BEIJING, China — Funnel webs are among the most distinctive structures built by spiders, combining a dense sheet of silk with a tubular retreat used for ambush hunting. Remarkably, similar funnel-web architectures have evolved independently in spider groups separated by hundreds of millions of years. How did such distantly related spiders arrive at similar complex behaviors?
A new study published in Journal of Systematics and Evolution provides genomic clues to this question. Researchers from Southwest University, Dali University, and Arizona State University compared genomes from 15 spider species with different web-building strategies and identified evolutionary changes potentially associated with funnel-web construction.
The team generated a chromosome-level genome for Tamgrinia laticeps and compared it with two other funnel-web builders, Eratigena atrica and Orientothele yani . While the first two belong to the family Agelenidae, O. yani belongs to the distantly related Macrothelidae, which diverged with Agelenidae about 239 million years ago. Despite this deep evolutionary separation, all three spiders construct strikingly similar funnel-shaped webs.
“Similar web architectures do not necessarily arise from similar genomic background,” says Dr. Zheng Fan, the first author of the study. “Our results suggest that distantly related funnel-web spiders show repeated evolutionary changes in genes involved in neural regulation, sensory processing, and motor control.”
Rather than identifying a single “funnel-web gene,” the researchers found several types of evolutionary change across the genome. Genes associated with neural signaling and regulation showed shifts in evolutionary rates and selective pressures, while more than 100 genes showed signatures of positive selection.
The study also identified 58 genes with convergent amino acid substitutions shared among the three funnel-web-building species. Several of these genes are involved in synaptic transmission, neural development, and motor function, suggesting that similar behavioral traits may be accompanied by repeated molecular changes in neural and sensory-motor systems.
“Funnel-web construction requires spiders to detect vibrations, process sensory information, and coordinate precise movements,” adds Dr. Fan. “The findings suggest that this behavioral convergence may involve multiple neurogenetic pathways rather than a single evolutionary route.”
Taken together, the results provide a genomic framework for understanding how complex behaviors can evolve repeatedly in distantly related lineages. The authors caution, however, that the identified genes remain candidates, and functional experiments will be needed to determine their precise roles in funnel-web construction.
Original Source:
Zheng Fan, Lu-Yu Wang, Zhi Li, Tian-Yu Ren, Bing Tan, Wei Pu, Wen-Hui Wu, Jun-Han Xiong, Ling-Xin Cheng, Jin-Xia Kong, Bin Luo, Zi-Zhong Yang, Chao Tong, and Zhi-Sheng Zhang. 2026. “Genomic signatures associated with convergent funnel-web building behavior in spiders.” Journal of Systematics and Evolution . https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jse.70104
Keywords:
Agelenidae, comparative genomics, funnel‐web, genome, Macrothelidae, spider.
Author’s Institution:
The study was conducted by researchers from the Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China; the Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Entomological Biopharmaceutical R & D, College of Pharmacy, Dali University, Dali, China; and the School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
About JSE:
Journal of Systematics and Evolution (JSE) is a peer-reviewed, bi-monthly international English-language journal dedicated to the understanding of biodiversity and evolution. Papers in any of the following and related fields will be considered: systematics and biodiversity conservation, paleobiology and biogeography, adaptation, speciation and domestication, evolutionary genomics and Evo-Devo, theory and methods in evolutionary biology.
Journal of Systematics and Evolution
Genomic signatures associated with convergent funnel-web building behavior in spiders
1-Sep-2026