Austrochilidae - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Austrochilidae are a small spider

Spider

Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...

family with nine species in three genera.

Two genera (Austrochilus, Thaida) are endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

to the Andean forests of central and southern Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

and adjacent Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, the third is endemic to Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

Species

The categorization into subfamilies follows Joel Hallan.http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/Acari/Family/Austrochilidae.txt

Austrochilinae Zapfe, 1955
Austrochilus Gertsch
Willis J. Gertsch
Willis John Gertsch was an American arachnologist. He classified a number of species, including the Brown recluse spider and the Tooth cave spider....

& Zapfe, 1955

Austrochilus forsteri Grismado, Lopardo & Platnick, 2003 — Chile
Austrochilus franckei Platnick, 1987 — Chile, Argentina
Austrochilus manni Gertsch & Zapfe, 1955 — Chile
Austrochilus melon Platnick, 1987 — Chile
Austrochilus newtoni Platnick, 1987 — Chile
Austrochilus schlingeri Platnick, 1987 — Chile

Thaida Karsch, 1880

Thaida chepu Platnick, 1987 — Chile
Thaida peculiaris Karsch, 1880 — Chile, Argentina

Hickmaniinae 1967 (as family Hickmaniidae)
Hickmania Gertsch, 1958

Hickmania troglodytes
Hickmania troglodytes
The cribellate spider species Hickmania troglodytes occurs only in Tasmania, where it is widely distributed, especially in underground drainage and cave systems, where large numbers can be found in the entrances....

(Higgins & Petterd, 1883) — Tasmania (Tasmanian Cave Spider)

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