Family ATRACIDAE Hogg, 1901

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• Atracidae Hogg, H.R. 1901. On Australian and New Zealand spiders of the suborder Mygalomorphae. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1901(2): 218-279 [2 June 1901] [272].

  Type genus:

   Atrax O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877.

Introduction

The Atracidae includes spiders of the genus Atrax (Funnelwebs) that have the most toxic venom recorded for any spider. Fourteen deaths have been recorded from their bites; no deaths, however, have been recorded since the introduction of antivenom effective in bites of all species of Atrax and Hadronyche. These spiders are found only in eastern Australia, including Tasmania, and around Adelaide in South Australia. Hedin et al (2018) raised the sub-family Atracinae to family status following a phylogenetic study focusing on similarities in venom between the included genera.

Diagnosis

Members of the Family Atracidae differ from the Hexathelidae in having only 2 pairs of spinnerets, and from the Macrothelidae in having a relatively broad embolic shaft (not spiniform), cheliceral retromargin with row of large teeth, posterior sternal sigilla large, maxillae with coniform anterior lobe, PLS relatively short, and fovea a transverse groove.

Diagnosis References

Gray, M.R. 2010. A Revision of the Australian Funnel-web Spiders (Hexathelidae: Atracinae). Records of the Australian Museum 62(2 & 3): 285-392 [Date published 24 November 2010] [290]

General References

Hedin, M., Derkarabetian, S., Ramírez, M.J., Vink, C & Bond, J.E. 2018. Phylogenomic reclassification of the world’s most venomous spiders (Mygalomorphae, Atracinae), with implications for venom evolution. Scientific Reports 8(1636): 1-7 [4]

Raven, R.J. 1985. The spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae): Cladistics and Systematics. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 182(1): 1-180 [Date published December 5, 1985] [70] (as separate genera under Hexathelidae)

Whitington, P. & Harris, K. 2021. A New Species of Australian Funnel-web Spider (Mygalomorphae, Atracidae, Hadronyche) Redefines the Family Atracidae. Records of the Australian Museum 73(4): 115-122 [116]

History of changes