Myostola

Myostola is a spider genus in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), with the sole species Myostola occidentalis, found in Gabon and Cameroon.[1]

Myostola
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Theraphosidae
Genus: Myostola
Simon, 1903[1]
Species:
M. occidentalis
Binomial name
Myostola occidentalis
(Lucas, 1858)[1]
Synonyms[1]

Species:

  • Mygale occidentalis Lucas, 1858
  • Phoneyusa occidentalis Pocock, 1899

Description

Myostola occidentalis is basically dark brown, with pale rose-coloured hairs on the joints of the palps and legs. The female's body, including the mandibles, is around 62 mm (2.4 in) long; the male is smaller, at around 37 mm (1.5 in) and lighter in colour.[2]

Taxonomy

Myostola occidentalis was first described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1858.[1] He placed it in the now obsolete genus Mygale as Mygale occidentalis, comparing it to the New World species Mygale cancerides (now Phormictopus cancerides).[3] In 1899, Reginald Innes Pocock transferred the species to the African genus Phoneyusa.[1] In 1892, Eugène Simon gave a description of the genus Pelinobius, but in 1903 realized that the species he used for the description was actually very different from the type species of Pelinobius (P. muticus) and was probably identical to Lucas's Mygale occidentalis. Accordingly, Simon provided a new genus name, Myostola, to replace his version of Pelinobius.[4] Simon's decision to place M. occidentalis in a separate genus, rather than in Phoneyusa, was supported by Robert Raven in 1985.[5]

Distribution

Myostola occidentalis is found in Gabon and Cameroon, in West Africa.[1]

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References
  1. "Gen. Myostola Simon, 1903", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2016-05-29
  2. Strand, E. (1920), "Arachniden aus Belgisch Kongo. I. (Pedipalpen, Aviculariidae, Argiopidae, Clubionidae und Pisauridae)", Archiv für Naturgeschichte (in German), 85 (A12): 98–113
  3. Lucas, H. (1858), "Mygale occidentalis Luc.", in Thomson, J. (ed.), Archives entomologiques, ou, Recueil contenant des illustrations d'insectes nouveaux ou rares (in French), 2, Paris: Bureau du Trésorier de la Société entomologique de France, pp. 380–381, retrieved 2016-05-29
  4. Simon, E. (1903), "Myostola nom. nov.", Histoire naturelle des araignées (in French), 2, Paris: Roret, p. 951, retrieved 2016-05-29
  5. Raven, R.J. (1985). "The spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae): Cladistics and systematics". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 182: 1–180. hdl:2246/955.


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