Harpactirinae

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Harpactirinae
Pterinochilus murinus.jpg
A Pterinochilus murinus tarantula
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Theraphosidae
Subfamily: Harpactirinae
Pocock, 1897
Genera

See text

The Harpactirinae (commonly called baboon spiders) are a subfamily of tarantulas which are native to the continent of Africa. Like many Old World tarantulas, they have a relatively strong venom and can inflict a painful bite.

Contents

Description

Harpactirinae are ground-dwelling spiders which build silk-lined burrows, often under debris such as stones, using their fangs and chelicerae for digging. Habitats include savanna woodlands, grasslands, and dry scrublands.[ citation needed ]

Systematics

The following genera and species are present in the Harpactirinae. In addition, the genus Brachionopus (Pocock, 1897) has been suggested for placement in this subfamily, but its taxonomy is currently disputed.

Augacephalus (Gallon, 2002)
Type species: Augacephalus breyeri

In synonymy:
Augacephalus nigrifemur (Schmidt, 1995) = Augacephalus junodi

Bacillochilus (Gallon, 2010) [monotypic]

Brachionopus (Pocock, 1897)
To quote Platnick's World Spider Catalog v. 12.5, [1] "N.B.: transferred here from the Barychelidae by Raven, 1985a: 112; Brachyonopus is an unjustified emendation; Raven's transfer was not accepted by Charpentier, 1993: 5 or Schmidt, 2002a: 12 and 2008: 3, who nevertheless identified no close relatives of the genus among the known barychelids; Gallon, 2002: 204 argued for its inclusion in the Barychelidae but indicated that it "does not fit in any current barychelid subfamily" but later (Gallon, 2010b: 79) considered it a harpactirine.".

In other words, its taxonomy is in dispute and the many recent workers do not consider it a theraphosid. All are found in South Africa.

Ceratogyrus (Pocock, 1897) [Senior synonym of Coelogenium Purcell, 1902]
Type species: Ceratogyrus darlingi

Transferred to other genera:
Ceratogyrus ezendami Augacephalus ezendami
Ceratogyrus nigrifemur Augacephalus nigrifemur
Ceratogyrus raveni (Smith, 1990) Pterinochilus chordatus

In synonymy:
Ceratogyrus bechuanicus (Purcell, 1902) and Ceratogyrus schultzei (Purcell, 1908) = Ceratogyrus darlingi
Ceratogyrus cornuatus (De Wet & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 1991) = Ceratogyrus marshalli

Eucratoscelus (Pocock, 1898)
Type species: Eucratoscelus constrictus

Transferred to other genera:
Eucratoscelus tenuitibialis (Schmidt & Gelling, 2000) Pterinochilus lugardi

In synonymy:
Eucratoscelus longiceps (Pocock, 1898) and Eucratoscelus spinifer = Eucratoscelus constrictus

Harpactira (Ausserer, 1871)
Type species: Harpactira atra

Harpactirella (Purcell, 1902) [Senior synonym of Luphocemus {Denis, 1960}]
Type species: Harpactirella treleaveni

Transferred to other genera:
Harpactirella flavipilosa (Lawrence, 1936) Pterinochilus lugardi
Harpactirella latithorax (Strand, 1908) Euathlus vulpinus
Harpactirella leleupi (Benoit, 1965) Idiothele nigrofulva

Idiothele (Hewitt, 1919)
Type species: Idiothele nigrofulva

In synonymy:
Idiothele crassispina (Purcell, 1902) and Idiothele leleupi (Benoit, 1965) = Idiothele nigrofulva

Pterinochilus (Pocock, 1897) [Senior synonym of Pterinochilides {Strand, 1920}]
Type species: Pterinochilus vorax

Transferred to other genera:
Pterinochilus breyeri Augacephalus breyeri
Pterinochilus constrictus and Pterinochilus spinifer Eucratoscelus constrictus
Pterinochilus crassispinus and Pterinochilus nigrofulvus Idiothele nigrofulva
Pterinochilus junodi and Pterinochilus nigrifemur Augacephalus junodi
Pterinochilus meridionalis Ceratogyrus meridionalis
Pterinochilus schoenlandi Trichognathella schoenlandi

In synonymy:
Pterinochilus affinis (Tullgren, 1910), Pterinochilus brunellii (Caporiacco, 1940), Pterinochilus carnivorus (Strand, 1917), Pterinochilus raptor (Strand, 1906), Pterinochilus raveni (Smith, 1990), Pterinochilus sjostedti (Tullgren, 1910), and Pterinochilus widenmanni (Strand, 1906) = Pterinochilus chordatus
Pterinochilus flavipilosus (Lawrence, 1936), Pterinochilus pluridentatus (Hewitt, 1919), and Pterinochilus tenuitibialis = Pterinochilus lugardi
Pterinochilus hindei (Hirst, 1907), Pterinochilus leetzi (Schmidt, 2002), and Pterinochilus mamillatus (Strand, 1906) = Pterinochilus murinus
Pterinochilus mutus (Strand, 1920), Pterinochilus obenbergeri (Strand, 1920), and Pterinochilus occidentalis (Strand, 1920) = Pterinochilus simoni

Trichognathella (Gallon, 2004) [Monotypic?]

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<i>Ceratogyrus</i> Genus of spiders

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<i>Stasimopus</i> Genus of spiders

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Augacephalus is a genus of harpacterine theraphosid spiders. It has three species, all of which are found in Africa.

Augacephalus breyeri is a species of harpactirine theraphosid spider, found in South Africa, Mozambique and Eswatini.

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<i>Harpactira pulchripes</i> Species of spider

Harpactira pulchripes, also known as the golden blue-legged baboon spider, is a bright yellow-bodied and metallic blue-legged tarantula found in South Africa. It was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901. It is a very highly desired tarantula in the European and American tarantula keeping hobby. Its specific name pulchripes is derived from Latin "pulchri" meaning beautiful, and "pes" meaning feet, forming the name beautiful feet.

<i>Idiothele mira</i> Species of spider

Idiothele mira, also known as the blue-foot baboon or the trap-door tarantula, is a species of tarantula endemic to South Africa and is popularized by hobbyists for the striking blue coloration on the ventral side of the tarsi and metatarsi on each leg. Furthermore, the species is well known for belonging to one of two described genera of theraphosids that build a trapdoor, the other being Typhochlaena.

Solpugema is a genus of solpugid camel spiders, first described by Carl Friedrich Roewer in 1933.

References

  1. Platnick, Norman I. "World Spider Catalog", "American Museum of Natural History."