20, see text Hexathele is a genus of tunnelweb spiders endemic to New Zealand that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871,[2] though most others have been described by Raymond Robert Forster.

Hexathele species are generally brown to black in colour.

[4] The genus was erected by Anton Ausserer in 1871, for the species Hexathele hochstetteri.

Mygalomorph spiders were initially very broadly categorized; in 1892, Eugène Simon placed Hexathele in the group Hexatheleae, subfamily Diplurinae, family Aviculariidae.

[4] The subfamily was split off as a full family, Hexathelidae, by Robert J. Raven in 1980.