Spider terms glossary
1. Abdomen - the second body section
2. Accessory claw - modified setae at the tip of the tarsus in web-building spiders
3. Anal tubercle - a small protuberance above the spinnerets through which the anus opens
4. Annulated - colored with darker banding and frequently referring to banded legs
5. Anterior lateral eyes (ALE) - situated at each end of the front eye row
6. Anterior median eyes (AME) - middle pair of the front eye row
7. Anterior spinnerets - the pair nearest the cephalothorax when looking at the ventral surface of a spider
8. Antivenom - a chemical antidote designed to counteract the effects of specific venom; also called antivenin
9. Apophysis - a process or projection arising from a segment of the pedipalp, which is not readily described as a spine
10. Arachnida - a principal division, or Class, of the air-breathing arthropods, the arachnids, including the scorpions, mites, spiders, harvestmen, etc.
11. Arachnidium - collective term for the spinnerets, and cribellum when present
12. Arachnologist- one who studies the arachnids
13. Araneae - the ordinal name of all spiders
14. Araneology - the branch of zoology that treats only of the spiders
15. Araneomorphs - 'modern' spiders
16. Araneophagous - feeding on spiders
17. Autospasy - casting off a limb
18. Ballooning - a behaviour exhibited by newborn spiders wherein a recently hatched spider spins out some silk, which then catches the wind and carries the immature spider for a distance
19. Book lungs - respiratory organs on the ventral side of the abdomen
20. Boss - a smooth prominence at the base of the chelicerae in some spiders
21. Bristle - a cuticular appendage, which is usually long and thin, more slender than a spine and stouter than a hair
22. Calamistrum - a row of toothed bristles on the metatarsal segment of the last leg, used to comb out cribellate silk
23. Caput - cephalic region
24. Carapace - the hard integument forming the dorsal surface of the cephalothorax
25. Carina - a keel, as occurring on the clypeus or chelicerae of certain spiders
26. Catalepsy - playing dead as a defensive technique in order to escape from predators
27. Cephalothorax - the first body section, head and thorax fused together
28. Cervical groove - a shallow U-shaped groove, separating the cephalic and thoracic regions of the carapace
29. Chelicerae - the front jaws of a spider consisting of a stout basal segment and a terminal fang
30. Cheliceral furrow - a shallow groove at the distal end of basal portion of chelicera
31. Cheliceral tooth - a tooth-like extension on the margin of the cheliceral furrow
32. Chevron - a figure, pattern, or object having the shape of a "V" or an inverted "V"
33. Chilum - a small hardened plate at the base of the chelicerae
34. Clavus - an appendage, usually soft and flexible, lying in the middle line of the epigyne
35. Claw - a short, curved, usually toothed process at the tip of the tarsus of the leg
36. Claw tuft - a dense group of hairs underneath the paired tarsal claws, usually well developed in hunting spiders
37. Clypeus - the area of the carapace between the anterior eyes and the anterior edge of the carapace
38. Colulus - a short protuberance in the middle of the underside of the abdomen in front of the spinnerets
39. Comb - a row of serrated bristles below the fourth tarsi of spiders belonging to the family Theridiidae
40. Conductor - a part of the palpal bulb that accompanies and supports the embolus
41. Condyle - lateral boss at the base of chelicerae
42. Copulatory opening - an opening in the ventral abdomen of female spiders for the purpose of mating
43. Coxa - first leg segment, between body and trochanter
44. Crenulate - with a number of longitudinal ridges
45. Cribellate - provided with a cribellum
46. Cribellum - a flat spinning plate covered with thousands of tiny spigots located in front of spinnerets
47. Cryptozoic - living a concealed life
48. Cusps - short, mostly blunt spines
49. Cuspules - small spiny warts
50. Cymbium - the end part of the tarsus of the pedipalp in a mature male
51. Dentate - toothed
52. Denticle - a small tooth
53. Deutovum - the resting, spiderlike stage following the shedding of the chorion of the egg
54. Dionychous - with two claws on the tarsus of each leg
55. Diurnal - active during the daytime
56. Dorsum - the upper portion or surface of the body
57. Dragline silk - provides the spider's safety line and is also used to make the frame and radial lines of the orb web
58. Ecdysis - the process of casting the skin; moulting
59. Ecribellate - spiders without cribellum
60. Embolus - the final part of the palpal bulb containing the end of the sperm duct
61. Endite - maxilla
62. Entelegyne - a spider whose female has an epigyne and separate ducts leading to spermathecae for sperm storage and to the uterus for fertilization creating a "flow-through" system
63. Envenomation - the introduction of venom into the body of another organism as a defense or feeding mechanism
64. Epigastric furrow - a transverse slit towards the front of underside of the abdomen
65. Epigastric plates - thickened sclerites found on the ventral surface of the abdomen below the book lungs
66. Epigyne - a hardened structure on the underside of the female abdomen in which the copulatory openings are located
67. Exuviae - the parts of cuticle cast off during moulting
68. Eye formula - number of eyes in each row expressed by digits
69. Falces - chelicerae
70. Fang - the final hinged part of the chelicera
71. Fang groove - cheliceral furrow
72. Fasciculi unguiculares - claw tufts
73. Femoral index - a figure used to compare the relative thickness of femora
74. Femur - the third segment of the spider leg between trochanter and tibia
75. Fissidentate - teeth having more than one point
76. Folium - a pattern or design on the abdomen surface
77. Fossa - a depression or cavity in the epigyne
78. Fovea - a depression or pit in the centre of the carapace
79. Genitalia - ectodermal reproductive structures involved in copulation
80. Glutinous - sticky
81. Gnathocoxa - maxilla
82. Gonopore - the genital opening
83. Gossamer - a light film of silk threads, or groups of these floating through the air
84. Gum foot web - space web with strands of silk provided with sticky droplets
85. Hackled band - a special combed-out, fluffy silk produced by certain spiders
86. Haematodocha - a membranous, inflatable part of the palpal bulb
87. Haplogyne - a spider whose female lacks an epigyne and in which the same ducts are used to transport sperm to the uterus and to the spermathecae
88. Hirsute - hairy
89. Inferior claw - the single claw ventral to the paired claws in spiders with three claws
90. Inframamillary organ - cribellum
91. Instar - an immature form of a spider
92. Labidognatha - the true spiders whose jaws strike from side to side
93. Labium - a hardened plate between the maxillae at the front of the sternum
94. Labrum - upper lip
95. Lamella - a triangular plate on the promargin of the cheliceral furrow
96. Laterigrade - legs directed to the side
97. Leg formula - the legs are numbered from I to IV; the relative length of the legs can be represented by four numbers from the longest to the shortest
98. Lorum - the sclerites representing the tergum of the pedicel
99. Lower claw - median claw
100. Lyriform organ - a small mechanoreceptory organ or group of organs in the exoskeleton
101. Main eye - one of the two anterior median eyes (AME) that have the light detecting units
102. Mastidion - a projection on the chelicerae
103. Maxilla - modified coxa of the pedipalp
104. Median apophysis - a projection of the palpal bulb, below the conductor
105. Median claw - inferior claw
106. Median eyes - the two middle eyes of each row
107. Median ocular area (MOA) - the region of the carapace enclosed by the median eyes of the anterior and posterior rows
108. Median ocular quadrangle (MOQ) - quadrangle delimited by the four median eyes, including the eyes themselves
109. Median spinnerets - the centre pair, which is small and often hidden by other spinnerets
110. Metatarsus - sixth leg segment, between tibia and tarsus
111. Mygalomorphs - the more primitive spiders whose jaws strike forwards and down
112. Nubbin - non-functional spigot
113. Ocellus - a simple eye, as opposed to compound eyes
114. Ocular tubercle - a protuberance on which one or more of the eyes is borne
115. Onychium - ventral extension of tip of tarsus bearing the claws
116. Operculum - one of the plates on the ventral surface of the abdomen
117. Opisthosoma - abdomen
118. Orb web - a two-dimensional web, roughly circular in design
119. Palea - partially membranous part of tegulam
120. Palpal bulb - the copulatory organ of the male spider, carried on the modified last segment of the pedipalp, used to transfer sperm to the female
121. Palps - paired, forward-projecting sensory organs of spiders located behind the chelicerae but in front of the legs
122. Paracymbium - an outgrowth of the cymbium on the male pedipalp
123. Patella - the fourth segment of the spider leg between femur and tibia
124. Paturon - the basal segment of a chelicera to which the fang connects
125. Pedicel - the narrow connection between the cephalothorax and abdomen
126. Pedipalp - palp of male spider
127. Peg teeth - cheliceral teeth in sockets
128. Plagiognathy - fang directed obliquely
129. Pluridentate - having multiple teeth on chelicerae
130. Porrect - forwardly directed chelicera
131. Posterior lateral eyes (PLE) -eyes at each end of posterior row
132. Posterior median eyes (PME) - two intermediate eyes in posterior row
133. Posterior spinnerets - the hind pair when looking at the ventral surface of a spider
134. Praetarsus - onychium
135. Preening comb - a transverse row of stiff setae at the ventral tip of posterior metatarsi
136. Procurved - eyes that are arranged in an upside-down "U" when viewed from the front
137. Prograde - legs directed forwards
138. Prolateral - viewed from above or below, the side of a leg or pedipalp nearest the mouth
139. Promarginal - the side of the cheliceral furrow facing forward
140. Prosoma - cephalothorx
141. Pseudonychia - accessory claws
142. Punctate - covered with tiny depressions
143. Rastellum - an often rake-like structure at end of the chelicera in mygalomorph spiders; used in burrowing
144. Rebordered - having a thickened edge
145. Receptaculum - spermatheca
146. Recurved - eyes that are curved in such a way that the outer edges are behind the central part
147. Reticulated - like network
148. Retrolateral - viewed from above or below, the side of a leg or pedipalp furthest from the mouth
149. Retrolateraltibialapophysis (RTA) - a backward-facing projection on the tibia of the male pedipalp
150. Retromarginal - the side of the cheliceral furrow facing backward
151. Rostrum - upper lip, anteroventral part of the cephalothorax below the cheliceral insertion
152. Rugose - rough, wrinkled
153. Scape - an elongated process or appendage of some epigynes
154. Sclerite - a single hardened part of the external covering
155. Scopula - a brush of hairs on the end of the tarsus, where it improves adhesion
156. Scutum - a hardened plate on the abdomen of some spiders
157. Secondary eye - an eye belonging to the three pairs (ALE), (PME) and (PLE)
158. Serrated - saw-toothed
159. Serrula - a row or cluster of tiny teeth along the anterior margin of maxillae
160. Setae - brush of hairs
161. Sigilla - circular impressions on skin, corresponding with internal muscle attachment
162. Sperm duct - a duct in the male palpal bulb used to store sperm
163. Sperm web - a web of few or many threads on which male spiders deposit the semen preparatory to taking it into the palps
164. Spermatheca - a structure in the abdomen of female spiders used to store sperm after insemination and before fertilization
165. Spiderling - the nymphal or immature spider
166. Spigot - a small pointed or cylindrical structure at the tip of a spinneret from which silk emerges
167. Spination - the arrangement of the spines on the leg and palps
168. Spine - a pointed, rigid structure on body and legs
169. Spinnerets - appendages that produce silk and are located at the posterior portion of the abdomen
170. Spiracle - the opening of the trachea onto the body surface
171. Spur - a cuticular appendage heavier than a spine
172. Spurious claws - accessory claws
173. Stabilimentum - a heavy band of silk deposited in the center of the web of some of the orb weaving spiders
174. Stadium - the interval between the moults
175. Sternum - the lower portion of the cephalothorax
176. Striae - paired depressions or lines extending out from the centre of the carapace to the edges
177. Stridulating organ - a series of thin ridges on a hardened part of the body; rubbing this with bristles on the body creates a sound
178. Style - embolus
179. Subtegulum - a hardened part of the palpal bulb nearer its base
180. Sustentaculum - a strong spine bent upwards at its tip
181. Tapetum - a light-reflecting layer in eye
182. Tarsi - the last or terminal segments of a spider's legs bearing two or occasionally three claws
183. Tartipores - traces of the insertion of spigots
184. Teeth - pointed growths or bumps along the margins of the cheliceral furrow
185. Tegulum - the main hardened part of the palpal bulb
186. Thoracic groove - fovea
187. Thorax - the posterior part of the cephalothorax
188. Tibia - the fifth segment of the spider leg between patella and metatarsus
189. Trichobothria- a slender hair-like structure of variable length on the legs and pedipalps; used to detect air movements
190. Trionychous - having three claws per tarsus
191. Trochanter - second leg segment, between coxa and femur
192. Tubercle - a low, rounded process
193. Ungues - superior claws
194. Unguiculus - inferior claw
195. Unguis - fang
196. Unidentate - having a single tooth
197. Urtication - itching effect produced by the hairs of certain mygalomorph spiders
198. Venom - a poisonous substance that is produced for defense or to subdue prey; can cause pain and swelling but rarely fatality when injected into humans
199. Venter (ventrum) - the underside of the spider; typically referring to the abdomen
200. Vulva - internal structure of female copulatory organ