{{Short description|Genus of spiders}} {{Automatic taxobox |taxon=Myrmekiaphila |image=Myrmekiaphila_tigris_female_(01).jpg |image_caption=''Myrmekiaphila tigris'' |authority=Atkinson, 1886<ref name=NMBE /> |type_species=''M. foliata'' |type_species_authority=Atkinson, 1886 |subdivision_ranks=Species |subdivision=12, see text }}
'''''Myrmekiaphila''''' is a genus of North American mygalomorph trapdoor spiders in the family Euctenizidae, and was first described by G. F. Atkinson in 1886.<ref name=Atki1886>{{cite journal|last=Atkinson|first=G. F.|year=1886|title=Descriptions of some new trapdoor spiders; their nests and food habits.|journal=Entomologica Americana|pages=128–137|volume=2}}</ref> All described species are endemic to the southeastern United States.
Originally placed with the Ctenizidae, it was moved to the wafer trapdoor spiders in 1985,<ref name=Rave1985>{{cite journal|last=Raven|first=R. J.|year=1985|title=The spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae): Cladistics and systematics|journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History|volume=182|page=137}}</ref> then to the Euctenizidae in 2012.<ref name=Bond2012>{{cite journal|last=Bond|first=J. E.|display-authors=etal|year=2012|title=A reconsideration of the classification of the spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Arachnida: Araneae) based on three nuclear genes and morphology|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=7|issue=6|page=10|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0038753|pmid=22723885|pmc=3378619|bibcode=2012PLoSO...738753B|doi-access=free}}</ref> ''Myrmekiaphila'' appears as the sister group to all southwestern Euctenizidae with the exception of ''Apomastus'', which in turn is the sister group to all euctenizines. ''M. flavipes'' was transferred from ''Aptostichus'' in 2007.<ref name=Bond2007 />
==Description== The known species of this genus resemble each other in appearance and behavior. The carapace is {{convert|2.8|to|8|mm}} long and {{convert|2.25|to|6.81|mm}} wide. Females are uniformly colored, with some dusky stripes on the dorsum of the abdomen. Colors range from yellowish red to dark reddish brown. The palpal tibia of the males are modified in a way that distinguishes them from other mygalomorph spiders of North America. The first legs in males are modified as mating claspers.<ref name=Bond2007>{{cite journal|last1=Bond|first1=Jason E.|first2=Norman I.|last2=Platnick|year=2007|title=A taxonomic review of the trapdoor spider genus ''Myrmekiaphila'' (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Cyrtaucheniidae)|journal=American Museum Novitates|issue=3596|page=9|doi=10.1206/0003-0082(2007)3596[1:ATROTT]2.0.CO;2|hdl=2246/5892|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/288945|doi-access=free|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
All members live in subterranean, silk-lined burrows covered by a silken-soil trap door. Some species construct side chambers that can be closed off by secondary trap doors, a unique feature among Cyrtaucheniidae. While the related ''Promyrmekiaphila'' and ''Aptostichus'' also build side chambers, they do not close them with trap doors.<ref name=Bond2007 />
G. F. Atkinson collected his specimens while hunting for ants, often finding them in close proximity to ant nests. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek {{lang|grc|μύρμηξ}} (''myrmex''), meaning "ant", and {{lang|grc|φιλία}} (''philein''), meaning "to love", referencing their apparent fondness of ant nests.<ref name=Ubic2005>{{cite book|last1=Ubick|first1=Darrell|last2=Paquin|first2=Pierre|last3=Cushing|first3=Paula E.|last4=Roth|first4=Vince|year=2005|title=Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual|publisher=American Arachnological Society |isbn=0-9771439-0-2}}</ref>
==Species== {{as of|2019|05}} it contains twelve species restricted to the southeastern United States, but found in a wide variety of habitats. These range from northern Virginia along the Appalachian Mountains southward through West Virginia, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and northern Georgia into the southeastern plain of Alabama, Mississippi Florida, and the temperate deciduous forest of central Texas with dry climates and relatively high altitudes.<ref name=Bond2007 /><ref name=NMBE>{{cite journal|title=Gen. Myrmekiaphila Atkinson, 1886|website=World Spider Catalog Version 20.0|accessdate=2019-06-04|year=2019|publisher=Natural History Museum Bern|url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/860|doi=10.24436/2|last1=Gloor|first1=Daniel|last2=Nentwig|first2=Wolfgang|last3=Blick|first3=Theo|last4=Kropf|first4=Christian}}</ref> *''Myrmekiaphila comstocki'' <small>Bishop & Crosby, 1926</small> – USA *''Myrmekiaphila coreyi'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> – USA *''Myrmekiaphila flavipes'' <small>(Petrunkevitch, 1925)</small> – USA *''Myrmekiaphila fluviatilis'' <small>(Hentz, 1850)</small> – USA *''Myrmekiaphila foliata'' <small>Atkinson, 1886</small> (type) – USA *''Myrmekiaphila howelli'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> – USA *''Myrmekiaphila jenkinsi'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> – USA *''Myrmekiaphila millerae'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> – USA *''Myrmekiaphila minuta'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> – USA *''Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> – USA *''Myrmekiaphila tigris'' <small>Bond & Ray, 2012</small> – USA *''Myrmekiaphila torreya'' <small>Gertsch & Wallace, 1936</small> – USA
Three species groups are currently recognized. These are only intended to facilitate identification based on the male palp; it is not known if they represent monophyletic taxa. ''M. flavipes'' is only known from females and thus not grouped.<ref name=Bond2007 />
* ''foliata'' group :* ''Myrmekiaphila comstocki'' <small>Bishop & Crosby, 1926</small> :* ''Myrmekiaphila coreyi'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> :* ''Myrmekiaphila foliata'' <small>Atkinson, 1886</small> :* ''Myrmekiaphila tigris'' <small>Bond et al., 2012</small><ref>Bond, Jason, Chris Hamilton, Nicole Garrison, Charles Ray. 2012. Phylogenetic reconsideration of ''Myrmekiaphila'' systematics with a description of the new trapdoor spider species ''Myrmekiaphila tigris'' (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Cyrtaucheniidae, Euctenizinae) from Auburn, Alabama. ZooKeys 190 (2012): 95-109.</ref>
* ''fluviatilis'' group :* ''Myrmekiaphila fluviatilis'' <small>(Hentz, 1850)</small> :* ''Myrmekiaphila howelli'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> :* ''Myrmekiaphila jenkinsi'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> :* ''Myrmekiaphila millerae'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> :* ''Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small> :* ''Myrmekiaphila torreya'' <small>Gertsch & Wallace, 1936</small>
* ''minuta'' group :* ''Myrmekiaphila minuta'' <small>Bond & Platnick, 2007</small>
* unplaced species :* ''Myrmekiaphila flavipes'' <small>(Petrunkevitch, 1925)</small>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1932985}}
Category:Euctenizidae Category:Mygalomorphae genera Category:Spiders of the United States