Taxobox
name = "Macrothele"
image_caption = threatening female "M. gigas"
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Arachnida
ordo = Araneae
subordo = Mygalomorphae
familia = Hexathelidae
genus = "Macrothele"
genus_authority = Ausserer, 1871
diversity_link = List of Hexathelidae species#Macrothele
diversity = 26 species
type_species = "Mygale calpeiana"
type_species_authority = Walckenaer, 1805
range_
range_map_width = 250px
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See text.
"Macrothele" is a genus of mygalomorph spiders.
Most species occur in Asia from India to Japan and Java, with four found in Africa, and two in Europe.
Description
Spiders of this genus are fairly large, with Chinese species ranging from one to three centimeters in female body length. Males are smaller, sometimes only half the size.
These spiders build tube-webs or funnel-webs under rocks, logs or crevices in the ground.[Zhu & Song 2000] ]Distribution
"Macrothele" ranges from the western Mediterranean and West Africa to Southeast Asia and China. However, there is some doubt if the western and eastern species should be grouped in the same genus. [Murphy & Murphy 2000]
Name
The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek "makro" "big" and "thele", which refers to the spinnerets.
pecies
* "Macrothele abrupta" Benoit, 1965 — Congo
* "Macrothele amamiensis" Shimojana & Haupt, 1998 — Ryukyu Islands
* "Macrothele bannaensis" Xu & Yin, 2001 — China
* "Macrothele calpeiana" (Walckenaer, 1805) — Spain, North Africa
* "Macrothele camerunensis" Simon, 1903 — Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea
* "Macrothele cretica" Kulczynski, 1903 — Crete
* "Macrothele decemnotata" Simon, 1909 — Vietnam
* "Macrothele gigas" Shimojana & Haupt, 1998 — Ryukyu Islands
* "Macrothele guizhouensis" Hu & Li, 1986 — China
* "Macrothele holsti" Pocock, 1901 — Taiwan
* "Macrothele hunanica" Zhu & Song, 2000 — China
* "Macrothele incisa" Benoit, 1965 — Congo
* "Macrothele maculata" (Thorell, 1890) — Myanmar, Sumatra, Java
** "Macrothele maculata annamensis" Hogg, 1922 — Vietnam
* "Macrothele monocirculata" Xu & Yin, 2000 — China
* "Macrothele palpator" Pocock, 1901 — China, Hong Kong
* "Macrothele proserpina" Simon, 1909 — Vietnam
* "Macrothele raveni" Zhu, Li & Song, 2000 — China
* "Macrothele segmentata" Simon, 1892 — Malaysia
* "Macrothele simplicata" (Saito, 1933) — Taiwan
* "Macrothele taiwanensis" Shimojana & Haupt, 1998 — Taiwan
* "Macrothele triangularis" Benoit, 1965 — Congo
* "Macrothele variabiis" Pavesi, 1898 — Java
* "Macrothele vidua" Simon, 1906 — India
* "Macrothele yaginumai" Shimojana & Haupt, 1998 — Ryukyu Islands
* "Macrothele yani" Xu, Yin & Griswold, 2002 — China
* "Macrothele yunnanica" Zhu & Song, 2000 — China
Footnotes
References
* (2000): Review of the Chinese funnel-web spiders of the genus "Macrothele", with descriptions of two new species (Araneae:Hexathelidae). "The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology" 48(1): 59-64. [http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/48/48rbz059-064.pdf PDF] (with key to Chinese species)
* (2008): [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html The world spider catalog] , version 8.5. "American Museum of Natural History".
* (2000): An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. "Malaysian Nature Society", Kuala Lumpur.
