The Eumenophorinae are a subfamily of

tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although m ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s (family Theraphosidae). They are known from genera distributed across Sub-Saharan Africa, the south of the Arabian peninsula,

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and its associated islands, and parts of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Distribution

At about 158-160 million years ago (Mya), Gondwana split up and the Indo-Madagascan plate drifted away from the rest of the super continent. At around 84-86 Mya,

split from Madagascar and drifted into

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

(66-55 Mya), to its current position. Therefore, all fauna in Gondwana (such as the Eumenophorinae) would be distributed on all three land masses.

Characteristics

The Eumenophorinae have stridulatory spike

seta In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for " bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. ...

e on the coxae of all legs, and a "comb" of stiffened setae on the

palp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") ...

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates wit ...

. In 2005, Richard Gallon described the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus '' Mascaraneus'', which lacks the stridulatory spike setae.

Taxonomy

The

monophyly In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

of the Eumenophorinae has been confirmed in a number of molecular phylogenetic studies. However, these have included relatively few of the genera that have been placed in the subfamily at one time or another. A 2014 study included ''

Anoploscelus ''Anoploscelus'' is a genus of East African Theraphosidae, tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1897. It was erected for the species ''Anoploscelus celeripes'', based on a single male collected near Lake Tanganyika in mo ...

'' and ''

Phoneyusa ''Phoneyusa'' is a genus of spiders belonging to the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas). Taxonomy The genus was erected by Ferdinand Karsch in 1884, based on a spider from central Africa he regarded as in some ways similar to the South American ...

''. A 2018 study included '' Hysterocrates'', '' Monocentropus'' and ''

Pelinobius ''Pelinobius'' or the king baboon is a monotypic genus of east African tarantulas containing the single species, ''Pelinobius muticus''. It was first described by Ferdinand Anton Franz Karsch in 1885, and is found in Tanzania and Kenya. Descript ...

''.

Genera

Genera that have been placed in the subfamily Eumenophorinae by various sources include: *'' Annandaliella'' Hirst, 1909 *''

'' Pocock, 1897 *'' Batesiella'' Pocock, 1903 *'' Encyocrates'' Simon, 1892 *'' Eumenophorus'' Pocock, 1897 *''

Heterophrictus ''Heterophrictus'' is a genus of Indian tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1900. Species it contains four species, found in India: *''Heterophrictus aareyensis'' Mirza & Sanap, 2014 – India *''Heterophrictus blatte ...

'' Pocock, 1900 *'' Heteroscodra'' Pocock, 1900 *'' Hysterocrates'' Simon, 1892 *'' Loxomphalia'' Simon, 1889 *'' Loxoptygus'' Simon, 1903 *'' Mascaraneus'' Gallon, 2005 *'' Monocentropus'' Pocock, 1897 *''

Myostola ''Myostola'' is a spider genus in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), with the sole species ''Myostola occidentalis'', found in Gabon and Cameroon. Description ''Myostola occidentalis'' is basically dark brown, with pale rose-coloured hairs o ...

'' Simon, 1903 *''

Neoheterophrictus ''Neoheterophrictus'' is a genus of tarantula in the family Theraphosidae. It comprises seven species, all found in India. Characteristics ''Neoheterophrictus'' is similar to ''Heterophrictus'' and '' Plesiophrictus'', however the females dif ...

'' Siliwal & Raven, 2012 *''

'' Karsch, 1885 (as ''Citharischius'' Pocock, 1900) *''

'' Karsch, 1884 *''

Plesiophrictus ''Plesiophrictus'' is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1899. Species it contains eight species, found in Sri Lanka, India, and Micronesia: *'' Plesiophrictus fabrei'' (Simon, 1892) – India *'' Plesioph ...

'' Pocock, 1899 *'' Sahydroaraneus'' Mirza & Sanap, 2014 *'' Stromatopelma'' Karsch, 1881

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3027669 Theraphosidae Spider subfamilies Taxa named by R. I. Pocock