''Myostola'' is a

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 ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Theraphosidae 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 ...

(tarantulas), with the sole species ''Myostola occidentalis'', found in

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

and

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Description

''Myostola occidentalis'' is basically dark brown, with pale rose-coloured hairs on the joints of 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") ...

s and legs. The female's body, including the

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

s, is around long; the male is smaller, at around and lighter in colour.

Taxonomy

''Myostola occidentalis'' was first described by

Hippolyte Lucas Pierre-Hippolyte Lucas (17 January 1814 – 5 July 1899) was a French entomologist. Lucas was an assistant- naturalist at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. From 1839 to 1842 he studied fauna as part of the scientific commission on the e ...

in 1858. He placed it in the now obsolete genus ''Mygale'' as ''Mygale occidentalis'', comparing it to the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

species ''Mygale cancerides'' (now '' Phormictopus cancerides''). In 1899, Reginald Innes Pocock transferred the species to the African genus '' Phoneyusa''. In 1892, Eugène Simon gave a description of the genus '' Pelinobius'', but in 1903 realized that the species he used for the description was actually very different from the type species of ''Pelinobius'' (''P. muticus'') and was probably identical to Lucas's ''Mygale occidentalis''. Accordingly, Simon provided a new genus name, ''Myostola'', to replace his version of ''Pelinobius''. Simon's decision to place ''M. occidentalis'' in a separate genus, rather than in ''Phoneyusa'', was supported by

Robert Raven Robert John Raven is an Australian arachnologist, being the Head of Terrestrial Biodiversity and the Senior Curator (Arachnida) at the Queensland Museum. Dr Raven has described many species of spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breath ...

in 1985.

Distribution

''Myostola occidentalis'' is found in

and

, in West Africa.

References

Theraphosidae Monotypic Theraphosidae genera Spiders of Africa {{Theraphosidae-stub