''Myostola'' is a

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 ...

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 ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Theraphosidae 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 ...

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

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

and

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

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 secondary pair of forward appendages among chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicera ...

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

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

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 ex ...

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 used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

species ''Mygale cancerides'' (now ''

Phormictopus cancerides ''Phormictopus cancerides'', also known as the Hispaniolan giant tarantula, is a tarantula endemic to Hispaniola in the Caribbean. Hunting During the day they hide under rocks and debris, and come out at night to look for prey. Their fangs are q ...

''). In 1899,

Reginald Innes Pocock Reginald Innes Pocock, (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist. Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edward's ...

transferred the species to the African genus ''

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 ...

''. In 1892,

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist in history, ...

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 over 450 species of spider in Australia and elsewhere, and is spider ...

in 1985.

Distribution

''Myostola occidentalis'' is found in

and

, in West Africa.

References

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