Mygalomorphae
The
Mygalomorphae, previously called the Orthognatha, are a
suborder of
spiders. The latter name comes from the orientation of the fangs which point straight down and do not cross each other. This suborder includes the heavy bodied, stout legged spiders popularly known as tarantulas. 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. Most members of this suborder 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.
These spiders should be distinguished from their namesake, the Italian tarantula (Lycosa tarantula), which is one of the Wolf spiders.