Cheiracanthium

Yellow sac spider
Cheiracanthium sp., Pateros, Washington
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Cheiracanthiidae
Genus: Cheiracanthium
C. L. Koch, 1839
Type species
C. punctorium
(Villers, 1789)
Species

212, see text

Synonyms

Cheiracanthium, commonly called yellow sac spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Cheiracanthiidae, and was first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1839. They are usually pale in colour, and have an abdomen that can range from yellow to beige. Both sexes range in size from 5 to 10 millimetres (0.20 to 0.39 in). They are unique among common house spiders because their tarsi do not point either outward, like members of Tegenaria, or inward, like members of Araneus, making them easier to identify.