| Pycnothelidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Acanthogonatus pissii | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Mygalomorphae |
| Clade: | Avicularioidea |
| Family: | Pycnothelidae Chamberlin, 1917 |
| Diversity1 | |
| 15 genera, 144 species | |
| |
| blue: reported countries (WSC) green: observation hotspots (iNaturalist) | |
Pycnothelidae is a family of mygalomorph spiders first described in 1917.2 It was downgraded to a subfamily of the funnel-web trapdoor spiders in 1985,3 but returned to family status in 2020.4
Distribution
The majority of genera are found in South America, with two genera from East and southern Africa.
Genera
-
captive Acanthognatus francki -
Pycnothele rubra from Brazil -
Stanwellia sp. from Australia -
S. platensis
As of January 2026, this family includes fifteen genera and 144 species.1
South American genera:
- Acanthogonatus Karsch, 1880 – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay
- Chaco Tullgren, 1905 – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay
- Chilelopsis Goloboff, 1995 – Chile
- Longistylus Indicatti & Lucas, 2005 – Brazil
- Lycinus Thorell, 1894 – Argentina, Brazil, Chile
- Prorachias Mello-Leitão, 1924 – Brazil
- Psalistopoides Mello-Leitão, 1934 – Brazil
- Pselligmus Simon, 1892 – Brazil
- Pycnothele Chamberlin, 1917 – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay
- Rachias Simon, 1892 – Argentina, Brazil
- Stanwellia Rainbow & Pulleine, 1918 – Australia, New Zealand
- Stenoterommata Holmberg, 1881 – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay
- Xenonemesia Goloboff, 1989 – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay
African genera:
- Afromygale Zonstein, 2020 – Kenya, Tanzania
- Pionothele Purcell, 1902 – South Africa, Namibia
References
References
- "Family Pycnothelidae Chamberlin, 1917". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
- Chamberlin, R. V. (1917). "New spiders of the family Aviculariidae". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 61: 25–75.
- Raven, R. J. (1985). "The spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae): Cladistics and systematics". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 182: 86.
- Opatova, V.; et al. (2020). "Phylogenetic systematics and evolution of the spider infraorder Mygalomorphae using genomic scale data". Systematic Biology. 69 (4): 701–702. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syz064. PMID 31841157.