Missulena

"Mouse spider" redirects here. For the European ground spider species, see Scotophaeus blackwalli.

Missulena
Male Missulena occatoria
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Actinopodidae
Genus: Missulena
Walckenaer, 1805[1]
Type species
M. occatoria
Walckenaer, 1805
Species

21, see text

Synonyms[1]

Missulena is a genus of mygalomorph spiders in the family Actinopodidae. It was first described by Charles Walckenaer in 1805,[3] and is a senior synonym of Eriodon.[2] M. tussulena is found in Chile, but the rest are indigenous to Australia.[4] They are sometimes referred to as "mouse spiders" from the now-disproven belief that they dig deep burrows similar to those of mice. Scotophaeus blackwalli is also called a "mouse spider", but it is smaller and not closely related.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference WSC_g2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Simo1903 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Walc1805 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Golo1994 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).