Gnaphosidae
(Stealthy Ground Spiders)

The spider family Gnaphosidae, commonly known as Stealthy Ground Spiders, have been sighted 325 times by contributing members. Based on collected data, the geographic range for Gnaphosidae includes 19 countries and 43 states in the United States. Gnaphosidae is most often sighted indoors, and during the month of May.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Family: Gnaphosidae

Common Name (AAS)

Stealthy Ground Spiders

Other Common Names

Ground Spiders, Flat-bellied Ground Spiders

Author

Reginald Innes Pocock, 1898

Sightings Overview

There have been 325 confirmed sightings of Gnaphosidae (Stealthy Ground Spiders), with the most recent sighting submitted on August 24, 2023 by Spider ID member bridgetb413. The detailed statistics below may not utilize the complete dataset of 325 sightings because of certain Gnaphosidae sightings reporting incomplete data.

Web: 4% of the time, Gnaphosidae spiders are sighted in a spider web (Sample size: 325)
Sex: 4 female and 12 male.
Environment: Gnaphosidae has been sighted 61 times outdoors, and 279 times indoors.
Outdoors: Man-made structure (27). Low foliage (2). High foliage (2). Ground layer (13). Under rock or debris (12). Freshwater river, lake, stream (1). Forest (2). Desert area (2).

Location and Range

Gnaphosidae (Stealthy Ground Spiders) has been sighted in the following countries: Australia, Canada, French Polynesia, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

Gnaphosidae has also been sighted in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Seasonality

Gnaphosidae has been primarily sighted during the month of May.

January: 15
February: 25
March: 43
April: 53
May: 114
June: 25
July: 7
August: 14
September: 4
October: 10
November: 4
December: 11

Additional Remarks

Though members of the entire family are collectively nicknamed “ground spiders,” that is not always where they are found. Especially synanthropic species such as Herpyllus ecclesiasticus, Scotophaeus blackwalli, or a handful of others that are often found on inner or outer walls of buildings.