These spiders have a distinctive longitudinal groove on the top-rear of their oval carapace similar to those of the Amaurobiidae.

[1] They are highly defensive[2] and venomous nocturnal hunters.

Wandering spiders are known to hunt large prey, for example hylid species Dendropsophus branneri.

[3] Despite their notoriety for being dangerous, only a few members of Phoneutria have venom known to be hazardous to humans, but the venoms of this family are poorly known,[4] so all larger ctenids should be treated with caution.

As of July 2021[update], the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:[5]