''Plesiothele'' is a

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 "unisp ...

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n funnel-web spiders containing the single species, ''Plesiothele fentoni'', also known as Lake Fenton trapdoor spider. The genus was first described by Robert John Raven in 1978, and has only been found in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Australia. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was moved to the Hexathelidae in 1980. ''Plesiothele fentoni'' is a ground-dwelling spider that lives in lidless, silk-lined burrows some deep. It grows to in length. The

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

is yellow-brown and strongly patterned.

References

Hexathelidae Monotypic Mygalomorphae genera Mygalomorphae genera Spiders of Australia Arthropods of Tasmania Endemic fauna of Tasmania Taxa named by Robert Raven {{Hexathelidae-stub