What name is given to the group of spiders including tarantulas?
Answer
Mygalomorphae
Answer
Mygalomorphae
What name is given to the group of spiders including tarantulas? Mygalomorphae is the infraorder that includes tarantulas and their close relatives.
Mygalomorphs also include trapdoor spiders, Australian funnel-web spiders, and mouse spiders. Many are heavy-bodied burrowers, and some seal their burrows with hinged silk-and-soil doors. Their fangs point downward and move largely in parallel, a feature behind the older name “Orthognatha.”
The group is one of the three major branches of living spiders, alongside the araneomorphs and the more ancient-looking mesotheles. Mygalomorphs retain two pairs of book lungs, while most araneomorphs have one pair. They are often described as primitive spiders, but that label can be misleading: they are highly specialized predators with distinctive anatomy and behavior. Tarantulas are only one part of the group, not a synonym for Mygalomorphae.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026