Araneae (Spiders)

Spiders are one of the largest orders of the class Arachnida, which also includes the scorpions (Scorpiones), pseudo- or bookscorpions (pseudoscorpiones), havestmen (Opiliones), a variety of orders of mites and ticks (Acari).

Spiders can be recognised by a body consisting of two major parts, the cephalothorax (or prosoma) and the abdomen (or opisthosoma). They are the only group of animals with spinnerets at the back of their abdomen and in which males use modified, secondary organs, the pedipalps, to transfer sperm to the female. The morphology of the male pedipalps and the female copulatory organ, the epigyne, are crucial for identification, specifically at the species level.

There are approximately 4,000 species of spiders described from Australia, but this represents probably only about 25% of the total fauna. Framenau (2023) provides a checklist of all described species of Australia (download at the bottom of this page).

Raven and Beard (2022) provide an interactive key to the subfamilies of spiders in Australia.

Actinopodidae are easily recognised from other Mygalomorphae by the widely spaced eyes that cover almost the whole width of the distinctly raised cephalic region. Males of some species have bright red chelicerae and cephalic areas (less distinct in females) and iridescent blue abdomens.

Actinopodidae

45 species

Members of the family Anamidae differ from the Nemesiidae by the well-defined posterior heel on the maxillae, the absence of claw tufts and a serrula and both males and females with two rows of teeth on the paired claws.

Anamidae

23 species

Barychelidae

55 species

Gnaphosidae

1 species

Halonoproctidae

14 species

Idiopidae

6 species

Segestriidae

4 species

Selenopidae

10 species

Symphytognathidae

2 species

Publications

Framenau VW (2026): Checklist of Australian Spiders. Version 1.54 (6 June 2026). Harry Butler Institute, 111 pp.,

Prado A W do, Baptista R L C, Framenau W V (2026): Taxonomic revision of the wolf spider genus Artoria (Araneae, Lycosidae, Artoriinae) from Northern Territory and Queensland, with additions to the fauna of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Megataxa. 19: 379 - 456DOI

Raven RJ, Beard JJ (2022): Key to the spiders subfamilies of Australia. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water & Australian Biological Resources Study, WEB

PDF export is only available with an account and the necessary permissions. Please inquire for access.