Glossary of spider terms
Terms used to describe spider biology and anatomy.
| Abdomen | the second body section |
| Advanced | retaining fewer ancestral characteristics |
| Anterior | towards the front |
| Araneomorphs | 'modern' spiders |
| Basal | retaining 'primitive' features not present in more 'advanced' families |
| Calamistrum | a row of toothed bristles on the metatarsal segment of the last leg, used to comb out cribellate silk |
| Cephalothorax | the first body section - head and thorax fused together |
| Cribellate silk | see cribellum |
| Cribellum | a flat spinning plate covered with thousands of tiny spigots. Together, these spigots produce a multi-stranded, 'wool-like' cribellate silk |
| Dragline silk | provides the spider's safety line and is also used to make the frame and radial lines of the orb web |
| Mygalomorphs | trapdoor spiders and their relatives - 'primitive' spiders |
| Pedicel | slim waist between cephalothorax and abdomen |
| Posterior | towards the back |
| Primitive | retaining many ancestral characteristics |
| Rugose | having many wrinkles or ridges |
| Spigots | hollow, hair-like silk outlets on the spinnerets |
| Spinnerets | silk spinning organs |
