#archaeidae

#Febugary2026 dump!

there are a whopping FIVE spiders in the lineup so here ya go, spiders be upon ye. I put miss pelican spider in a triangle bc she ended up looking like a caution sign and I thought it was funny :P

Day 1: family Archaeidae (pelican/assissin spiders)

Day 8: Peucetia viridans (green lynx spider)

Day 11: Uroballus carlei (caterpillar jumping spider)

Day 17: Eresus kollari (ladybird spider)

Horned Pelican Spider Afrarchaea cornuta

A assassin spider endemic to South Africa. They are predatory spiders that hunt other spiders, using their elongated chelicerae to capture prey while maintaining a safe distance from potentially dangerous quarry.

Common Name: Assassin Spiders, Pelican Spiders

Scientific Name: Archaeidae is the family name; Afrarchaea godfreyi is considered the type species for this family.

Can Be Found In: South Africa, Madagascar, and Australia

Info: THEY HAVE NECKS. LIKE LOOK AT THOSE IMAGES LOOK HOW CURSED THAT IS. They prey exclusively on other spiders! There are about ninety described species in this family, and they're all ridiculous. They were first discovered through amber fossils in the 1840s, though no living examples were described until 1881. You can kind of see where the name "pelican" spider comes from if you view them in profile; they have a similar headshape with their pedipalps resembling the beak of a pelican; the way they spear and grab their prey is not unsimilar to a pelican, either.

Sources: x, x

Assassin Spider

The Archaeidae are a spider family with about 70 described species in four genera.

Pelican Spiders (Family Archaeidae)

Also known as assassin spiders or spidsnuck, pelican spiders are a unique family of spiders native to Madagascar, southern Africa and parts of Australia. These spiders get the name pelican from their uniquely long necks and elongated jaws. The spider uses these two weird features to prey exclusively on other spiders, which earns them the name assassin. With a long neck and jaws this spider specialist can safely avoid its opponents venomous jaws, and kill/eat it with ease.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Arthropoda-Arachnida-Araneae-Araneomorphae-Arachaeoidea-Arachaeidae