''Atypus'', also called purseweb spiders, is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of atypical tarantulas first described by

Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoology, zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained hi ...

in 1804. It occurs in

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

, with one species (''A. affinis'') reaching into

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. Only three of the described species occur in Europe: ''A. piceus'', ''A. affinis'', and ''A. muralis''. Specimens from the USA formerly known as ''A. snetsingeri'' represent an introduced population of ''A. karschi''. Peasants in the southern

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

used to cut up tubes built by ''Atypus'' and cover wounds with the inner lining. It reportedly facilitated healing and even connected with the skin. This is believed to be due to antiseptic properties of

spider silk Spider silk is a protein fibre or silk spun by spiders. Spiders use silk to make webs or other structures that function as adhesive traps to catch prey, to entangle and restrain prey before biting, to transmit tactile information, or as nest ...

(which is made of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

). ''Atypus'' cobwebs have also been used in

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

to manage the symptoms of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

Identification features

They are three-clawed, medium to large spiders with eight eyes. They have six

spinnerets A spinneret is a silk-spinning organ of a spider or the larva of an insect. Some adult insects also have spinnerets, such as those borne on the forelegs of Embioptera. Spinnerets are usually on the underside of a spider's opisthosoma, and ar ...

with the median spinneret truncated. The prolateral sides of the

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

e are elongated. The cephalic side of the

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

is elevated. They have large

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated ...

with long and thin fangs. The male

sternum The sternum (: sternums or sterna) or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major bl ...

has marginal ridges.

Species

it contains 33 species: *'' Atypus affinis'' Eichwald, 1830 – Europe (Britain to Ukraine), North Africa *'' Atypus baotianmanensis'' Hu, 1994 – China *'' Atypus baotingensis'' Li, Xu, Zhang, Liu, Zhang & Li, 2018 – China (Hainan) *'' Atypus coreanus'' Kim, 1985 – Korea *'' Atypus dorsualis'' Thorell, 1897 – Myanmar, Thailand *'' Atypus flexus'' Zhu, Zhang, Song & Qu, 2006 – China *'' Atypus formosensis'' Kayashima, 1943 – Taiwan *'' Atypus heterothecus'' Zhang, 1985 – China *'' Atypus javanus'' Thorell, 1890 – Indonesia (Java) *'' Atypus jianfengensis'' Li, Xu, Zhang, Liu, Zhang & Li, 2018 – China (Hainan) *'' Atypus karschi'' Dönitz, 1887 – China, Taiwan, Japan *'' Atypus lannaianus'' Schwendinger, 1989 – Thailand *'' Atypus largosaccatus'' Zhu, Zhang, Song & Qu, 2006 – China *'' Atypus ledongensis'' Zhu, Zhang, Song & Qu, 2006 – China *'' Atypus magnus'' Namkung, 1986 – Russia (Far East), Korea *'' Atypus medius'' Oliger, 1999 – Russia (Far East) *'' Atypus minutus'' Lee, Lee, Yoo & Kim, 2015 – Korea *''

Atypus muralis ''Atypus muralis'' is a mygalomorph spider from Central Europe to Turkmenistan. It is very similar to ''Atypus piceus'', but the posterior spinnerets A spinneret is a silk-spinning organ of a spider or the larva of an insect. Some adult i ...

'' Bertkau, 1890 – Central Europe to Iran and Turkmenistan *'' Atypus pedicellatus'' Zhu, Zhang, Song & Qu, 2006 – China *''

Atypus piceus ''Atypus piceus'' is a mygalomorph spider of the family Atypidae. It occurs from France to Russia and in Iran, and is the type species of the genus ''Atypus''. Description Males are about long without chelicerae, females up to . Males are of a ...

'' (Sulzer, 1776) (

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

) – Europe (France to Russia), Iran *'' Atypus quelpartensis'' Namkung, 2002 – Korea *'' Atypus sacculatus'' Zhu, Zhang, Song & Qu, 2006 – China *'' Atypus seogwipoensis'' Kim, Ye & Noh, 2015 – Korea *'' Atypus sinensis'' Schenkel, 1953 – China *'' Atypus sternosulcus'' Kim, Kim, Jung & Lee, 2006 – Korea *'' Atypus suiningensis'' Zhang, 1985 – China *'' Atypus suthepicus'' Schwendinger, 1989 – Thailand *'' Atypus sutherlandi'' Chennappaiya, 1935 – India *'' Atypus suwonensis'' Kim, Kim, Jung & Lee, 2006 – Korea *'' Atypus tibetensis'' Zhu, Zhang, Song & Qu, 2006 – China *'' Atypus wataribabaorum'' Tanikawa, 2006 – Japan *'' Atypus wii'' Siliwal, Kumar &

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

, 2014 – India *'' Atypus yajuni'' Zhu, Zhang, Song & Qu, 2006 – China

Medical usage

The cobwebs produced by spiders in the genus ''Atypus'', called Huidouba, have traditionally been consumed in

and

to manage the symptoms of

. Several studies have corroborated their therapeutic effects. Peasants in the southern

(which is made of

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q98771 Atypidae Mygalomorphae genera Spiders of Asia Spiders of Africa Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille