Barychelidae
Encyclopedia
The Brushed trapdoor spiders (family Barychelidae) are a spider
family with about 300 species in 44 general. This family is the only family in superfamily Barycheloidea.
Most spiders in this family build trap-door burrows. There are some species that avoid flooding by plugging their nests. Others can avoid drowning by trapping air bubbles within the hairs covering their bodies. Some members of this group have a rake on the front surface of their chelicerae used for compacting burrow walls.
The about 10 mm long Idioctis builds its about 5 cm deep burrow just below high tide level, and seals it with a thin trapdoor. The about 20 mm long Sipalolasma builds its burrow in rotted wood, with a hinged trapdoor at each end of the of burrow.
Like the Theraphosidae (tarantulas), they can run up glass. Some species can stridulate
. However, unlike stridulation in the theraphosid Selenocosmiinae, barychelid stridulation, based as it is on very weak lyra, is not audible to man.
, New Caledonia
, South America
, Africa
, Madagascar
, India
, New Guinea
, and Pacific islands
.
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 about 300 species in 44 general. This family is the only family in superfamily Barycheloidea.
Most spiders in this family build trap-door burrows. There are some species that avoid flooding by plugging their nests. Others can avoid drowning by trapping air bubbles within the hairs covering their bodies. Some members of this group have a rake on the front surface of their chelicerae used for compacting burrow walls.
The about 10 mm long Idioctis builds its about 5 cm deep burrow just below high tide level, and seals it with a thin trapdoor. The about 20 mm long Sipalolasma builds its burrow in rotted wood, with a hinged trapdoor at each end of the of burrow.
Like the Theraphosidae (tarantulas), they can run up glass. Some species can stridulate
Stridulation
Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fishes, snakes and spiders...
. However, unlike stridulation in the theraphosid Selenocosmiinae, barychelid stridulation, based as it is on very weak lyra, is not audible to man.
Distribution
Barychelids are found in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, and Pacific islands
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
.
Systematics
The classification into subfamilies follows Raven (1985, 1994).- Barychelinae
- Atrophothele PocockReginald Innes PocockReginald Innes Pocock F.R.S. 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 School, Oxford. He received tutoring in zoology from Sir Edward Poulton, and was allowed...
, 1903 — SocotraSocotraSocotra , also spelt Soqotra, is a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some east of the Horn of Africa and south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and through... - Aurecocrypta Raven, 1994 — Australia
- Barycheloides Raven, 1994 — New CaledoniaNew CaledoniaNew Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
- Barychelus Simon, 1889 — New Caledonia
- Cyphonisia Simon, 1889 — Africa
- Cyrtogrammomma Pocock, 1895 — GuyanaGuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
- Diplothele O. P-CambridgeOctavius Pickard-CambridgeThe Reverend Octavius Pickard-Cambridge FRS was an English clergyman and zoologist.Pickard-Cambridge was born in Bloxworth rectory, Dorset, the fifth son of Revd George Pickard, rector and squire of Bloxworth: the family changed their name to Pickard-Cambridge in 1848...
, 1890 — India - Encyocrypta Simon, 1889 — New Caledonia
- Fijocrypta Raven, 1994 — FijiFijiFiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
- Idioctis L. Koch, 1874 — MadagascarMadagascarThe Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, OceaniaOceaniaOceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
, Australia, Seychelles - Idiommata AussererAnton AussererAnton Ausserer was an Austrian naturalist specialising in spiders.- Selected publications :...
, 1871 — Australia - Idiophthalma O. P.-Cambridge, 1877 — South America
- Mandjelia Raven, 1994 — Australia
- Monodontium Kulczynski, 1908 — New GuineaNew GuineaNew Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
- Moruga Raven, 1994 — Australia
- Natgeogia Raven, 1994 — New Caledonia
- Nihoa Raven & Churchill, 1992 — Oceania
- Orstom Raven, 1994 — New Caledonia
- Ozicrypta Raven, 1994 — Australia
- Pisenor Simon, 1889 — Africa
- Plagiobothrus Karsch, 1891 — Sri Lanka
- Questocrypta Raven, 1994 — New Caledonia
- Rhianodes Raven, 1985 — Southeast Asia
- Seqocrypta Raven, 1994 — Australia
- Strophaeus Ausserer, 1875 — Peru, Brazil
- SynotheleSynotheleSynothele is a genus of spiders found in South Australia and Western Australia. It was first described by Eugène Simon in 1908.The number of species in the genera was greatly expanded by Robert Raven in 1994.Synothele Simon, 1908...
Simon, 1908 — Australia - Tigidia Simon, 1892 — Madagascar, Mauritius
- Trittame L. Koch, 1874 — Australia
- Tungari Raven, 1994 — Australia
- Zophorame Raven, 1990 — Australia
- Zophoryctes Simon, 1902 — Madagascar
- Sasoninae
- Cosmopelma Simon, 1889 — Brazil, Venezuela
- Neodiplothele Mello-Leitão, 1917 — Brazil
- ParacenobiopelmaParacenobiopelmaParacenobiopelma is a monotypic genus of barychelid trapdoor spiders from Brazil.Their closest relatives are found in the genus Sason, which occurs in south Asia.-Name:...
Feio, 1952 — Brazil - SasonSason (genus)Sason is a genus of mygalomorph bark-dwelling trapdoor spiders of the family Barychelidae. It is distributed throughout the Australasian region...
Simon, 1887 — Australasia
- Trichopelmatinae
- Psalistops Simon, 1889 — Central to South America
- Trichopelma Simon, 1888 — Caribic, South America
- incertae sedisIncertae sedis, is a term used to define a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Uncertainty at specific taxonomic levels is attributed by , , and similar terms.-Examples:*The fossil plant Paradinandra suecica could not be assigned to any...
- Ammonius Thorell, 1899 — CameroonCameroonCameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
- Eubrachycercus Pocock, 1897 — SomaliaSomaliaSomalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
- Reichlingia Rudloff, 2001 — BelizeBelizeBelize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
- Sasonichus Pocock, 1900 — India
- Sipalolasma Simon, 1892 — Southeast Asia, Africa
- Thalerommata Ausserer, 1875 — Colombia, Mexico
- Troglothele Fage, 1929 — Cuba