Porrhothele is a genus of mygalomorph spiders endemic to New Zealand. They are the only members of the family Porrhothelidae. They were first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1892.[2] Originally placed with the curtain web spiders,[2] it was moved to the Hexathelidae in 1980,[3] they were placed in their own family in 2018.[4]
Porrhothele | |
---|---|
Porrhothele antipodiana | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Mygalomorphae |
Family: | Porrhothelidae Hedin & Bond, 2018 |
Genus: | Porrhothele Simon, 1892[1] |
Type species | |
P. antipodiana (Walckenaer, 1837)
| |
Species | |
5, see text |
Members of Porrhothelidae are distinguished from other mygalomorph spiders by the small posterior sigillae and a single row of teeth on the forward-facing margin of the chelicerae. Males have many strong spines on the forward-facing margin of their tibiae.[4]
The genus Porrhothele was erected by Eugène Simon in 1892 for the species Porrhothele antipodiana. Simon transferred these from Mygale, a genus previously used for many mygalomorph spiders, but is no longer in use. He placed this genus in the subfamily Diplurinae,[2] which later became the family Dipluridae. Raven transferred the genus to Hexathelidae,[3] where it remained until the results of a 2018 molecular phylogenetic study suggested that it belongs in its own family.[4]
The following cladogram shows the possible relationship of Porrhothele to related taxa.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As of May 2019[update] it contains five species, all found in New Zealand:[1]