found in New Caledonia)
- Centroina (found in Australia)
- Centrothele (found in Australia)
- Centsymplia (found in Australia)
- Graycassis (found in Australia)
- Longepi (found in Australia)
- Notsodipus (found in Australia)
- Prionosternum (found in Australia)
- Queenvic (found in Australia)
Lamponinae Spiders
The Lamponinae subfamily was named by Simon in 1893. This group includes many spiders with names that start with "Lampon":
- Lampona (found in Australia)
- Lamponata (found in Australia)
- Lamponega (found in Australia)
- Lamponella (found in Australia)
- Lamponicta (found in Australia)
- Lamponina (found in Australia)
- Lamponoides (found in Australia)
- Lamponova (found in Australia, also New Zealand)
- Lamponusa (found in Australia)
- Platylampona (found in Australia)
Pseudolamponinae Spiders
The Pseudolamponinae subfamily was also named by Platnick in 2000. This smaller group includes:
- Paralampona (found in Australia)
- Pseudolampona (found in Australia)
See also
- In Spanish: Lamponidae para niños
