Ryuthela Explained

Ryuthela is a spider genus in the family Heptathelidae.^[1] This genus, as well as their closest relatives, Heptathela, formed when land masses from present-day Japan separated from the rest of Asia, forming islands in the late Miocene. Speciation of Ryuthela and Heptathela also occurred during this time, because of the further separation of islands, causing allopatric speciation.

They exhibit intraspecific variation in female genitalia despite being morphologically alike. Male spiders live only a few weeks after reaching maturity whereas female spiders can live up to 10 to 20 years (Huber, T. & Haug, C., 2021).^[2]

Species list

• Ryuthela iheyana Ono, 2002 — Ryukyu Islands
• Ryuthela ishigakiensis Haupt, 1983 — Ryukyu Islands
• Ryuthela nishihirai (Haupt, 1979) — Okinawa
• Ryuthela sasakii Ono, 1997 — Ryukyu Islands
• Ryuthela tanikawai Ono, 1997 — Ryukyu Islands
• Ryuthela owadai Xu, 2017 — Tokashijima island
• Ryuthela secundaria Xu, 2017— Okinawajima island

See also

• List of Heptathelidae species

Notes and References

1. Web site: Family Heptathelidae Kishida, 1923 (genus list) . World Spider Catalog . Natural History Museum Bern . 2023-12-14 .
2. Xu. Xin. Liu. Fengxiang. Chen. Jian. Ono. Hirotsugu. Agnarsson. Ingi. Li. Daiqin. Kuntner. Matjaž. 9 January 2016. Pre-Pleistocene geological events shaping diversification and distribution of primitively segmented spiders on East Asian margins. Journal of Biogeography. en. 43. 5. 1004–1019. 10.1111/jbi.12687. 54520728 .