|570 genera, >4.300 species| Linyphiidae is a family of spiders,
including more than 4,300 described species in 578 genera
worldwide. This makes Linyphiidae the second largest family of
spiders after the Salticidae. New species are still being
discovered throughout the world, and the family is poorly known.
Because of the difficulty in identifying such tiny spiders,
there are regular changes in taxonomy as species are combined or
divided. Spiders in this family are commonly known as sheet
weavers (from the shape of their webs), or money spiders (in the
United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and in Portugal, from the
superstition that if such a spider is seen running on you, it
has come to spin you new clothes, meaning financial good
fortune). Common genera include Neriene, Lepthyphantes, Erigone,
Eperigone, Bathyphantes, Troglohyphantes, the monotypic genus
Tennesseellum and many others. These are among the most abundant
spiders in the temperate regions, although many are also found
in the tropics. The general