Macrothele

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Macrothele
Threatening female M. gigas
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Macrothelidae
Genus: Macrothele
Ausserer, 1871[1]
Type species
Walckenaer
, 1805)
Species

42, see text

Synonyms[1]
  • Orientothele Mirza, Sanap & Kunte, 2017[2]

Macrothele is a

spinnerets.[citation needed
]

Description

Nest of M. gigas

Spiders of this genus are fairly large, with females of some Chinese species ranging from 1 to 3 centimetres (0.4 to 1.2 in) in body length. Males are smaller, sometimes only half that length.[4] Macrothelids can be distinguished from other mygalomorph spiders by their larger posterior sigillae on the sternum, and the arrangement of the rows of teeth on the margin of the chelicerae: larger front-facing margin and smaller rear-facing.[5]

These spiders build tube-webs or funnel-webs under rocks or logs, or in crevices in the ground.[4]

Taxonomy

The genus Macrothele was erected by

Theraphosidae. It was later placed in the Dipluridae and the Hexathelidae before being transferred to the Macrothelidae in 2018.[1] A molecular phylogenetic study in 2018 suggested that Macrothele was a distinct, early diverging lineage within the Mygalomorphae. Accordingly, Simon's subfamily Macrothelinae was elevated to the family Macrothelidae. There is some doubt if the western and eastern species should be grouped in the same genus.[6]

The following cladogram shows the possible relationship of Macrothele to related taxa:[5]

Dipluridae

Hexathelidae

Porrhothelidae

Macrothele (Macrothelidae)

Calisoga (Nemesiidae)

Hebestatis (Halonoproctidae)

Atracidae

Actinopodidae

Species

Female M. yaginumai

As of December 2022, it contains 42 species and one subspecies from Africa, Asia and Europe:[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ . Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  2. .
  3. ^ Ausserer, A. (1871). "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Arachniden-Familie der Territelariae Thorell (Mygalidae Autor)". Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. 21: 117–224.
  4. ^ a b Zhu, M.S. & Song, D.X. (2000). "Review of the Chinese funnel-web spiders of the genus Macrothele, with descriptions of two new species (Araneae:Hexathelidae)" (PDF). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 48 (1): 59–64. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2018-05-20(with key to Chinese species){{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  5. ^
    PMID 29374214
    .
  6. ^ Murphy, Frances & Murphy, John (2000). An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Nature Society.