Tube-dwelling spider

Not to be confused with Arbanitis robertsi.

Tube-dwelling spiders (Segestriidae) are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1893.^[1] It consists of five genera: two large and widespread, Segestria and Ariadna, and three smaller genera, Citharoceps, Gippsicola and Indoseges.^[2] They are haplogyne spiders, related to the Dysderidae and placed in clade or superfamily Dysderoidea.

Tube-dwelling spiders Temporal range: Eocene–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Segestria florentina
Ariadna bilineata from South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Segestriidae Simon, 1893
Diversity
5 genera, 160 species

Distribution

Both Segestria and Ariadna live in North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa and New Zealand, though Ariadna also lives in Australia.^[2]

Description

Members of this family are easily recognized because their first three pairs of legs are arranged forward instead of two and they have six eyes instead of eight, arranged in a semicircle.^[1] The leg structure appears to be an adaptation for living in silken tubes. Unlike those of the atypical tarantulas, these tubes may branch and are often built in tree bark fissures, as well as under stones.

Genera

Main article: List of Segestriidae species

• 
  male Ariadna corticola
• 
  Gippsicola robusta
• 
  male Segestria bavarica

As of October 2025^[update], this family includes five genera:^[2]

• Ariadna Audouin, 1826 – Africa, Asia, Europe, North to South America, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand
• Citharoceps Chamberlin, 1924 – Mexico, United States
• Gippsicola Hogg, 1900 – Australia
• Indoseges Siliwal, Das, Choudhury & Giroti, 2021 – India
• Segestria Latreille, 1804 – Madagascar, Asia, Europe, North America, New Zealand, northern Africa. Introduced to St. Helena, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay

Fossil record

The oldest unambiguous members of the family are known from the Eocene Baltic amber.^[3]

Cretaceous taxa Denticulsegestria, Jordansegestria, Jordariadna, Lebansegestria, Microsegestria, Myansegestria, Palaeosegestria and Parvosegestria, originally described as tube-dwelling spiders, might be members of the stem group of Segestriidae or stem dysderoids instead.^[3]

See also

• List of Segestriidae species