Fam. 33. Ctenidae.—The Ctenidae are Lycosa-like spiders, having in certain points of structure close affinities with the Pisauridae and the Sparassinae of the Thomisidae. The limits of the family are not well defined, and many arachnologists place in it some of the genera allotted above to the Pisauridae, while others do not consider the group sufficiently marked off to constitute a separate family at all. As here understood they are equivalent to the Cteninae of the Clubionidae in Simon’s Histoire naturelle. The eyes are arranged in the Lycosa fashion, but the tarsi have only two terminal claws and well-developed “claw-tufts,” frequently accompanied by a scopula. There are strong, regularly-arranged spines under the tibiae and tarsi.
There are about fifteen genera. Uliodon numbers six species of large hairy spiders in Australia. Ctenus is rich in species, having about sixty, found in all hot countries, but especially in America and Africa. They are also of large size and usually of yellowish coloration, often diversified by a pattern on the abdomen. The fifteen species of Leptoctenus are proper to tropical Asia. Acantheis from South Asia and Enoplectenus from Brazil are more slender, elongate forms, recalling Tetragnatha. Caloctenus includes a number of Pardosa-like spiders found at a high elevation in South America.
The Ctenidae have the habits of the Lycosidae, and are wandering spiders, some forming a burrow in the ground.
Fam. 34. Senoculidae.—The South American genus Senoculus (Labdacus) alone constitutes this family. The species are probably numerous, but ten only have been described. They are moderate-sized spiders, spinning no web, but running with astonishing speed over the leaves and stems of plants. The generic name is really inapplicable, as there are eight eyes, but the anterior laterals are much reduced. The abdomen is long, and the legs are long and unequal, the first pair much the longest and the third much the shortest.
Fam. 35. Oxyopidae.—The Oxyopidae form a well-marked group, with oval cephalothorax somewhat narrowed in front, and lanceolate abdomen. The eight black eyes have a characteristic arrangement, and the anterior medians are always very small. The legs are long and tapering, and not very unequal, and are furnished with particularly long spines, which give these spiders a very characteristic appearance. There are eight genera, of which the most important are Pucetia and Oxyopes.
Pucetia contains a number of rather large spiders, generally bright green, often variegated with red. They affect particular plants. For instance, P. viridis, which occurs in Spain, is always found on Ononis hispanica. There are about thirty species of this genus distributed over the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Oxyopes numbers many species, certainly more than fifty, and has a similar distribution, but some of its members invade colder regions. They are of rather small size. O. lineatus is a very rare spider in the south of England.
The Oxyopidae are diurnal spiders, running over plants in search of prey, and often leaping, after the fashion of members of the following family.
Fam. 36. Attidae (Salticidae).—Wandering spiders with cephalothorax broad anteriorly, and bearing eight homogeneous eyes in three rows. Four eyes, largely developed, are directed forward; the remaining four eyes are placed dorsally in two rows, the first pair being much reduced in size.
The Attidae or Jumping-spiders form the most extensive family of the whole order, the known species amounting to something like four thousand. It is only of late years that their vast numbers have begun to be realised, for their vagabond habits and great activity enabled them to a great extent to elude the earlier collectors, whose methods were not as thorough as those now in vogue. Their real home is in the tropical regions, temperate fauna being comparatively poor in Attid species. France boasts nearly 150, but only 37 are recorded for the British Isles, and 2 at least of these are recent introductions.
Some of the tropical forms are most brilliantly coloured, glowing with vivid colours and metallic hues, and they have frequently excited the admiration of travellers. The coloration is nearly always due to the hairs and scales with which the spiders are clothed, and is, unfortunately, almost incapable of preservation in the collector’s cabinet.