(vi.) The Aviculariinae include all the large hairy spiders which are commonly called Mygale. The genus Phlogius, which inhabits Southern Asia, forms a lidless burrow, though it has no rastellus, but practically all the other members of the group are non-terricolous, living under stones or in holes in trees, where they weave a slight web. They are nocturnal in their habits. They all possess two tarsal claws, and the labium is free and spined at the tip. Of the four spinnerets the posterior pair are long and three-jointed, while the anterior are short and not very close together.
The particular form of the tarsi and the nature of the scopulae,[[310]] “claw-tufts,” and spines upon them are of great importance in distinguishing the members of this group.
The Aviculariinae comprise about sixty genera from all the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.
The genus Ischnocolus extends into the Mediterranean region, having representatives besides in Southern Asia and in Central and South America. All the tarsi have their scopulae divided longitudinally by a band of hairs. Chaetopelma inhabits Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, and Cyclosternum is found in West Africa as well as in Central and South America. In these genera the scopulae of the last two pairs of legs are alone divided. The largest known spider is Theraphosa leblondi, which is a native of Guiana. It measures 9 cm. (about three and a half inches) in length.
Eurypelma is a genus of large spiders entirely confined to the New World, where it possesses many species. The genus Avicularia is also American, and includes a number of large long-haired spiders with short and very strong legs, on which the scopulae and claw-tufts are well developed. Its nearest allies in the Old World are the Indian genus Poecilotheria, and the West African genus Scodra. The stridulating spider figured on p. 328 belongs to this group, Chilobrachys being a genus from Ceylon.
Fig. [202].—Ischnothele dumicola, ♀ × 2. (After Pocock.)
(vii.) The Diplurinae are a very aberrant group, including some twenty genera of Aviculariidae, usually of medium size, and possessed, as a rule, of very long posterior spinnerets. They do not burrow or live in holes or under stones, but weave webs of close texture, much resembling those characteristic of the Agelenidae (see p. [415]). The tarsal claws are three in number, and there are never any claw-tufts. The rastellus, of course, is absent.
Two genera have representatives in Europe, Brachythele inhabiting the East Mediterranean region (as well as many other parts of the world), while Macrothele is found in Spain as well as in the Malay Peninsula and New Zealand. Ischnothele dumicola is a native of Western India. Diplura is a South American genus. Trechona venosa, a large species remarkable for the orange bands which decorate its abdomen, is also a native of South America. The New Zealand genus Hexathele, and the genus Scotinoecus from Chili, possess six spinnerets. Masteria (Ovalan Island) and Accola (Philippines and South America) differ from the rest of the family in having only six eyes.
Fam. 3. Atypidae.—Spiders with anteriorly projecting and vertically articulating chelicerae, but with no trough on the paturon for the reception of the unguis, which is guarded when closed by a single row of teeth. The spinnerets are normally six, and the anal tubercle is above, and well removed from the posterior spinnerets.