Hexathele

Last updated

Hexathele
Female Banded tunnelweb spider (Hexathele hochstetteri) - (2).jpg
Female Hexathele hochstetteri
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Hexathelidae
Genus: Hexathele
Ausserer, 1871 [1]
Type species
H. hochstetteri
Ausserer, 1871
Species

20, see text

Hexathele is a genus of tunnelweb spiders endemic to New Zealand that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871, [2] though most others have been described by Raymond Robert Forster. [1] Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was moved to the Hexathelidae in 1980. [3]

Contents

Description

Most species of Hexathele are relatively large spiders. Females of Hexathele waita , one of the largest species, may have a carapace 13 mm (0.5 in) long, and an abdomen 15 mm (0.6 in) long, with the longest leg (the fourth) being 38 mm (1.5 in) long in total. Hexathele species are generally brown to black in colour. Many species have a chevron pattern on the upper surface of the abdomen, with patterns often being unique to the species. The carapace of the cephalothorax has a more or less straight depression (fovea) in the centre. The eyes are arranged in a compact group. The male palp lacks tibial apophyses (projections), but the male's first pair of legs have double spines on the tibia. There are six spinnerets, with the posterior pair being three-segmented and relatively long. [4]

Taxonomy

The genus was erected by Anton Ausserer in 1871, for the species Hexathele hochstetteri . Mygalomorph spiders were initially very broadly categorized; in 1892, Eugène Simon placed Hexathele in the group Hexatheleae, subfamily Diplurinae, family Aviculariidae. [5] Later the subfamily was raised to the family Dipluridae with Hexathelinae as a subfamily – the classification used by Raymond R. Forster when he described many new species. [4] The subfamily was split off as a full family, Hexathelidae, by Robert J. Raven in 1980. [1]

Species

As of May 2019 it contains twenty species, all found in New Zealand: [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hexathelidae</span> Family of spiders

Hexathelidae is a family of mygalomorph spiders. It is one of a number of families and genera of spiders known as tunnelweb or funnel-web spiders. In 2018, the family was substantially reduced in size by genera being moved to three separate families: Atracidae, Macrothelidae and Porrhothelidae.

<i>Porrhothele</i> Genus of spiders

Porrhothele is a genus of mygalomorph spiders endemic to New Zealand. They are the only members of the family Porrhothelidae. They were first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1892. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was moved to the Hexathelidae in 1980, they were placed in their own family in 2018.

<i>Hexathele hochstetteri</i> Banded tunnelweb spider from New Zealand

Hexathele hochstetteri, commonly known as the banded tunnelweb spider, is a spider in the family Hexathelidae, found only in New Zealand. It is common on the North Island, and uncommon on the South Island.

Hexathele exemplar is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

Hexathele huka is a species of Mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

Hexathele huttoni is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Hexathele kohua</i> Species of spider

Hexathele kohua is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Hexathele maitaia</i> Species of spider

Hexathele maitaia is a species of Mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

Hexathele nigra is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

Hexathele otira is a species of Mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

Hexathele para is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Hexathele petriei</i> Species of spider

Hexathele petriei is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Hexathele pukea</i> Species of spider

Hexathele pukea is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Hexathele putuna</i> Species of spider

Hexathele putuna is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

Hexathele rupicola is a species of Mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

Hexathele taumara is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

Hexathele waipa is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Hexathele waita</i> Species of spider

Hexathele waita is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

Hexathele wiltoni is a species of mygalomorph spider endemic to New Zealand.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Gen. Hexathele Ausserer, 1871". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ Raven, R. J. (1980). "The evolution and biogeography of the mygalomorph spider family Hexathelidae (Araneae, Chelicerata)". Journal of Arachnology. 8: 253.
  4. 1 2 Forster, R.R. (1968). "The spiders of New Zealand. Part II. Ctenizidae, Dipluridae". Otago Museum Bulletin (2): 1–72, 126–180.
  5. ↑ Simon, E (1892). Histoire naturelle des araignées. Vol. 1. Paris: Roret. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.