The Mesothelae are a suborder of spiders. As of April 2024, two extant families were accepted by the World Spider Catalog, Liphistiidae and Heptathelidae. Alternatively, the Heptathelidae can be treated as a subfamily of a more broadly circumscribed Liphistiidae. There are also a number of extinct families.
The spider family Liphistiidae was first recognized by Tamerlan Thorell in 1869. When narrowly circumscribed, it comprises a single genus Liphistius, native to Southeast Asia; as of April 2024, this was the circumscription accepted by the World Spider Catalog. The family contains the most basal living spiders, belonging to the suborder Mesothelae. The family has also been circumscribed more broadly to include the family Heptathelidae as a subfamily, Heptathelinae, with the narrowly circumscribed Liphistiidae becoming the subfamily Liphistiinae.
Heptathela is a genus of spiders that includes the Kimura spider. They are trapdoor spiders of the family Heptathelidae and are found in Japan, including Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. Spiders of this genus lack venom glands.
Macrothele is a genus of mygalomorph spiders in the family Macrothelidae, and was first described by A. Ausserer in 1871. Most species occur in Asia, from India to Japan, and Java, with five found in Africa, and two in Europe. The name is derived from Ancient Greek μακρός ("makro-"), meaning "big", and θηλή ("thele"), referring to the spinnerets.
Liphistius is a genus of basal trapdoor spiders in the family Liphistiidae. They are found in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.
Parasteatoda is a genus of comb-footed spiders that was first described by Allan Frost Archer in 1946. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek "para-" (παρά), meaning "near" or "next to", and the theridiid genus Steatoda. The Japanese name for this genus is O-himegumo zoku.
Songthela is a spider genus in the family Heptathelidae, with species found in China and Vietnam.
Ryuthela tanikawai is a species of spider in the family Liphistiidae.
Coelotes is a genus of funnel weavers first described by John Blackwall in 1841. A large number of species are found throughout Europe and Asia.
Latouchia is a genus of Asian mygalomorph spiders in the family Halonoproctidae, first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901. Originally placed with the Ctenizidae, it was moved to the Halonoproctidae in 2018.
Ganthela is a genus of spiders in the family Heptathelidae. It was first described in 2015 by Xu & Kuntner. As of 2017, it contains 7 species, all of them from China.
Qiongthela is a genus of spiders in the family Heptathelidae. As of 2021, it contains 14 species.
Vinathela is a genus of spiders in the family Heptathelidae. It was first described in 2000 by Ono. As of 2017, it contains 7 species. Two species were formerly placed in the genus Nanthela, now submerged into Vinathela.
Sinopesa is a genus of spiders in the family Nemesiidae. It is found in China and on Ryukyu Islands in Japan. It was first described in 1995 by Raven & Schwendinger. As of 2023, it contains 8 Asian species.
Oilinyphia is a genus of Asian dwarf spiders that was first described by H. Ono & H. Saito in 1989.
Asemonea tanikawai is a species of jumping spider in the genus Asemonea that is endemic to Japan. It lives in trees in mountain ranges. The spider was first described in 1996 by Hiroyoshi Ikeda. The spider is small, with a carapace [prosoma that between 1.31 and 1.60 mm long and an abdomen is between 1.84 and 2.24 mm long. It is whitish-yellow with a pattern of two brown stripes down the back of the carapace and nine black dots on the back of the abdomen. The male has a distinctive pedipalp with a complex tibial apophysis and a furrow alongside the femoral apophysis, which distinguishes it from the otherwise similar Asemonea maculata and Asemonea pinangensis. The female is also similar, with its copulatory openings hidden in its epigyne. The spider has been found throughout Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands.
Heptathelidae is a family of spiders. It has been sunk within the family Liphistiidae as the subfamily Heptathelinae, but as of April 2024 was accepted by the World Spider Catalog. It is placed in suborder Mesothelae, which contains the most basal living spiders.
Luthela is a genus of spiders in the family Heptathelidae, found in China.
