Araneomorphae

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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Spiders, suborder Araneomorphae | image = JumpingSpiderOnKnucklesRampant.JPG | image_width = 200px | image_caption = Platycryptus undatus, a jumping spider | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Arthropoda | classis = Arachnida | ordo = Araneae | subordo = Araneomorph | subdivision_ranks = Families | subdivision =     Agelenidae (araneomorph funnel-web spider)
    Amaurobiidae (tangled nest spider)
    Anyphaenidae (anyphaenid sac spider)
    Araneidae (orb-weaver spider)
    Caponiidae (two-eyed spider)
    Clubionidae (sac spider)
    Corinnidae (corinnid sac spider)
    Ctenidae (wandering spider)
    Cybaeidae (water spider)
    Deinopidae (ogre-faced spider)
    Desidae (intertidal spider)
    Dictynidae (dictynid spider)
    Diguetidae (coneweb spider)
    Dysderidae (woodlouse hunter spider)
    Eresidae (velvet spider)
    Filistatidae (crevice weaver)
    Gnaphosidae (ground spider)
    Hahniidae (dwarf sheet spider)
    Hersiliiidae (tree trunk spider)
    Hypochilidae (lampshade spider)
    Leptonetidae (leptonetid spider)
    Linyphiidae (bowl and doily and dwarf spiders)
    Liocranidae (liocranid sac spider)
    Lycosidae (wolf spider)
    Mimetidae (pirate spider)
    Miturgidae (long-legged sac spider)
    Nesticidae (scaffold web spider)
    Oecobiidae (wall and six-exit tent spider)
    Oonopidae (oonopid spider)
    Oxyopidae (lynx spider)
    Palpimanidae (palp-footed spider)
    Philodromidae (philodromid crab spider)
    Pholcidae (daddy long-legs spider)
    Pisauridae (nursery web spider)
    Plectreuridae (plectreurid spider)
    Salticidae (jumping spider)
    Scytodidae (spitting spider)
    Segestriidae (tube-dwelling spider)
    Selenopidae (wall crab spider)
    Sicariidae (recluse spider)
    Sparassidae (Huntsman spider)
    Tengellidae (tengellid spider)
    Tetragnathidae (long jawed spider)
    Theridiidae (tangle web spider)
    Thomisidae (crab spider)
    Titanoecidae (titanoecid spider)
    Uloboridae (hackled orb-weaver)
    Zodariidae (zodariid ground spider)
    Zorocratidae (zorocratid spider)
    Zoropsidae (zoropsid spider)
}}

The Araneomorphae, (previously called the Labidognatha), are a suborder of spiders. They are distinguished by having chelicerae that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (tarantulas and their close kin), where they point straight down. Most of the spiders that people encounter in daily life belong to this suborder.

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Distinguishing characteristics

Note the difference in the orientations of the chelicerae (fangs) of the two spiders below, representatives of the Orthognatha and the Araneomorphae.

Image:Wolf spider attack position.jpg This Burrowing Wolf spider, Geolycosa sp., is also making a threat display, and with a little care you can see how the fangs slope toward each other. This alignment of the chelicerae is typical of the Araneomorphae. (Click here to see a closeup of the Geolycosa sp. which has been digitally enhanced to make the business end of the chelicerae more easily seen.)

Image:Sphodros rufines.JPG This Sphodros rufipes is making a threat display, and by so doing shows very clearly the orientation of its chelicerae, which go up and down, parallel to the long axis of the spider's body. So it stands as a representative of the suborder Orthognatha (Mygalomorphae) and not Araneomorphae.

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Spiders included

Almost all of the familiar spiders are included in this group. The major exception is constituted by the Tarantulas, which have now become so common as pets that many people have seen them. There are a few other members of Mygalomorphae that one might see around homes or gardens, but they typically are relatively small and not easily noticed. For instance, the females of one such species lives and hunts from within a long silken tube, so unless one opens the tube or chances upon a male looking for a mate they will never be seen. The Araneomorphae, to the contrary, include the weavers of spiral webs, the cobweb spiders that live in the corners of our rooms and between windows and screen windows, the crab spiders that lurk right on the surface of the flowers in our gardens, the jumping spiders that look back at us curiously from walls and tree trunks, the wolf spiders that sometimes carpet good hunting spots in a sunny spot in the lawn, the large Huntsman spiders that sometimes frighten people by getting into their cars or taking up residence behind wall clocks.

Here is a brief gallery of Araneomorphae that one might see on any day in the summer:

Spider web early in the morning	Micrommata virescens	Agelena labyrinthica	Araniella cucurbitina
Florinda coccinea (Blacktailed Red Sheetweaver)	Philodromus sp.	Pisaura mirabilis?	Phidippus audax