Porrhothele

Porrhothele
P. antipodiana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Subphylum:Chelicerata
Class:Arachnida
Order:Araneae
Infraorder:Mygalomorphae
Family:Porrhothelidae
Hedin et al., 2018[1]
Genus:Porrhothele
Simon, 1892[2]
Type species
Mygale antipodiana
Species

See text

Diversity
5 species

Porrhothele is a mygalomorph spider genus with five described species, all endemic to New Zealand. Before 1980, this genus was considered to belong to the family Dipluridae; later it was moved to Hexathelidae. In 2018, it was placed in its own family, Porrhothelidae.[2]

Description

The genus and family are differentiated from other mygalomorph spiders by the small posterior sigillae and a single row of teeth on the forward-facing margin of the chelicerae. Males have a large number of strong spines on the forward-facing margin of their tibiae.[3]

Taxonomy

The genus Porrhothele was erected by Eugène Simon in 1892 for the species Porrhothele antipodiana, which Simon transferred from Mygale[2] – a genus no longer in use, but then used for many mygalomorph spiders. Simon placed the genus in the subfamily Diplurinae,[4] which later became the family Dipluridae. In 1980, Raven transferred the genus to the family Hexathelidae; in 1981, it was transferred to its own family, Porrhothelidae,[2] as a result of a molecular phylogenetic study. The following cladogram shows the possible relationship of Porrhothele to related taxa.[3]

 

 

Dipluridae

 
 

 

Hexathelidae

 
 

 

Porrhothele (Porrhothelidae)

 
 

 

Macrothelidae

 
 

 

 

Calisoga (Nemesiidae)

 
 

Hebestatis (Halonoproctidae)

 
 
 

 

Atracidae

 
 

Actinopodidae

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Species

As of May 2018, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species:[2]

  • Porrhothele antipodiana (Walckenaer, 1837)
  • Porrhothele blanda Forster, 1968
  • Porrhothele moana Forster, 1968
  • Porrhothele modesta Forster, 1968
  • Porrhothele quadrigyna Forster, 1968

Distribution

All species are endemic to New Zealand.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Family Porrhothelidae Hedin, Derkarabetian, Ramírez, Vink & Bond, 2018", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2018-05-25
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Gen. Porrhothele Simon, 1892", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2018-05-15
  3. 1 2 Hedin, M.; Derkarabetian, S.; Ramírez, M.J.; Vink, C. & Bond, J.E. (2018), "Phylogenomic reclassification of the world's most venomous spiders (Mygalomorphae, Atracinae), with implications for venom evolution", Scientific Reports, 8 (1636): 1–7, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-19946-2
  4. ↑ Simon, E. (1892), Histoire naturelle des araignées, 1, Paris, pp. 174ff.
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