Velvet spider

This family can sometimes be confused with the jumping spiders, or those in the Palpimanidae family. These spiders are usually black or brown in colour, though they can also have brighter colours as pictured. As their common name implies they can look quite smooth and velvety. They usually live in silken tubes under objects, or underground, but the genus Stegodyphus builds silken nests. == Identification ==

genus, representative of the entire family. They can be distinguished from most species except the Penestomidae by their semi-rectangular carapace and clypeal hood. They can be distinguished from Penestomidae by the eye arrangement, straight anterior eye row and strongly recurved posterior eye row, with the median eyes close together. == Social behavior ==

Some species are nearly eusocial, lacking only a specialized caste system and a queen. They cooperate in brood rearing, unlike most other spiders except for some spitting spiders, African agelenid spiders in the genus Agelena, Monocentropus balfouri and a few others. Female velvet spiders exhibit a remarkable type of maternal care unique among arachnids. Upon the birth of her brood, the mother spider liquefies her internal organs and regurgitates this material as food. Once her capability to liquefy her insides is exhausted, the young sense this and consume the mother. Spiders of the genus Stegodyphus genus, such as Stegodyphus sarasinorum in India, are known for their elaborate and robust nests and their colony integrity. ==Genera==

Dresserus colsoni 302560865 545286026.jpg|male Dresserus colsoni Gandanameno purcelli 313759681 566637883.jpg|female Gandanameno purcelli Loureedia annulipes male1.jpg|male Loureedia annulipes Seothyra sp, valdeur, Steenbokpan, a.jpg|web of buck-door spider Seothyra fasciata , this family includes nine genera and 119 species: • Adonea Simon, 1873 – Algeria, Morocco?, Tunisia, Israel, Greece, Portugal • Dorceus C. L. Koch, 1846 – Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal, Israel • Dresserus Simon, 1876 – Ethiopia, Uganda, Southern Africa, East Africa, Zanzibar • Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 – Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Asia, Europe • Gandanameno Lehtinen, 1967 – Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe • Loureedia Miller, Griswold, Scharff, Řezáč, Szűts & Marhabaie, 2012 – Northern Africa, Iran, Israel, Spain • Paradonea Lawrence, 1968 – Southern Africa • Seothyra Purcell, 1903 – Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa • Stegodyphus Simon, 1873 – Africa, Asia, Brazil, North Africa to Tajikistan The genus Penestomus was previously placed in Eresidae as the subfamily Penestominae, but was elevated to its own family, Penestomidae, in 2010. ==References==