Selenopidae
| Wall spiders Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Female Selenops ansieae | |
| Female Anyphops lucia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Selenopidae Simon, 1897 |
| Diversity | |
| 9 genera, 282 species | |
| blue: reported countries (WSC) green: observation hotspots (iNaturalist) | |
Selenopidae, also called wall crab spiders, wall spiders and flatties, is a family of nocturnal, free-ranging, araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1897. It contains over 281 species in nine genera, of which Selenops is the most well-known.
This family is just one of several families whose English name includes the phrase "crab spider". These spiders are often called "Flatties" due to their flattened dorsal profile. The Afrikaans name for these spiders is "Muurspinnekop," which translates directly to "wall spider." The name Selenopidae comes from the greek moon goddess, Selene, as their eyes resemble the moon.