Heptathela is a genus of spiders that includes the Kimura spider (Heptathela kimurai). They are trapdoor spiders of the subfamily Heptathelinae, family Liphistiidae. The genus is found in Japan, including Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. Spiders of this genus lack venom glands.
Females are up to 25 mm long, males slightly smaller. Burrows have an oval shaped door which is hinged across the long diameter.
Name
The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek hepta "seven", referring to the number of spinneret glands.
Species
, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species:
- Heptathela aha <small>Xu, Ono, Kuntner, Liu & Li, 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela amamiensis <small>Haupt, 1983</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela crypta <small>Xu, Ono, Kuntner, Liu & Li, 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela gayozan <small>Xu, Ono, Kuntner, Liu & Li, 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela helios <small>Tanikawa & Miyashita, 2014</small> (synonym H. yaginumai <small>Ono, 1998</small>) â Japan
- Heptathela higoensis <small>Haupt, 1983</small> â Japan
- Heptathela kanenoi <small>Ono, 1996</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela kikuyai <small>Ono, 1998</small> â Japan
- Heptathela kimurai <small>(Kishida, 1920)</small> (type species) â Japan
- Heptathela kojima <small>Xu et al., 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela kubayama <small>Xu et al., 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela mae <small>Xu et al., 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela otoha <small>Xu et al., 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela shuri <small>Xu et al., 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela sumiyo <small>Xu et al., 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela tokashiki <small>Xu et al., 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela uken <small>Xu et al., 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela unten <small>Xu et al., 2019</small> â Ryukyu Is.
- Heptathela yakushimaensis <small>Ono, 1998</small> â Japan
- Heptathela yanbaruensis <small>Haupt, 1983</small> â Okinawa
Many of the species formerly placed in this genus have been transferred to other genera in the family Liphistiidae, including Luthela, Songthela and Vinathela.
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.
References
External links