Eumenophorinae


The Eumenophorinae are a subfamily of tarantula spiders. They are known from 13 genera distributed across Africa, southwestern countries in Saudi Arabia, and Madagascar and the associated islands.

Distribution

At about 158-160 million years ago, Gondwana split up and the Indo-Madagascan plate drifted away from the rest of the super continent. At around 84-86 Mya, India split from Madagascar and drifted into Eurasia, to its current position. Therefore, all fauna in Gondwana would be distributed on all three land masses.

Characteristics

The Eumenophorinae have stridulatory spike setae on the coxae of all legs, and a "comb" of stiffened setae on the palpal femur. In 2005, Richard Gallon described the monotypic genus Mascaraneus, which lacks the stridulatory spike setae.

Genera