With over 40,000 described species, spiders have adapted to nearly every terrestrial environment across the globe. Over half of the world's spider families live within the three contiguous Pacific Coast states-not surprising considering the wide variety of habitats, from mountain meadows and desert dunes to redwood forests and massive urban centers. This beautifully illustrated, accessible guide covers all of the families and many of the genera found along the Pacific Coast, including introduced species and common garden spiders. The author provides readers with tools for identifying many of the region's spiders to family, and when possible, genus and species. He discusses taxonomy, distribution, and natural history as well as what is known of the habits of the spiders, the characters of families, and references to taxonomic revisions of the pertinent genera. Full-color plates for each family bring to life the incredible diversity of this ancient arachnid order.

TextChapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Theraphosidae  Chapter 3. Nemesiidae Chapter 4. Antrodiaetidae  Chapter 5. Cyrtaucheniidae Chapter 6. Ctenizidae  Chapter 7. Dipluridae   Chapter 8. Mecicobothriidae  Chapter 9. Hypochilidae Chapter 10. Filistatidae  Chapter 11. Segestriidae Chapter 12. Caponiidae  Chapter 13. Oonopidae  Chapter 14. Dysderidae  Chapter 15. Trogloraptoridae Chapter 16. Scytodidae  Chapter 17. Sicariidae  Chapter 18. Diguetidae  Chapter 19. Plectreuridae  Chapter 20. Pholcidae  Chapter 21. Leptonetidae  Chapter 22. Telemidae  Chapter 23. Mysmenidae Chapter 24. Anapidae   Chapter 25. Uloboridae  Chapter 26. Oecobiidae  Chapter 27. Mimetidae  Chapter 28. Nesticidae  Chapter 29. Theridiidae  Chapter 30. Araneidae Chapter 31. Tetragnathidae  Chapter 32. Pimoidae   Chapter 33. Linyphiidae  Chapter 34. Anyphaenidae Chapter 35. Miturgidae Chapter 36. Clubionidae Chapter 37. Corinnidae Chapter 38. Liocranidae Chapter 39. Prodidomidae Chapter 40. Gnaphosidae Chapter 41. Salticidae  Chapter 42. Thomisidae Chapter 43. Philodromidae Chapter 44. Selenopidae Chapter 45. Sparassidae Chapter 46. Homalonychidae  Chapter 47. Zoridae  Chapter 48. Dictynidae  Chapter 49. Cybaeidae Chapter 50. Hahniidae Chapter 51. Zodariidae Chapter 52. Tengellidae Chapter 53. Pisauridae Chapter 54. Zoropsidae  Chapter 55. Oxyopidae  Chapter 56. Lycosidae  Chapter 57. Agelenidae Chapter 58. Amaurobiidae Chapter 59. Titanoecidae Chapter 60. Desidae   Chapter 60. Amphinectidae Glossary   References   PlatesPlate 1. TheraphosidaePlate 2. Nemesiidae, AntrodiaetidaePlate 3. Ctenizidae and CyrtaucheniidaePlate 4. Cyrtaucheniidae cont., Mecicobothriidae, DipluridaePlate 5. Hypochilidae, Filistatidae, SegestriidaePlate 6. Caponiidae and OonopidaePlate 7. Dysderidae, Scytodidae, Trogloraptoridae, SicariidaePlate 8. Plecturidae and DiguetidaePlate 9. Pholcidae (1 of 2)Plate 10. Pholcidae (2 of 2)Plate 11. Leptonetidae, Telemidae, Mysmenidae, AnapidaePlate 12. Uloboridae, OecobiidaePlate 13. Mimetidae, NesticidaePlate 14. Theridiidae (1 of 4)Plate 15. Theridiidae (2 of 4)Plate 16. Theridiidae (3 of 4)Plate 17. Theridiidae (4 of 4)Plate 18. Araneidae (1 of 5)Plate 19. Araneidae (2 of 5)Plate 20. Araneidae (3 of 5)Plate 21. Araneidae (4 of 5)Plate 23. Tetragnathidae (1 of 2)Plate 24. Tetragnathidae (2 of 2), PimoidaePlate 25. Linyphiidae (1 of 2)Plate 26. Linyphiidae (2 of 2)Plate 27. Anyphaenidae, Miturgidae, ClubionidaePlate 28. CorinnidaePlate 29. Liocranidae, Zoridae, ProdidomidaePlate 30. Gnaphosidae (1 of 3)Plate 31. Gnaphosidae (2 of 3)Plate 32. Gnaphosidae (3 of 3)Plate 33. Salticidae (1 of 5)Plate 34. Salticidae (2 of 5)Plate 35. Salticidae (3 of 5)Plate 36. Salticidae (4 of 5)Plate 37. Salticidae (5 of 5)Plate 38. Thomisidae (1 of 2)Plate 39. Thomisidae (2 of 2)Plate 40. PhilodromidaePlate 41. Selenopidae, Sparassidae, HomalonychidaePlate 42. DictynidaePlate 43. Hahniidae, CybaeidaePlate 44. Pisauridae, Tengellidae, ZoropsidaePlate 45. OxyopidaePlate 46. Lycosidae (1 of 2)Plate 47. Lycosidae (2 of 2)Plate 48. Agelenidae (1 of 2)Plate 49. Agelenidae (2 of 2), AmaurobiidaePlate 50. Desidae, Amphinectidae, Titanoecidae, Zodariidae