Dwarf tarantula

Dwarf tarantulas Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Mygalomorphae
Clade:	Atypoidea
Family:	Mecicobothriidae Holmberg, 1882

Dwarf tarantulas, also known as sheet funnel-web spiders are a type of spider from the family Mecicobothriidae. Dwarf tarantulas are one of several families of the suborder Mygalomorphae; this larger group also includes the true tarantulas.

Description

Dwarf tarantulas, as the name indicates, appear very similar to tarantulas, but are physically much smaller. Many specimens are smaller than 1 cm in length, and the largest in the family are seldom larger than 2 cm. The spiders, like all Mygalomorphae, have downward pointing fangs; dwarf tarantulas also have long spinnerets.

Genera

There is currently only 1 recognized genus in this family:

Mecicobothrium Holmberg, 1882

• Mecicobothrium baccai Lucas et al., 2006 — Brazil
• Mecicobothrium thorelli Holmberg, 1882 — Argentina, Uruguay

Genera moved to other families include:

• Hexura Simon, 1884 → Antrodiaetidae
• Hexurella Gertsch & Platnick, 1979 → Hexurellidae
• Megahexura Kaston, 1972 → Megahexuridae

See also

• Spider families

References

• Costa, F.G. & Pérez-Miles, F. (1998). Behavior, life cycle, and webs of Mecicobothrium thorelli, The Journal of Arachnology 26:317-329 PDF
• Gertsch, W.G. & Platnick, N.I. (1979). A revision of the spider family Mecicobothriidae (Araneae, Mygalomorphae). American Museum Novitates 2687 PDF (14Mb) - Abstract
• Lucas, Sylvia Marlene; Indicatti, Rafael Prezzi; Brescovit, Antonio Domingos; Francisco, Rafael Carlo (2006). "First record of the Mecicobothriidae Holmberg from Brazil, with a description of a new species of Mecicobothrium (Aranea, Mygalomorphae)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1326: 45–53.