Selenocosmiinae | |
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Selenocosmia stirlingi | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Mygalomorphae |
Clade: | Avicularioidea |
Family: | Theraphosidae |
Subfamily: | Selenocosmiinae Simon, 1889 |
The Selenocosmiinae [1] are a subfamily of tarantulas (Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) found throughout South-East Asia and Australia. This subfamily is defined by the presence of a lyra on the maxillae and strikers on the chelicerae, allowing these spiders to stridulate and produce a "hissing" sound. However some species within Phlogiellus may have secondary lost their lyra but retain their strikers. The monophyly of the subfamily has been only tested using genetic data with a handful of genera or species in a few studies. [2] [3] However, these studies found genera that had been previously placed in this subfamily were actual their own separate subfamily ( Poecilotheria ) and that Selenocosmiinae is most closely related to the Indian Thrigmopoeinae. As of 2021, Selenocosmiinae contains 11 genera.