Minnesota Seasons - Ghost Spiders (Anyphaena spp.)

Overview • Description • Distribution • Taxonomy

ghost spider (Anyphaena sp.) — Photo by Alfredo Colon

Overview

Anyphaena is a large genus of small spiders. It occurs in Europe, North America, and eastern Asia.

There are 110 currently accepted Anyphaena species worldwide, 22 species in North America north of Mexico, and at least 1 species in Minnesota.

Little is known of the ecology and behavior of Anyphaena spiders. They are wandering spiders and they are primarily active at night (nocturnal). In the west, they are most often collected in forests from leaf litter and under logs and stones. In the east, they are most often collected from foliage in fields and meadows.

Description

The genus Anyphaena includes spiders with a wide range of sizes and colors.

Adults are ⅛″ to ¼″ (3.0 to 6.5 mm) in length not including the legs.

The upper side (carapace) of the front part of the body (cephalothorax) is oval and longer than wide. The longitudinal depression in the middle (dorsal groove) is short and pale. It is sparsely covered with short, pale, prostrate (recumbent) hairs. The surface is orange or yellowish orange, and there are usually two dark longitudinal stripes. The eyes are in two rows of four, and they are ringed with black. The rear row is straight or slightly curved forward. The jaws (chelicerae) do not project forward. The front margin (promargin) of the fang furrow has three or four teeth, and the rear margin (retromargin) has five to eight minute teeth.

The legs are rather long but the front legs are not greatly elongated. The third segment (femur) is not much darker than the remaining segments.

The abdomen is long, oval, and widest in the middle. It is sparsely covered with short pale hairs, and there is a cluster of long, curved, erect hairs on the front margin. It is pale with numerous small spots. The coloration varies between species, but the background color is always pale, ranging anywhere from off white to orange, and the spots are always dark, ranging anywhere from gray to black.

Distribution

Distribution Map

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82, 83.

11/3/2025

Taxonomy

Class

Arachnida (arachnids)

Order

Araneae (spiders)

Suborder

Araneomorphae (typical spiders)

Infraorder

Entelegynae

Zoosection

RTA clade spiders

Zoosubsection

Dionycha clade spiders

Family

Anyphaenidae (ghost spiders)

Subfamily

Anyphaeninae

Genus

Anyphaena

Subordinate Taxa

buzzing spider (Anyphaena accentuata)

eastern spurred ghost spider (Anyphaena pectorosa)

ghost spider (Anyphaena alachua)

ghost spider (Anyphaena alamos)

ghost spider (Anyphaena alboirrorata)

ghost spider (Anyphaena andina)

ghost spider (Anyphaena arbida)

ghost spider (Anyphaena autumna)

ghost spider (Anyphaena ayshides)

ghost spider (Anyphaena bermudensis)

ghost spider (Anyphaena bispinosa)

ghost spider (Anyphaena bromelicola)

ghost spider (Anyphaena bryantae)

ghost spider (Anyphaena californica)

ghost spider (Anyphaena catalina)

ghost spider (Anyphaena cibagou)

ghost spider (Anyphaena cielo)

ghost spider (Anyphaena cochise)

ghost spider (Anyphaena cortes)

ghost spider (Anyphaena crebrispina)

ghost spider (Anyphaena cumbre)

ghost spider (Anyphaena darlingtoni)

ghost spider (Anyphaena decora)

ghost spider (Anyphaena diversa)

ghost spider (Anyphaena dixiana)

ghost spider (Anyphaena dominicana)

ghost spider (Anyphaena encino)

ghost spider (Anyphaena felipe)

ghost spider (Anyphaena fraterna)

ghost spider (Anyphaena furcatella)

ghost spider (Anyphaena furva)

ghost spider (Anyphaena gertschi)

ghost spider (Anyphaena gibba)

ghost spider (Anyphaena gibboides)

ghost spider (Anyphaena gibbosa)

ghost spider (Anyphaena grovyle)

ghost spider (Anyphaena hespar)

ghost spider (Anyphaena inferens)

ghost spider (Anyphaena judicata)

ghost spider (Anyphaena kurilensis)

ghost spider (Anyphaena lacka)

ghost spider (Anyphaena leechi)

ghost spider (Anyphaena linzhi)

ghost spider (Anyphaena maculata)

ghost spider (Anyphaena marginalis)

ghost spider (Anyphaena modesta)

ghost spider (Anyphaena mogan)

ghost spider (Anyphaena mollicoma)

ghost spider (Anyphaena morelia)

ghost spider (Anyphaena nexuosa)

ghost spider (Anyphaena numida)

ghost spider (Anyphaena obregon)

ghost spider (Anyphaena otinapa)

ghost spider (Anyphaena plana)

ghost spider (Anyphaena pontica)

ghost spider (Anyphaena pretiosa)

ghost spider (Anyphaena proba)

ghost spider (Anyphaena pugil)

ghost spider (Anyphaena pusilla)

ghost spider (Anyphaena quadricornuta)

ghost spider (Anyphaena rhynchophysa)

ghost spider (Anyphaena rita)

ghost spider (Anyphaena sabina)

ghost spider (Anyphaena salto)

ghost spider (Anyphaena sceptile)

ghost spider (Anyphaena scopulata)

ghost spider (Anyphaena shenzhen)

ghost spider (Anyphaena shufui)

ghost spider (Anyphaena simoni)

ghost spider (Anyphaena simplex)

ghost spider (Anyphaena soricina)

ghost spider (Anyphaena subgibba)

ghost spider (Anyphaena syriaca)

ghost spider (Anyphaena taiwanensis)

ghost spider (Anyphaena tancitaro)

ghost spider (Anyphaena tehuacan)

ghost spider (Anyphaena tibet)

ghost spider (Anyphaena trifida)

ghost spider (Anyphaena tuberosa)

ghost spider (Anyphaena wanlessi)

ghost spider (Anyphaena wuyi)

ghost spider (Anyphaena xochimilco)

ghost spider (Anyphaena yejiei)

ghost spider (Anyphaena yoshitakei)

ghost spider (Anyphaena zorynae)

ghost spider (Anyphaena zuyelenae)

honest ghost spider (Anyphaena aperta)

quick ghost spider (Anyphaena celer)

western ghost spider (Anyphaena pacifica)

Synonyms

Aniphaena

Common Names

This genus has no common name. The common name of the family Anyphaenidae is ghost spiders, and it is used here for convenience.

Glossary

Carapace

The hard, upper (dorsal), shell-like covering (exoskeleton) of the body or at least the thorax of many arthropods and of turtles and tortoises. On crustaceans, it covers the cephalothorax. On spiders, the top of the cephalothorax made from a series of fused sclerites.

Cephalothorax

The front part of the body of various arthropods, composed of the head region and the thoracic area fused together. Eyes, legs, and antennae are attached to this part.

Chelicerae

The pair of stout mouthparts, corresponding to jaws, in arachnids and other arthropods in the subphylum Chelicerata.

Femur

On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.

Seta

A stiff, hair-like process on the outer surface of an organism. In Lepidoptera: A usually rigid bristle- or hair-like outgrowth used to sense touch. In mosses: The stalk supporting a spore-bearing capsule and supplying it with nutrients. Plural: setae. Adjective: setose.