Mesothelae
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Mesothelae is one suborder of spiders that include the families Liphistiidae, Arthrolycosidae, and Arthromygalidae. The latter two families are known only from fossil records. They belong to the Order Araneae.
Recent Mesothelae are characterized by the narrow sternum on the ventral side of the prosoma. Several plesiomorphic characters may be useful in recognizing these spiders: there are tergite plates on the dorsal side and the almost-median position of the spinnerets on the ventral side of the opisthosoma.
Mesothelae comprise two families, the Liphistiidae and the Heptathelidae. These can easily be distinguished by their sexual organs and the way they construct their burrows: Liphistiides always have fishing lines in front of the entrance, while Heptathelids have none. Therefore, the latter are more difficult to find. Female Liphistiids have an unpaired receptaculum, in Heptathelids it is paired. Male Liphistiids lack a conductor in their palpal organ, while such structure is present in Heptathelids. Before mating, the male creates a sound (inaudible to humans) to induce the female to appear at her trap door. Then mating may take place.
Liphistidae spiders are distributed in Myanmar, Thailand, the Malayan peninsula and in Sumatra. Heptathelidae are found in Vietnam, the Eastern provinces of China, and Southern Japan. Some of these spiders are believed to pose a medical danger to humans. (See Spiders_having_medically_significant_venom.)
In the BBC documentary Walking with Monsters (2005), one Carboniferous era species of mesothelae was described as being as large as a human head and hunted reptiles the size of today's cats. It lived like the tarantulas in burrows, and would either lie in wait for its prey, or chase it through the jungle.
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External links
http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/acari/Araneae1.htmde:Gliederspinnen fr:Mesothelae