Pterinochilus

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Pterinochilus
Pterinochilus murinus

Pterinochilus murinus

Systematics
Class : Arachnids (arachnida)
Order : Spiders (Araneae)
Subordination : Tarantulas (Mygalomorphae)
Family : Tarantulas (Theraphosidae)
Subfamily : Harpactirinae
Genre : Pterinochilus
Scientific name
Pterinochilus
Pocock , 1897
Pterinochilus chordatus

Pterinochilus is a genus ofthe tarantula family (Theraphosidae). It belongs to the subfamily of the Harpactirinae and currently comprises ten species , all ofwhich are commonin Africa . (As of July 2017)

features

The species of the genus Pterinochilus are rather small to medium-sized tarantulas with a body length of about 4–6 cm. They have a dorsal abdominal markings that resemble a bone pattern, consisting of horizontal stripes and spotty points. They are gray to brownish in color, with the exception of Pterinochilus murinus , which can be brick-red in color. The spiders are densely hairy all over their bodies, but have no stinging hairs . On the inside of each chelicera there is a scopula . The scopula of the tarsi is undivided, as is that of the metatarsi, only on the fourth metatarsus is it divided by a series of stiffened setae .

The female spermathec consists of two receptacula seminis . In some species, including Pterinochilus lugardi , the spermathec is provided on the outside with a lobed structure ( lobe ). The end segment of the posterior spinnerets is finger-shaped.

Habitat and way of life

The ten species of the genus Pterinochilus are distributed in central , eastern and southern Africa . The spiders inhabit the open grasslands there. They are ground dwellers and dig deep living tubes. The main activity is in the rainy season. They usually only come out in the evening hours at dusk to lie in wait for prey.

Systematics

In 1897 Reginald Innes Pocock established the genus Pterinochilus , to which he included some tarantulas that had previously been placed in the genus Harpactira . In the same work, Pocock also described Pterinochilus murinus using a specimen from Tanganyika . The type species of the genus is Pterinochilus vorax .

Because of the variability of the coloration, color variants have often been described as separate species. By the year 2002, 23 species had accumulated in the genus Pterinochilus . During the Second World War , numerous type specimens by the natural scientist Embrik Strand (1876–1953) were lost in the fire at the State Museum for Natural History in Stuttgart , which made revision difficult. Finally, in the revision of the genus by Richard C. Gallon in 2002, the Pterinochilus species were reduced to six. In the meantime, new species have been described and the genus currently comprises ten species again according to the World Spider Catalog . (As of July 2017)

literature

  • Andrew M. Smith: Baboon Spiders: Tarantulas of Africa and the Middle East. Dennis Fitzgerald Publishing, 1990 ISBN 0-9510939-7-5
  • Richard C. Gallon: Revision of the African genera Pterinochilus and Eucratoscelus (Araneae, Theraphisidae, Harpactirinae) with description of two new genera. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society, 12, 5, pp. 201-231, 2002

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Natural History Museum of the Burgergemeinde Bern: World Spider Catalog Version 18.0 - Pterinochilus . Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  2. ^ Gallon, RC: Revision of the African genera Pterinochilus and Eucratoscelus (Araneae, Theraphisidae, Harpactirinae) with description of two new genera. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 12 (5), 2002, pp. 201-232.

Web links

Commons : Pterinochilus  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Pterinochilus in the World Spider Catalog