''Hexathele'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of funnel-web spiders

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

that was first described by

Anton Ausserer Anton Ausserer (5 July 184320 July 1889)Maurer, Ferdinand: ''Nachruf an Dr. Anton Ausserer.'' Programm des kk. acad. Gymnasiums in Grätz. Graz 1890 was an Austrian naturalist specialising in spiders.Bonnet, Pierre: Bibliographia aranearum, Les ...

in 1871, though most others have been described by

Raymond Robert Forster Raymond Robert Forster (19 June 1922 – 1 July 2000) was a New Zealand arachnologist and museum director. He was a Fellow of the Entomological Society of New Zealand. Biography Forster was born in Hastings, New Zealand in 1922, and was educa ...

. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was moved to the Hexathelidae in 1980.

Description

Most species of ''Hexathele'' are relatively large spiders. Females of ''

Hexathele waita ''Hexathele'' is a genus of funnel-web spiders endemic to New Zealand that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871, though most others have been described by Raymond Robert Forster. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was m ...

'', one of the largest species, may have a carapace long and an abdomen long, with the longest leg (the fourth) being long in total. ''Hexethele'' species are generally brown to black in colour. Many species have a

chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * ''Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock lay ...

pattern on the upper surface of the abdomen, the pattern being characteristic of the species. The carapace of the

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

has a more or less straight depression (

fovea Fovea () (Latin for "pit"; plural foveae ) is a term in anatomy. It refers to a pit or depression in a structure. Human anatomy *Fovea centralis of the retina * Fovea buccalis or Dimple * Fovea of the femoral head * Trochlear fovea of the fr ...

) in the centre. The eyes are arranged in a compact group. The male palp lacks tibial apophyses (projections), but the male's first pair of legs have double spines on the tibia. There are six

spinnerets A spinneret is a silk-spinning organ of a spider or the larva of an insect. Some adult insects also have spinnerets, such as those borne on the forelegs of Embioptera. Spinnerets are usually on the underside of a spider's opisthosoma, and are ...

, with the posterior pair being three-segmented and relatively long.

Taxonomy

The genus was erected by Anton Ausserer in 1871, for the species ''

Hexathele hochstetteri ''Hexathele hochstetteri'', commonly known as the banded tunnelweb spider, is a spider in the family Hexathelidae, found only in New Zealand. It is common on the North Island, and uncommon on the South Island. Description The banded tunnelweb ...

''. Mygalomorph spiders were initially very broadly categorized; in 1892,

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history, describing over 4, ...

placed ''Hexathele'' in the group Hexatheleae, subfamily Diplurinae, family Aviculariidae. Later the subfamily was raised to the family

Dipluridae The family Dipluridae, known as curtain-web spiders (or confusingly with other distantly related ones as funnel-web tarantulas) are a group of spiders in the infraorder Mygalomorphae, that have two pairs of booklungs, and chelicerae (fangs) tha ...

with Hexathelinae as a subfamily – the classification used by Raymond R. Forster when he described many new species. The subfamily was split off as a full family, Hexathelidae, by

Robert J. Raven Robert John Raven is an Australian arachnologist, being the Head of Terrestrial Biodiversity and the Senior Curator (Arachnida) at the Queensland Museum. Dr Raven has described many species of spider in Australia and elsewhere, and is spider bite ...

in 1980.

Species

it contains twenty species, all found in

: *''

Hexathele cantuaria ''Hexathele'' is a genus of funnel-web spiders endemic to New Zealand that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871, though most others have been described by Raymond Robert Forster. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was m ...

'' Forster, 1968 – New Zealand *'' Hexathele cavernicola'' Forster, 1968 – New Zealand *''

Hexathele exemplar ''Hexathele'' is a genus of funnel-web spiders endemic to New Zealand that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871, though most others have been described by Raymond Robert Forster. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was m ...

'' Parrott, 1960 – New Zealand *''

'' Ausserer, 1871 (

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

) – New Zealand *''

Hexathele huka ''Hexathele'' is a genus of funnel-web spiders endemic to New Zealand that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871, though most others have been described by Raymond Robert Forster. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was m ...