Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 7, 2026

Cybaeidae

Cybaeidae is a family of spiders first described by Nathan Banks in 1892. There are small to large sized entelegyne spiders, which are ecribellate. The diving bell spider or water spider Argyroneta aquatica was previously included in this family, but is now in the family Dictynidae. The distribution of this species resembles closely a typical Holarctic biogeography, with all of their species being found in the northern hemisphere. Where they have a tendency to live beneath rocks or woody debris in shaded and cool forest habitats, but they can also be found in caves, ant nests, and moss on tree trunks. They are morphologically defined as spiders which have three claws, a single row of tarsal trichobothria, and posterior lateral spinnerets which lack a cribellum.

Last revised
Jul 7, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
620 w
Citations
9
Source
Cybaeidae
Temporal range:
Cybaeus charlesi
Dirksia cinctipes in Canada
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Cybaeidae
Banks, 1892
Diversity
24 genera, 303 species

Cybaeidae is a family of spiders first described by Nathan Banks in 1892.1 There are small to large sized entelegyne spiders, which are ecribellate.2 The diving bell spider or water spider Argyroneta aquatica was previously included in this family, but is now in the family Dictynidae.34 The distribution of this species resembles closely a typical Holarctic biogeography, with all of their species being found in the northern hemisphere. Where they have a tendency to live beneath rocks or woody debris in shaded and cool forest habitats, but they can also be found in caves, ant nests, and moss on tree trunks.2 They are morphologically defined as spiders which have three claws, a single row of tarsal trichobothria, and posterior lateral spinnerets which lack a cribellum.2

Most of the cybaeid genera are very species rich, as they have a large number of very short-range endemic species.2

Genera

As of January 2026, this family includes 24 genera and 303 species:5

A fossil genus is also placed in this family:6

  • Vectaraneus Selden, 2003 (Isle of Wight)
References

References

  1. Banks, N. (1892). "A classification of North American spiders". The Canadian Entomologist. 24 (4): 88–97. doi:10.4039/Ent2488-4.
  2. Hedin, Marshal; Ramírez, Martín J.; Monjaraz-Ruedas, Rodrigo (2025-02-06). "Phylogenomics of North American cybaeid spiders (Araneae, Cybaeidae), including the description of new taxa from the Klamath Mountains Geomorphic Province". ZooKeys (1226): 47–75. Bibcode:2025ZooK.1226...47H. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1226.140204. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 11826229. PMID 39959859.
  3. "Taxon details Argyroneta aquatica (Clerck, 1757)", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2020-12-21
  4. Wheeler, Ward C.; Coddington, Jonathan A.; Crowley, Louise M.; Dimitrov, Dimitar; Goloboff, Pablo A.; Griswold, Charles E.; Hormiga, Gustavo; Prendini, Lorenzo; Ramírez, Martín J.; Sierwald, Petra; Almeida-Silva, Lina; Alvarez-Padilla, Fernando; Arnedo, Miquel A.; Benavides Silva, Ligia R.; Benjamin, Suresh P.; Bond, Jason E.; Grismado, Cristian J.; Hasan, Emile; Hedin, Marshal; Izquierdo, Matías A.; Labarque, Facundo M.; Ledford, Joel; Lopardo, Lara; Maddison, Wayne P.; Miller, Jeremy A.; Piacentini, Luis N.; Platnick, Norman I.; Polotow, Daniele; Silva-Dávila, Diana; Scharff, Nikolaj; Szűts, Tamás; Ubick, Darrell; Vink, Cor J.; Wood, Hannah M. & Zhang, Junxia (2016). "The spider tree of life: phylogeny of Araneae based on target-gene analyses from an extensive taxon sampling". Cladistics. 33 (6): 574–616. doi:10.1111/cla.12182. PMID 34724759. S2CID 35535038.
  5. "Family Cybaeidae Banks, 1892". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  6. Selden, Paul A. (July 2001). "Eocene Spiders from the Isle of Wight With Preserved Respiratory Structures" (PDF). Palaeontology. 44 (4): 695–729. Bibcode:2001Palgy..44..695S. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00199.
External links