South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide: The Pisauridae of South Africa. Version 1: 1-61 (2020)

The Pisauridae is a large cosmopolitan family of spiders represented in South Africa by 13 genera and 37 species. The family has diverse life-styles and have reverted from webbuilding to free-living wanderers. They are found in a variety of habitats and are common inhabitants of grassland, savanna, desert and forest areas. The pisaurid female carries the egg cocoon beneath her sternum held by her chelicerae and palpi. Just before the young emerge the female constructs a framework of silk, known as a nursery web in which she deposits the egg cocoon. More than 90% of the species have a wide distribution and is listed as Least Concern. Of these species 27 spp. (73%) are African endemics, three are known from southern Africa and seven are South African endemics. Of the South African endemics three species are known only from the type locality and is listed at Data Deficient.
No species are presently flagged as of special concern. Two genera Tapinothelella, 1909 and Walrencea Blandin, 1979 are endemic to South Africa. The taxonomy of the Pisauridae of South Africa is only partly resolved. We do not have any records of Dolomedes
spp. from South Africa but they might be here. Of the 828 records in the National Collection of Arachnida 26% have not been identified to species level.