The Harpactirinae (commonly called baboon spiders) are a
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
of
tarantula
Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...
s which are native to the continent of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
. Like many
Old World
The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...
tarantulas, they have a relatively strong
venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
and can inflict a painful bite.
Description
Harpactirinae are ground-dwelling spiders which build silk-lined burrows, often under debris such as stones, using their fangs and
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 ...
for digging. Habitats include
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
woodlands, grasslands, and dry scrublands.
Systematics
The following genera and species are present in the Harpactirinae. In addition, the genus ''
Brachionopus'' (Pocock, 1897) has been suggested for placement in this subfamily, but its taxonomy is currently disputed.
''
Augacephalus''
(Gallon, 2002)
Type species: ''
Augacephalus breyeri''
In synonymy:
''
Augacephalus nigrifemur''
(Schmidt, 1995) = ''
Augacephalus junodi''
*''
Augacephalus breyeri''
(Hewitt, 1919) — Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini
*''
Augacephalus ezendami''
(Gallon, 2001) — Mozambique, the Mozambique Gold
nBaboon, Mozambique Half Moon Baboon
*''
Augacephalus junodi''
(Simon, 1904) — East, South Africa, the
ast AfricanBushveld Golden Brown Featherleg Baboon
''
Bacillochilus''
(Gallon, 2010) onotypic
*''
Bacillochilus xenostridulans''
(Gallon, 2010) — Angola
''
Brachionopus''
(Pocock, 1897)
To quote Platnick's World Spider Catalog v. 12.5,
[Platnick, Norman I]
"World Spider Catalog"
"American Museum of Natural History." "N.B.: transferred here from the Barychelidae by Raven, 1985a: 112; Brachyonopus is an unjustified emendation; Raven's transfer was not accepted by Charpentier, 1993: 5 or Schmidt, 2002a: 12 and 2008: 3, who nevertheless identified no close relatives of the genus among the known barychelids; Gallon, 2002: 204 argued for its inclusion in the Barychelidae but indicated that it "does not fit in any current barychelid subfamily" but later (Gallon, 2010b: 79) considered it a harpactirine.".
In other words, its taxonomy is in dispute and the many recent workers do not consider it a theraphosid. All are found in South Africa.
*''
Brachionopus annulatus''
(Purcell, 1903)
*''
Brachionopus leptopelmiformis''
(Strand, 1907)
*''
Brachionopus pretoriae''
(Purcell, 1904)
*''
Brachionopus robustus''
(Pocock, 1897)
*''
Brachionopus tristis''
(Purcell, 1903)
''
Ceratogyrus''
(Pocock, 1897) enior synonym of Coelogenium Purcell, 1902br />
Type species: ''
Ceratogyrus darlingi''
Transferred to other genera:
''
Ceratogyrus ezendami'' → ''
Augacephalus ezendami''
''
Ceratogyrus nigrifemur'' → ''
Augacephalus nigrifemur''
''
Ceratogyrus raveni''
(Smith, 1990) → ''
Pterinochilus chordatus''
In synonymy:
''
Ceratogyrus bechuanicus''
(Purcell, 1902) and ''
Ceratogyrus schultzei''
(Purcell, 1908) = ''
Ceratogyrus darlingi''
''
Ceratogyrus cornuatus''
(De Wet & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 1991) = ''
Ceratogyrus marshalli''
*''
Ceratogyrus brachycephalus''
(Hewitt, 1919) — Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, the
otswananGreater Horned Baboon
*''
Ceratogyrus darlingi''
(Pocock, 1897) — Zimbabwe, Mozambique, the
imbabwean, AfricanRear Horned Baboon, Curved Horn Baboon
*''
Ceratogyrus dolichocephalus''
(Hewitt, 1919) — Zimbabwe
*''
Ceratogyrus hillyardi''
(Smith, 1990) — Malawi
*''
Ceratogyrus marshalli''
(Pocock, 1897) — Zimbabwe, Mozambique, the
imbabweanStraight Horned Baboon
*''
Ceratogyrus meridionalis''
(Hirst, 1907) — Malawi, Mozambique, the
alawian Zimbabwe Gray Baboon
*''
Ceratogyrus paulseni''
(Gallon, 2005) — Republic of South Africa
*''
Ceratogyrus pillansi''
(Purcell, 1902) — Zimbabwe, Mozambique
*''
Ceratogyrus sanderi''
(Strand, 1906) — Namibia, Zimbabwe, the
amibianSandy Horned Baboon
''
Eucratoscelus''
(Pocock, 1898)
Type species: ''
Eucratoscelus constrictus''
Transferred to other genera:
''
Eucratoscelus tenuitibialis''
(Schmidt & Gelling, 2000) → ''
Pterinochilus lugardi''
In synonymy:
''
Eucratoscelus longiceps''
(Pocock, 1898) and ''
Eucratoscelus spinifer'' = ''
Eucratoscelus constrictus''
*''
Eucratoscelus constrictus''
(Gerstäcker, 1873) — Kenya, Tanzania
*''
Eucratoscelus pachypus''
(Schmidt & Von Wirth, 1990) — Tanzania
''
Harpactira''
(Ausserer, 1871)
Type species: ''
Harpactira atra''
*''
Harpactira atra''
(Latreille, 1832) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira baviana''
(Purcell, 1903) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira cafreriana''
(Walckenaer, 1837) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira chrysogaster''
(Pocock, 1897) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira curator''
(Pocock, 1898) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira curvipes''
(Pocock, 1897) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira dictator''
(Purcell, 1902) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira gigas''
(Pocock, 1898) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira guttata''
(Strand, 1907) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira hamiltoni''
(Pocock, 1902) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira lineata''
(Pocock, 1897) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira lyrata''
(Simon, 1892) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira marksi''
(Purcell, 1902) — South Africa
*''
Harpactira namaquensis''
(Purcell, 1902) — Namibia, South Africa
*''
Harpactira pulchripes''
(Pocock, 1901) — South Africa, the
outh AfricanGolden Blue Leg Baboon, Slate Gray Leg(ged) Baboon
*''
Harpactira tigrina''
(Ausserer, 1875) — South Africa
''
Harpactirella''
(Purcell, 1902) enior synonym of ''Luphocemus''
">Luphocemus.html" ;"title="enior synonym of ''Luphocemus">enior synonym of ''Luphocemus''
br />
Type species: ''
Harpactirella treleaveni''
Transferred to other genera:
''Harpactirella flavipilosa''
(Lawrence, 1936) → ''
Pterinochilus lugardi''
''
Harpactirella latithorax''
(Strand, 1908) → ''
Euathlus vulpinus''
''
Harpactirella leleupi''
(Benoit, 1965) → ''
Idiothele nigrofulva''
*''
Harpactirella domicola''
(Purcell, 1903) — South Africa
*''
Harpactirella helenae''
(Purcell, 1903) — South Africa
*''
Harpactirella insidiosa''
(Denis, 1960) — Morocco (Dubious)
*''
Harpactirella karrooica''
(Purcell, 1902) — South Africa
*''
Harpactirella lapidaria''
(Purcell, 1908) — South Africa
*''
Harpactirella lightfooti''
(Purcell, 1902) — South Africa
*''
Harpactirella longipes''
(Purcell, 1902) — South Africa
*''
Harpactirella magna''
(Purcell, 1903) — South Africa
*''
Harpactirella overdijki''
(Gallon, 2010) — South Africa
*''
Harpactirella schwarzi''
(Purcell, 1904) — South Africa
*''
Harpactirella spinosa''
(Purcell, 1908) — South Africa
*''
Harpactirella treleaveni''
(Purcell, 1902) — South Africa
''
Idiothele''
(Hewitt, 1919)
Type species: ''
Idiothele nigrofulva''
In synonymy:
''
Idiothele crassispina''
(Purcell, 1902) and ''
Idiothele leleupi''
(Benoit, 1965) = ''
Idiothele nigrofulva''
*''
Idiothele mira''
(Gallon, 2010) - South Africa, the South African Blue Footed Trapdoor Baboon
*''
Idiothele nigrofulva''
(Pocock, 1898) — Southern Africa
''
Pterinochilus''
(Pocock, 1897) enior synonym of ''Pterinochilides''
">Pterinochilides.html" ;"title="enior synonym of ''Pterinochilides">enior synonym of ''Pterinochilides''
br />
Type species: ''
Pterinochilus vorax''
Transferred to other genera:
''Pterinochilus breyeri'' → ''
Augacephalus breyeri''
''
Pterinochilus constrictus'' and ''
Pterinochilus spinifer'' → ''
Eucratoscelus constrictus''
''
Pterinochilus crassispinus'' and ''
Pterinochilus nigrofulvus'' → ''
Idiothele nigrofulva''
''
Pterinochilus junodi'' and ''
Pterinochilus nigrifemur'' → ''
Augacephalus junodi''
''
Pterinochilus meridionalis'' → ''
Ceratogyrus meridionalis''
''
Pterinochilus schoenlandi'' → ''
Trichognathella schoenlandi''
In synonymy:
''
Pterinochilus affinis''
(Tullgren, 1910), ''
Pterinochilus brunellii''
(Caporiacco, 1940), ''
Pterinochilus carnivorus''
(Strand, 1917), ''
Pterinochilus raptor''
(Strand, 1906), ''
Pterinochilus raveni''
(Smith, 1990), ''
Pterinochilus sjostedti''
(Tullgren, 1910), and ''
Pterinochilus widenmanni''
(Strand, 1906) = ''
Pterinochilus chordatus''
''
Pterinochilus flavipilosus''
(Lawrence, 1936), ''
Pterinochilus pluridentatus''
(Hewitt, 1919), and ''
Pterinochilus tenuitibialis'' = ''
Pterinochilus lugardi''
''
Pterinochilus hindei''
(Hirst, 1907), ''
Pterinochilus leetzi''
(Schmidt, 2002), and ''
Pterinochilus mamillatus''
(Strand, 1906) = ''
Pterinochilus murinus''
''
Pterinochilus mutus''
(Strand, 1920), ''
Pterinochilus obenbergeri''
(Strand, 1920), and ''
Pterinochilus occidentalis''
(Strand, 1920) = ''
Pterinochilus simoni''
*''
Pterinochilus alluaudi''
(Berland, 1914) — Kenya
*''
Pterinochilus andrewsmithi''
(Gallon, 2009) — Northwestern Kenya
*''
Pterinochilus chordatus''
(Gerstäcker, 1873) — East Africa, the Kilimanjaro Mustard Baboon
*''
Pterinochilus cryptus''
(Gallon, 2008) — Angola
*''
Pterinochilus lapalala''
(Gallon & Engelbrecht, 2011) — Waterberg mountains of Limpopo Province, South Africa
*''
Pterinochilus lugardi''
(Pocock, 1900) — Eastern and Southern Africa, the Dodoma Fort Hall Baboon
*''
Pterinochilus murinus''
(Pocock, 1897) — Angola, Central, Eastern, Southern Africa, the Usumbara Orange Baboon, Mombasa Golden Starburst
aboon "OBT"
*''
Pterinochilus raygabrieli''
(Gallon, 2009) — Southcentral Kenya
*''
Pterinochilus simoni''
(Berland, 1917) — Angola, Congo
*''
Pterinochilus vorax''
(Pocock, 1897) — Angola, Central, East Africa
''
Trichognathella''
(Gallon, 2004) onotypic?
*''
Trichognathella schoenlandi''
(Pocock, 1900) — South Africa
References
External links
Norman I. Platnick: The World Spider Catalog, American Museum of Natural History.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2281100
Theraphosidae
Spiders of Africa
Spider subfamilies