Spider taxonomy is the alpha taxonomy of the spiders, members of the Araneae order of the arthropod class Arachnida with about 40,000 described species. However there are likely many species that have escaped the human eye to this day, and many specimens stored in collections waiting to be described and classified. It is estimated that only one third to one fifth of existing species have been described.
Arachnology currently divides spiders into two suborders with about 38 superfamilies, and 111 families. Seven of the 111 families are incertae sedis, meaning that their placement into superfamilies is not agreed upon; several other families are not placed in any superfamily.
Due to constant research, with new species being discovered every month and others being recognized as synonyms, the amount of species in the families is bound to change and can never reflect the present status with total accuracy. Nevertheless, the species numbers given here are useful as a guideline.
See a table of Araneae families at the end of the article with some genera and species listed for each family (only identified species are included).
Read more about Spider Taxonomy: Suborder Mesothelae, Suborder Opisthothelae, Table of Families
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