Heptathela

Heptathela
Heptathela kimurai
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Suborder:	Mesothelae
Family:	Liphistiidae
Genus:	Heptathela Kishida, 1923
Species
see text
Diversity
34 species

Heptathela is a genus of spiders that includes the Kimura spider (Heptathela kimurai). They are basal trapdoor spiders of the family Liphistiidae and are found in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.

Females are up to 25 mm long, males slightly smaller. Burrows have an oval shaped door which is hinged across the long diameter.^[1]

Name

The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek hepta "seven", referring to the number of spinneret glands.

Species

incomplete

• Heptathela abca Ono, 1999 — Vietnam
• Heptathela amamiensis Haupt, 1983 — Ryukyu Islands
• Heptathela australis (Ono, 2002) — Vietnam
• Heptathela bristowei Gertsch, 1967 — China
• Heptathela ciliensis Yin, Tang & Xu, 2003 — China
• Heptathela cipingensis (Wang, 1989) — China
• Heptathela cucphuongensis Ono, 1999 — Vietnam
• Heptathela goulouensis Yin, 2001 — China
• Heptathela higoensis Haupt, 1983 — Japan
• Heptathela hunanensis Song & Haupt, 1984 — China
• Heptathela jianganensis Chen et al., 1988 — China
• Heptathela kanenoi Ono, 1996 — Ryukyu Is.
• Heptathela kikuyai Ono, 1998 — Japan
• Heptathela kimurai (Kishida, 1920) — Japan ("kimura-gumo")
  • Heptathela kimurai yanbaruensis Haupt, 1983 — Okinawa
• Heptathela luotianensis Yin et al., 2002 — China
• Heptathela mangshan Bao, Yin & Xu, 2003 — China
• Heptathela nishikawai Ono, 1998 — Japan
• Heptathela nui Schwendinger & Ono, 2011 — Vietnam^[2]
• Heptathela shei Xu & Yin, 2001 — China
• Heptathela suoxiyuensis Yin, Tang & Xu, 2003 — China
• Heptathela tomokunii Ono, 1997 — Vietnam
• Heptathela wosanensis Wang & Jiao, 1995 — China
• Heptathela xianningensis Yin et al., 2002 — China
• Heptathela yaginumai Ono, 1998 — Japan
• Heptathela yakushimaensis Ono, 1998 — Japan
• Heptathela yunnanensis Song & Haupt, 1984 — China

Social Reference

This is the genus of spider referenced by Vincent Price in the introduction to Alice Cooper's The Black Widow on his Welcome to my Nightmare album.

Footnotes

1. Murphy & Murphy 2000
2. Schwendinger, P.J.; Ono, H. 2011: On two Heptathela species from southern Vietnam, with a discussion of copulatory organs and systematics of the Liphistiidae (Araneae: Mesothelae). Revue suisse de zoologie, 118(4): 599-637. abstract

References

• Ono, Hirotsugu (1999): Spiders of the genus Heptathela (Araneae, Liphistiidae) from Vietnam, with notes on their natural history. J. Arachnol. 27: 37-43. PDF
• Murphy, Frances & Murphy, John (2000): An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. Malaysian Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur.
• Platnick, Norman I. (2008): The world spider catalog, version 8.5. American Museum of Natural History.

External links

• Pictures of H. kimurai and its burrow