Qiongthela

Qiongthela is a genus of spiders in the family Heptathelidae.^[2] As of 2021^[update], it contains 14 species.^[1][3]

Qiongthela
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Suborder:	Mesothelae
Family:	Heptathelidae
Genus:	Qiongthela Xu & Kuntner, 2015^[1]
Species
See text.

Taxonomy

Qiongthela gets its name from "Qiong-" referring to Hainan Province, China (where some species of this genus are found). "-thela" comes from the Ancient Greek "θηλη" meaning "nipple-like protuberance", referring to the spinnerets. This "-thela" suffix is a tradition for heptatheline genera.^[4]

Description

Qiongthela ranges in size from 13-31mm in length (excluding the chelicerae). The male's palp has a long, blade-like conductor with a slightly hook-like apex. The tegulum has two margins and the paracymbium is spinose.

Females have two paired receptacular clusters, situated on the anterior edge of the bursa copulatrix.

Biology

These primitive spiders live in burrows with trapdoors at the entrance. These trapdoors are 3.3 cm wide and 2.5 cm long for females and the males' trapdoors are 2.0-2.3 cm wide and 1.5-1.8 cm long. The hinges of the trapdoor are located at the top and the bottom protrudes slightly. The spiders prefer not to rest near the top of the burrow and will not be coaxed out by flexible grass blades, which will often coax out other genera in the family, e.g. Liphistius.

Egg cases of this genus contain yellow eggs and have more than one hundred individual eggs in them. They are coated in a thin layer of coagulated vulval secretion and some fine silken threads. This structure rests on a mesh of fine threads above the bottom of the inner chamber of the egg case.

When medium to large-sized individuals are disturbed, they rise their bodies up off the ground whilst keeping their tarsi on the ground and spreading their chelicerae. This behaviour is known as "tip-toeing".^[5]

Species

Qiongthela is found only in Asia. As of January 2021^[update], the World Spider Catalog accepted 14 species.^[1][3]

• Qiongthela australis (Ono, 2002) – Vietnam
• Qiongthela baishensis Xu, 2015 – Hainan
• Qiongthela baoting Yu, Liu, Zhang, Wang, Li & Xu, 2020 – Hainan
• Qiongthela bawang Xu, Liu, Kuntner & Li, 2017 – Hainan
• Qiongthela dongfang Yu, Liu, Zhang, Li & Xu, 2021 – Hainan
• Qiongthela jianfeng Xu, Liu, Kuntner & Li, 2017 – Hainan
• Qiongthela nankai Yu, Liu, Zhang, Li & Xu, 2021 – Hainan
• Qiongthela nui (Schwendinger & Ono, 2011) – Vietnam
• Qiongthela qiongzhong Yu, Liu, Zhang, Wang, Li & Xu, 2020 – Hainan
• Qiongthela sanya Yu, Liu, Zhang, Wang, Li & Xu, 2020 – Hainan
• Qiongthela wuzhi Xu, Liu, Kuntner & Li, 2017 – Hainan
• Qiongthela yalin Yu, Liu, Zhang, Li & Xu, 2021 – Hainan
• Qiongthela yinai Xu, Liu, Kuntner & Li, 2017 – Hainan
• Qiongthela yinggezui Yu, Liu, Zhang, Wang, Li & Xu, 2020 – Hainan

References

1. "Qiongthela". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
2. "Family Heptathelidae Kishida, 1923 (genus list)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
3. Yu, L., Liu, F. X., Zhang, Z. T., Li, D. Q. & Xu, X. (2021). Three new species of the segmented spider genus Qiongthela (Mesothelae, Liphistiidae) from Hainan Island, China. ZooKeys 1009: 123-138.
4. Xu, X., Liu, F. X., Chen, J., Ono, H., Li, D. Q. & Kuntner, M. (2015a). A genus-level taxonomic review of primitively segmented spiders (Mesothelae, Liphistiidae). ZooKeys 488: 121-151.
5. 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: 599-637.