[2] They are non-web building predators that forage on the ground and on tree trunks at night, mainly in xerothermic forests.

[3] Harpactea sadistica was found to use traumatic insemination, the arthropod behavior of directly inserting its sperm into the body cavity of females.

H. rubicunda also hunts Drassodes and other spiders, but most Harpactea feed on insects in addition to woodlice.

[1] Templeton did not explain his choice of genus name,[6] but Greek ἁρπακτής, harpaktēs, means 'snatcher', 'plunderer', 'pillager' or 'thief'.

[3] As of April 2024[update], the World Spider Catalog accepted 213 species from Europe and Northern Africa to Turkmenistan and Iran:[1]