Ryuthela

Ryuthela is a spider genus in the family Heptathelidae. 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).

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