Eumenophorinae

Eumenophorinae
Monocentropus balfouri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Mygalomorphae
Family:	Theraphosidae
Subfamily:	Eumenophorinae Pocock, 1897 [1]
Genera
See text.

The Eumenophorinae are a subfamily of tarantula spiders (family Theraphosidae). They are known from genera distributed across Sub-Saharan Africa, the south of the Arabian peninsula, Madagascar and its associated islands, and parts of India. ^[2]

Distribution

At about 158-160 million years ago (Mya), Gondwana split up and the Indo-Madagascan plate drifted away from the rest of the super continent. At around 84-86 Mya, India split from Madagascar and drifted into Eurasia (66-55 Mya), to its current position. Therefore, all fauna in Gondwana (such as the Eumenophorinae) would be distributed on all three land masses. ^[2]

Characteristics

The Eumenophorinae have stridulatory spike setae on the coxae of all legs, and a "comb" of stiffened setae on the palpal femur. In 2005, Richard Gallon described the monotypic genus Mascaraneus , which lacks the stridulatory spike setae. ^[2]

Taxonomy

The monophyly of the Eumenophorinae has been confirmed in a number of molecular phylogenetic studies. However, these have included relatively few of the genera that have been placed in the subfamily at one time or another. A 2014 study included Anoploscelus and Phoneyusa . ^[3] A 2018 study included Hysterocrates , Monocentropus and Pelinobius . ^[4]

Genera

Genera that have been placed in the subfamily Eumenophorinae by various sources include:

• Annandaliella Hirst, 1909 ^[4]
• Anoploscelus Pocock, 1897 ^[5]
• Batesiella Pocock, 1903 ^[5]
• Encyocrates Simon, 1892 ^{[1] [5]}
• Eumenophorus Pocock, 1897 ^{[1] [5]}
• Heterophrictus Pocock, 1900 ^[2]
• Heteroscodra Pocock, 1900 ^[1]
• Hysterocrates Simon, 1892 ^{[1] [5]}
• Loxomphalia Simon, 1889 ^{[1] [5]}
• Loxoptygus Simon, 1903 ^{[1] [5]}
• Mascaraneus Gallon, 2005 ^[6]
• Monocentropus Pocock, 1897 ^{[1] [5]}
• Myostola Simon, 1903 ^{[1] [5]}
• Neoheterophrictus Siliwal & Raven, 2012 ^[2]
• Pelinobius Karsch, 1885 (as CitharischiusPocock, 1900) ^{[1] [5]}
• Phoneyusa Karsch, 1884 ^{[1] [5]}
• Plesiophrictus Pocock, 1899 ^[2]
• Sahydroaraneus Mirza & Sanap, 2014 ^[2]
• Stromatopelma Karsch, 1881 ^[1]

References

1. Raven, R.J. (1985). "The spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae): Cladistics and systematics". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 182: 1–180. hdl:2246/955.
2. Mirza, Z.A.; Sanap, R.V. & Bhosale, H. (2014). "Preliminary review of Indian Eumenophorinae (Araneae: Theraphosidae) with description of a new genus and five new species from the Western Ghats". PLOS ONE. 9 (2) e87928. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...987928M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087928 . PMC   3925112 . PMID   24551072.
3. Guadanucci, J.P.L. (2014). "Theraphosidae phylogeny: relationships of the 'Ischnocolinae' genera (Araneae, Mygalomorphae)". Zoologica Scripta. 43 (5): 508–518. doi:10.1111/zsc.12065. S2CID   86484123.
4. Lüddecke, Tim; Krehenwinkel, Henrik; Canning, Gregory; Glaw, Frank; Longhorne, Stuart J.; Tänzler, René; Wendt, Ingo & Vences, Miguel (2018). "Discovering the silk road: Nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data resolve the phylogenetic relationships among theraphosid spider subfamilies". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 119: 63–70. Bibcode:2018MolPE.119...63L. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.10.015. PMID   29104141.
5. Schmidt, G. (2003). "8.6 Eumenophorinae Pocock, 1897". Die Vogelspinnen: Eine weltweite Übersicht. Neue Brehm-Bücherei. Hohenwarsleben: Westarp Wissenschaften. pp. 207–216. ISBN   978-3-89432-899-3.
6. Gallon, R.C. (2005). "On a new genus and species of theraphosid spider from Serpent Island, Mauritius (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Eumenophorinae)" (PDF). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society. 13: 175–178. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-02-07.