The crevice weaver spiders (family Filistatidae) contain primitive cribellate, haplogyne, weavers of funnel or tube webs. The family contains 16 genera and 106 families worldwide. One of the most abundant members of this family in the New World is the Southern house spider (Kukulcania hibernalis). Named after the fierce Meso-American god Kukulcan, the females are large (up to nearly 20 mm) dark-colored spiders and males are light brown, smaller (about 10 mm.), but more long-legged and with palpi that are held together in front of their carapaces like the horn of a unicorn. The males also have a darker streak on the center of the dorsal carapace that causes them to be often mistaken for brown recluse spiders. The tiny members of the genus Filistatinella are like miniature versions of Kukulcania. The nominate genus Filistata is Old World in distribution. In many older books the New World species now placed in the genus Kukulcania are placed in Filistata.
External links
