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The Mygalomorphae, (also called the Orthognatha), are an infraorder of spiders. The latter name comes from the orientation of the fangs which point straight down and do not cross each other (cf araneomorph).
Description
This suborder includes the heavy bodied, stout legged spiders popularly known as tarantulas as well as the dangerous Australasian funnel-web spiders. They have ample poison glands that lie entirely within their chelicerae. Their chelicerae and fangs are large and powerful. Occasionally members of this suborder will even kill small fish, small mammals, etc.
Unlike Araneomorphae, which die after about a year, Mygalomorphae can live for up to 25 years, and some don't reach maturity until they are about six years old. *
Distribution
Most members of this infraorder occur in the tropics and subtropics, but their range can extend farther north, e.g. into the southern and western regions of the United States.
Only few species occur in Europe. These are of the orders Atypidae, Nemesiidae, Ctenizidae, Hexathelidae, Theraphosidae and Cyrtaucheniidae, together with only a dozen species.
"Mygalomorphae"