Ornithoctoninae

Ornithoctoninae is a subfamily of tarantulas found in Southeast Asia. It was first erected in 1895 by Reginald Innes Pocock based on the type specimen ''Ornithoctonus andersoni''.

The Ornithoctoninae comprise a theraphosid subfamily, which is widely distributed in Asia from Myanmar to South China in the north and as far as to Halmahera in the Indonesian archipelago in the south, and in all the ranges in between. Most species in the subfamily live fossorially in burrows, though several species live arboreally. They are known as defensive spiders; when disturbed, they quickly retreat into their burrows or dig themselves into the soil. When neither is a possibility, they assume a defensive posture. When provoked, they strike the aggressor repeatedly with the anterior legs; if the aggressor does not retreat, these spiders have been known to bite. Though not deadly, the effects of the venom can be very unpleasant, including pain, swelling, and arthritis-like stiffness in the joints of the extremity affected.

The theraphosid subfamily Ornithoctoninae is defined by a combination of characteristics: Presence of retrolateral scopula of filiform setae on the cheliceral base, a small row of larger filiform paddle setae retrolaterally ventrobasally in connection to the retrolateral cheliceral scopula, and arrangement of stridulatory spines prolaterally on maxilla. The characteristic of retrolateral scopula of filiform setae on the cheliceral base is shared by the African subfamily Harpactirinae, but the Ornithoctoninae can be distinguished from the Harpactirinae by the geographic distribution range and the presence of the other characteristics mentioned, which are lacking in the Harpactirinae.

As pets

Specimens from the genera '' Haplopelma'', ''Cyriopagopus'', and ''Ornithoctonus'' are frequently kept as pets. The most commonly kept species are: ''H. albostriatum'', ''H. hainanum'', ''H. lividum'', ''H. longipes'', ''H. minax'', ''H. schmidti'', ''O. aureotibialis'', and ''C. schioedtei''. More species are kept and new species enter the hobby every now and then, but most of this material needs to be properly identified or described.

Genera and species of Ornithoctoninae

A list of known species in the Ornithoctoninae, sorted by genera:

'' Citharognathus'' (Pocock, 1895)

Type species: ''C. hosei''

*''Citharognathus hosei'' (Pocock, 1895) — Borneo
*''Citharognathus tongmianensis'' (Zhu, Li & Song, 2002) — China

''Cyriopagopus'' (Simon, 1887) enior synonym of ''Melognathus'' ">Melognathus.html" ;"title="enior synonym of ''Melognathus">enior synonym of ''Melognathus'' br />
Type species: ''C. paganus''

*''Cyriopagopus dromeus'' (Chamberlin, ) — Philippines
*''Cyriopagopus paganus'' (Simon, 1887) — Myanmar
*''Cyriopagopus thorelli'' (Simon, 1901) — Malaysia

'' Haplopelma'' (Simon, 1892) [Senior synonym of ''Melopoeus'' ]

Type species: ''Haplopelma doriae''

Transferred to other genera:

''Haplopelma chrysothrix'' (Schmidt & Samm, 2005) → ''Ornithoctonus aureotibialis''

''Haplopelma costale'' → ''Ornithoctonus costalis''

In synonymy:

'' Haplopelma huwenum'' (Wang, Peng & Xie, 1993) = ''Haplopelma schmidti''

*''Haplopelma albostriatum'' (Simon, 1886) — Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, the Thai zebra
*''Haplopelma doriae'' (Thorell, 1890) — Borneo
*''Haplopelma hainanum'' (Liang et al., 1999) — China ainan Island the Chinese black earth tiger
*''Haplopelma lividum'' (Smith, 1996) — Myanmar, Thailand, the yanmariancobalt blue
*''Haplopelma longipes'' (Von Wirth & Striffler, 2005) — Myanmar, the yanmarianVietnamese earth tiger
*''Haplopelma minax'' (Thorell, 1897) — Myanmar, Thailand, the Thai black
*''Haplopelma robustum'' (Strand, 1907) — Singapore, the Singaporean gold ring black and gray earth tiger
*''Haplopelma salangense'' (Strand, 1907) — Malaysia
*''Haplopelma schmidti'' (Von Wirth, 1991) — Vietnam, China, the ietnameseChinese gold earth tiger
*''Haplopelma vonwirthi'' (Schmidt, 2005) — Vietnam

''Lampropelma'' (Simon, 1892)

Type species: ''L. nigerrimum''

*''Lampropelma kirki'' (Simon, 1892) — Indonesia, the Sangihe Island black
*''Lampropelma nigerrimum'' (Simon, 1892) — Indonesia, the Sangihe Island black

''Omothymus'' (Simon, 1892)

Type species: ''Omothymus schioedtei''

*''Omothymus fuchsi'' (Strand, 1906) – Indonesia (Sumatra)
*''Omothymus rafni'' Gabriel & Sherwood - Indonesia
*''Omothymus schioedtei'' Thorell, 1891 – Malaysia
*''Omothymus violaceopes'' (Abraham, 1924) — Malaysia, Singapore, the Singapore nblue

''Ornithoctonus'' (Pocock, 1892)

Type species: ''O. andersoni''

Transferred to other genera:

''Ornithoctonus gadgili'' (Tikader, 1977) → ''Poecilotheria regalis''

''Ornithoctonus hainanus'' → ''Haplopelma hainanum''

''Ornithoctonus huwenus'' (Wang, Peng & Xie, 1993) → ''Haplopelma schmidti''

*''Ornithoctonus andersoni'' (Pocock, 1892) — Myanmar, the yanmarianAsian mahogany mustard
*''Ornithoctonus aureotibialis'' (Von Wirth & Striffler, 2005) — Thailand, the Thai gold fringed'
*''Ornithoctonus costalis'' (Schmidt, 1998) — Thailand

''Phormingochilus'' (Pocock, 1895)

Type species: ''P. everetti''

Transferred to other genera:

''Phormingochilus carpenteri'' Smith & Jacobi, 2015 → ''Lampropelma carpenteri''

''Phormingochilus fuchsi'' Strand, 1906 → ''Omothymus fuchsi''

''Phormingochilus kirki'' Smith & Jacobi, 2015 → ''Lampropelma kirki''

*''Phormingochilus arboricola'' (Schmidt & Barensteiner) – Borneo
*''Phormingochilus everetti'' (Pocock, 1895) — Borneo
*''Phormingochilus pennellhewlettorum'' Smith & Jacobi, 2015 — Borneo
*''Phormingochilus tigrinus'' (Pocock, 1895) — Borneo

References

* Smith, A.M. & M.A. Jacobi (2015): Revision of the genus ''Phormingochilus'' with the description of three new species from Sulawesi and Sarawak and notes on the placement of the genera ''Cyriopagopus'', ''Lampropelma'' and ''Omothymus''. ''British Tarantula Society Journal'' 30(3): 25-48.
* von Wirth, V. & M. Huber (2002): Einige Praxis-Tipps zur Haltung von ''Haplopelma'' Arten und anderen Röhren bewohnenden Vogelspinnen.
DeArGe Mitteilungen
' 7(11): 14-23. (German)
* von Wirth, V. & M. Huber (2003): Earth Tigers – die asiatischen Vogelspinnen der Unterfamilie Ornithoctoninae. ''DRACO'' 4(16): 26-36. (German)
* von Wirth, V. & M. Huber (2004): Housing specimens of ''Haplopelma'' and other tube-dwelling tarantulas. ''BTS Journal'' 19(4): 107-112.
* von Wirth, V. & Boris Striffler (2005): Neue Erkenntnisse zur Vogelspinnen – Unterfamilie Ornithoctoninae, mit Beschreibung von ''Ornithoctonus aureotibialis'' sp. n. und ''Haplopelma longipes'' sp. n. (Araneae, Theraphosidae). ''Arthropoda'' 13(2): 2-27. (German)

Norman I. Platnick: The World Spider Catalog, American Museum of Natural History.

External links

Deutsche Arachnologische Gesellschaft e. V.
- the world's largest arachnid (mainly tarantulas) society (club journal
ARACHNE
- ISSN 1613-2688)
Gallery of tarantulas

{{Taxonbar, from=Q137843

Theraphosidae
Spider subfamilies