Kingdom Animalia Class Arachnida Phylum Arthropoda Order Spider | Subphylum Chelicerata Infraorder Araneomorphae Rank Family | |
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Similar Cycloctenidae, Cithaeronidae, Stenochilidae, Austrochilidae, Ochyroceratidae | ||
The Tetrablemmidae are a spider family with 126 described species in 29 genera that occur throughout the world tropics. They are sometimes called armored spiders.
Contents
The family Pacullidae, with the only genus Paculla, has been incorporated into this family in 1981.
Most tetrablemmids have been collected from litter and soil, including soil in epiphytes; some live in caves. Some cave species, but also some soil inhabitants, show typical adaptations of cave spiders, such as loss of eyes and weak sclerotization.
Spiders in the genus Paculla are four to five times larger than other tetrablemmids. The genus Tetrablemma features only four eyes, a trait only shared with most species of the not closely related Caponiidae.
Distribution
Most genera occur in Southeast Asia, only a few in Africa and Central and South America.
Genera
As of October 2015, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following genera:
