In Australia, Platnick recorded 6 species from 3 genus:
Coremiocnemis
- tropix Raven, 2005 (Queensland)
Phlogius (= Selenocosmia)
- crassipes (L. Koch, 1874), Queensland
- stirlingi Hogg, 1901, Australia
- subvulpina Strand, 1907, Queensland
Selenotypus
- plumipes Pocock, 1895, Queensland
Selenotholus
- foelschei Hogg, 1902, Northern Territory
Different names for Theraphosidae:
In English-spoken countries, theraphosids are usually termed as ‘tarantulas’, however, this is scientifically incorrect. The ’real tarantula’ is the Italian wolf spider Lycosa tarantula that belongs to the araneomorph family Lycosidae and is not even related to theraphosids. Another term for theraphosids is ‘bird-eating spiders’, because the first drawing (published in 1705) of spiders from this family was done by the German naturalist and scientific illustrator Anna Maria Sibylla Merian and showed a South American theraphosid eating a humming bird. While it sometimes can happen that those spiders hunt and feed on vertebrates, their main diet remains invertebrates, especially insects. Therefore, I use the term ‘theraphosids’, as this reflects the name for their family Theraphosidae.
