In the last 15 years understanding of the higher systematics of Araneae has changed greatly. Large classical superfamilies and families have turned out to be poly- or paraphyletic; posited relationships were often based on symplesiomorphies. In this brief review we summarize current taxonomic and phylogenetic knowledge and suggest where future efforts might profitably be concentrated. We lack space to discuss fully all the clades mentioned, and the cited numbers of described taxa are only approximate. Other aspects of spider biology have been summarized by Barth (7), Eberhard (47), Jackson & Parks (72), Nentwig (105), Nyffeler & Benz (106), Riechert & Lockley (134), Shear (149) and Turnbull (160).