''Heptathela'' 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
spider
Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
s that includes the
Kimura spider (''Heptathela kimurai''). They are trapdoor spiders of the family
Heptathelidae and are found in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, including
Okinawa
most commonly refers to:
* Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture
* Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture
* Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself
* Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
and the
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...
.
[ Spiders of this genus lack venom glands.][ Full text at (60 MB)]
Females are up to 25 mm long, males slightly smaller. Burrows have an oval shaped door which is hinged across the long diameter.[
]
Name
The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''hepta'' "seven", referring to the number of spinneret
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 ...
glands.
Species
, the World Spider Catalog
The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature.
The WSC began as a series of ...
accepted the following species:[
*'' Heptathela aha'' Xu, Ono, Kuntner, Liu & Li, 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela amamiensis'' Haupt, 1983 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela crypta'' Xu, Ono, Kuntner, Liu & Li, 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela gayozan'' Xu, Ono, Kuntner, Liu & Li, 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela helios'' Tanikawa & Miyashita, 2014 (synonym ''H. yaginumai'' Ono, 1998) – Japan
*'' Heptathela higoensis'' Haupt, 1983 – Japan
*'' Heptathela kanenoi'' Ono, 1996 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela kikuyai'' Ono, 1998 – Japan
*'' Heptathela kimurai'' (Kishida, 1920) (]type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
) – Japan
*'' Heptathela kojima'' Xu et al., 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela kubayama'' Xu et al., 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela mae'' Xu et al., 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela otoha'' Xu et al., 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela shuri'' Xu et al., 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela sumiyo'' Xu et al., 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela tokashiki'' Xu et al., 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela uken'' Xu et al., 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela unten'' Xu et al., 2019 – Ryukyu Is.
*'' Heptathela yakushimaensis'' Ono, 1998 – Japan
*'' Heptathela yanbaruensis'' Haupt, 1983 – Okinawa
Many of the species formerly placed in this genus have been transferred to other genera in the family Liphistiidae, including '' Luthela'', '' Songthela'' and '' Vinathela''.[
]
Social reference
This is the genus of spider referenced by Vincent Price in the introduction to Alice Cooper's The Black Widow on his Welcome to my Nightmare album.
References
External links
*
Pictures of ''H. kimurai'' and its burrow
{{Taxonbar, from=Q54931
Heptathelidae
Spiders of Asia
Mesothelae genera
Taxa named by Kyukichi Kishida