The subfamily was established by Fred R. Wanless in 1984[1] to include the groups Boetheae, Cocaleae, Lineae, Codeteae and Cyrbeae, which in turn were defined by Eugène Simon.

[2] The Spartaeinae are palaeotropical, with an exceptional diversity in the Malaysian and Indonesian archipelagos.

[3] They are unusual salticids that are considered basal to the phylogenetic tree of jumping spiders.

Like the Lyssomaninae they lack many derived features that the Salticinae possess.

[4] Spartaeinae usually have large posterior median eyes.