The Harpactirinae (commonly called baboon spiders) are a subfamily of tarantulas which are native to the continent of Africa. Like many Old World tarantulas, they have a relatively strong venom and can inflict a painful bite.

Description

Harpactirinae are ground-dwelling spiders which build silk-lined burrows, often under debris such as stones, using their fangs and chelicerae for digging. Habitats include savanna woodlands, grasslands, and dry scrublands.

Systematics

The following genera and species are present in the Harpactirinae. In addition, the genus Brachionopus (Pocock, 1897) has been suggested for placement in this subfamily, but its taxonomy is currently disputed. Augacephalus (Gallon, 2002) Type species: Augacephalus breyeri In synonymy: Augacephalus nigrifemur (Schmidt, 1995) = Augacephalus junodi Bacillochilus (Gallon, 2010) [monotypic] Brachionopus (Pocock, 1897) To quote Platnick's World Spider Catalog v. 12.5, "N.B.: transferred here from the Barychelidae by Raven, 1985a: 112; Brachyonopus is an unjustified emendation; Raven's transfer was not accepted by Charpentier, 1993: 5 or Schmidt, 2002a: 12 and 2008: 3, who nevertheless identified no close relatives of the genus among the known barychelids; Gallon, 2002: 204 argued for its inclusion in the Barychelidae but indicated that it "does not fit in any current barychelid subfamily" but later (Gallon, 2010b: 79) considered it a harpactirine.". In other words, its taxonomy is in dispute and the many recent workers do not consider it a theraphosid. All are found in South Africa. Ceratogyrus (Pocock, 1897) [Senior synonym of Coelogenium Purcell, 1902] Type species: Ceratogyrus darlingi Transferred to other genera: Ceratogyrus ezendami → Augacephalus ezendami Ceratogyrus nigrifemur → Augacephalus nigrifemur Ceratogyrus raveni (Smith, 1990) → Pterinochilus chordatus In synonymy: Ceratogyrus bechuanicus (Purcell, 1902) and Ceratogyrus schultzei (Purcell, 1908) = Ceratogyrus darlingi Ceratogyrus cornuatus (De Wet & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 1991) = Ceratogyrus marshalli Eucratoscelus (Pocock, 1898) Type species: Eucratoscelus constrictus Transferred to other genera: Eucratoscelus tenuitibialis (Schmidt & Gelling, 2000) → Pterinochilus lugardi In synonymy: Eucratoscelus longiceps (Pocock, 1898) and Eucratoscelus spinifer = Eucratoscelus constrictus Harpactira (Ausserer, 1871) Type species: Harpactira atra Harpactirella (Purcell, 1902) [Senior synonym of Luphocemus {Denis, 1960} ] Type species: Harpactirella treleaveni Transferred to other genera: Harpactirella flavipilosa (Lawrence, 1936) → Pterinochilus lugardi Harpactirella latithorax (Strand, 1908) → Euathlus vulpinus Harpactirella leleupi (Benoit, 1965) → Idiothele nigrofulva Idiothele (Hewitt, 1919) Type species: Idiothele nigrofulva In synonymy: Idiothele crassispina (Purcell, 1902) and Idiothele leleupi (Benoit, 1965) = Idiothele nigrofulva Pterinochilus (Pocock, 1897) [Senior synonym of Pterinochilides {Strand, 1920} ] Type species: Pterinochilus vorax Transferred to other genera: Pterinochilus breyeri → Augacephalus breyeri Pterinochilus constrictus and Pterinochilus spinifer → Eucratoscelus constrictus Pterinochilus crassispinus and Pterinochilus nigrofulvus → Idiothele nigrofulva Pterinochilus junodi and Pterinochilus nigrifemur → Augacephalus junodi Pterinochilus meridionalis → Ceratogyrus meridionalis Pterinochilus schoenlandi → Trichognathella schoenlandi In synonymy: Pterinochilus affinis (Tullgren, 1910), Pterinochilus brunellii (Caporiacco, 1940) , Pterinochilus carnivorus (Strand, 1917) , Pterinochilus raptor (Strand, 1906) , Pterinochilus raveni (Smith, 1990) , Pterinochilus sjostedti (Tullgren, 1910) , and Pterinochilus widenmanni (Strand, 1906) = Pterinochilus chordatus Pterinochilus flavipilosus (Lawrence, 1936), Pterinochilus pluridentatus (Hewitt, 1919) , and Pterinochilus tenuitibialis = Pterinochilus lugardi Pterinochilus hindei (Hirst, 1907), Pterinochilus leetzi (Schmidt, 2002) , and Pterinochilus mamillatus (Strand, 1906) = Pterinochilus murinus Pterinochilus mutus (Strand, 1920), Pterinochilus obenbergeri (Strand, 1920) , and Pterinochilus occidentalis (Strand, 1920) = Pterinochilus simoni Trichognathella (Gallon, 2004) [Monotypic?]