Brachypelma is a genus of spiders in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas). They may have bodies up to 6 cm long with legs of similar or greater lengths. Some species have brightly colored legs, with red or orange marks and rings.
Sickius is a genus of tarantulas. It has a single species, Sickius longibulbi. It is endemic to Brazil.
Neostenotarsus is a genus of theraphosid spider, in the Theraphosinae subfamily. It is native to French Guiana. It is monotypic, the only species being Neostenotarsus scissistylus.
Chaetopelma is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871. They are found in Africa and Asia including the countries of Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Sudan, Cameroon, and now even Iran.
Ischnocolus is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871. This tarantula genus includes some of the smallest in the family.
Mogrus portentosus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Mogrus that is endemic to Yemen. The spider was first described in 1994 by Wanda Wesołowska and Antonius van Harten. It is brown with a carapace that is between 2.3 and 2.7 mm and an abdomen that is between 2.3 and 3.5 mm long. The female is larger than the male. The spider resembles the related Mogrus fulvovittatus, particularly the female, which can only be clearly differentiated by looking the internal structure of its epigyne. The male is also distinguished by its copulatory organs. It has a distinctive loop on the end of its embolus and a bulbous base to its single tibial apophysis, or spike.
Pseudomogrus mirandus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Pseudomogrus. It has been found in Turkmenistan on the steppe, although it may also live in Afghanistan and Iran. The species was first defined by Wanda Wesołowska in 1991, one of over 500 described by the arachnologist. She originally placed it in the genus Yllenus, but was moved to the new genus Logunyllus in 2016, and then to its present designation in 2019. The spider is small, with a carapace measuring between 1.6 and 1.78 mm long and an abdomen between 1.4 and 2.3 mm long. The male has a red-brown or dark brown carapace and dark grey abdomen, the female a brown carapace and greyish-brown abdomen. All have a covering of small white scales. The spider has yellow legs. The copulatory organs are distinctive and enable the spider to be distinguished from others in the genus. The female epigyne has a half-moon-shaped pocket and simple insemination ducts that lead to spherical spermathecae. The male lacks the ventral tibial apophysis common in other species and has a compound terminal apophysis that is of a similar length to its thin embolus.
Menemerus davidi is a species of jumping spider in the genus Menemerus that lives in North Africa and the Middle East. The species was first identified in 1999 by Jerzy Prószyński and Wanda Wesołowska working initially independently, and then together. The first description was published by Wesołowska, one of over 500 descriptions she produced during her lifetime. The spider is small, with a carapace that ranges between 2.3 and 3.0 millimetres long and an abdomen that is 2.2 and 3.2 millimetres long, although the female is larger than the male. The carapace is generally a uniform dark brown while the abdomen has a pattern of a light brown stripe and white patches that serves to distinguish it from the related Menemerus animatus. Otherwise, it is its copulatory organs that most distinguish the species from others in the genus. It has distinctive internal structure to the female epigyne. The wide copulatory openings lead down the centre of the spider to the spermathecae while there is also a short narrower channel that runs to the rear of the spider with a prominent scent pore at the end. The male has a noticeably smaller embolus and a distinctive dorsal tibial apophysis.
Menemerus guttatus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Menemerus that lives in Morocco. The spider has been found in the High Atlas mountains in gravel rivers. It displays complex courtship patterns. The species was first described in 1999 by Wanda Wesołowska, one of over 500 descriptions she has made during her lifetime. The spider is small, with a dark brown, nearly black carapace that is between 2.8 and 3.5 millimetres long and a dark brown abdomen between 2.5 and 5.6 millimetres long. The female is larger than the male. It can be distinguished from other species in the genus by the pattern on its abdomen, which consists of two lines of white patches that converge to the back of the spider. Otherwise, it is the copulatory organs that most identify the species. The male has a distinctive relatively wide and short embolus and lamella and two similar appendages at the base of the palpal bulb, or apophyses. The female has a complex internal structure of the epigyne including crescent-shaped chambers and circular spermathecae.
Menemerus zimbabwensis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Menemerus that lives in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The Polish arachnologist Wanda Wesołowska first described the female in 1999 and the male in 2007. The spider is large, with a cephalothorax that is between 1.9 and 3.2 millimetres long and an abdomen that is between 2.1 and 4.6 millimetres in length. The female is larger than the male. It also lacks the light stripe down the centre of its dark brown carapace and has a less distinct pattern on its abdomen. Its legs and pedipalps are yellow, while on the male they are brown. The male can be distinguished from the similar Menemerus nigli by the wide stripe on its abdomen. The female is harder to identify without looking at its copulatory organs. These are distinctive. It has characteristic large entrance bowls on its epigyne, which are larger than the insemination ducts and spermathecae combined. Its internal organs are very sclerotized.
Evarcha acuta is a species of jumping spider in the genus Evarcha that lives in Namibia, Seychelles and South Africa. The species was first described in 2006 by Wanda Wesołowska. The spider is small, with a carapace measuring typically 1.6 mm (0.06 in) long and an abdomen between 1.4 and 1.9 mm long. The carapace is light brown with a short black eye field. The abdomen has patterns that vary depending on geography. The holotype, found near Brandberg Mountain in Namibia, has lines of brown patches on the top. Examples found in Free State, South Africa, have black lines on the top and sides. The spider can be most easily distinguished from other spiders in the genus by its copulatory organs. The male has a distinctive notch on a long straight projection from its tibia known as a tibial apophysis and a long embolus. The female has not been described.
Pseudicius ridicularis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Pseudicius that lives in Ethiopia. The spider was first described in 2008 by Wanda Wesołowska and Beata Tomasiewicz. The spider is medium-sized, with a cephalothorax that is between 2.1 and 2.2 mm long and an abdomen that measures between 2.6 and 3.1 mm long. It has a dark brownish carapace, while the abdomen differs between the male, which has a yellowish-brown hue, and the female, which is marked by an indistinctive pattern of brown patches. It is the copulatory organs that most enable the spider to be distinguished. The male has a particularly large bent tibial apophysis and a short thick embolus. The female has longer spermathecae than others in the genus.
Afraflacilla arabica is a species of jumping spider in the genus Afraflacilla that lives in Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen. The spider was first described in 1994 by Wanda Wesołowska and Antonius van Harten. The spider is small to medium-sized, with an elongated brown carapace that is between 1.7 and 1.85 long and an oval greyish-brown abdomen between 2.25 and 3.0 mm long. The female and male are similar externally, differing mainly in the male's larger and thicker brown front legs that mount stridulatory apparatus. The remainder of the legs are smaller and yellow. The female is also slightly lighter. The spiders have distinctive copulatory organs. The male has a long embolus extending around the palpal bulb. The female has wide insemination ducts, small spermathecae and large accessory glands.
Rick C. West is a Canadian arachnologist and an expert on the taxonomy of tarantula spiders. West was born in Victoria, British Columbia. He has been interested in spiders since childhood, and collected his first tarantula, Aphonopelma eutylenum, at the age of 13. He worked primarily as a Chief Constable for a local Animal Humane Society, but also have been involved with the collecting, breeding, rearing and photography of theraphosid spiders. West has traveled to over 27 countries to document and study them in their environment, has been a host, presenter and co-producer in several tarantula documentaries and has also described several genera and species.
Stenaelurillus albus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Stenaelurillus that lives in India. It was first described in 2015 by Pothalil A. Sebastian, Pradeep M. Sankaran, Jobi J. Malamel and Mathew M. Joseph. The spider was first found in Kerala but has also been observed in Karnataka, including the Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary and Parambikulam Tiger Reserve. It prefers to live in the leaf litter found in deciduous forests. It is medium-sized, with a body length that ranges from 4.61 to 6.82 mm. The female is larger than the male. The female has a black oval cephalothorax which has a pattern of yellow bands and an oval abdomen that has yellow patches, the most pronounced three of which make a triangle shape, on a black background. The male differs in having a shiny black abdomen which has no patterns and a cephalothorax that is black with thick white stripes that mark the spider from front to back. This pattern distinguishes the species from others in the genus, including Stenaelurillus belihuloya. The sexual organs are also distinctive. The male has a brown palpal bulb that has two creamy-white markings on the rear and has a short, blunt embolus. These areas give the spider its name, from the Latin for white. The female has wide copulatory openings and small C-shaped spermathecae, and it is the latter that enables it to be distinguished from Stenaelurillus abramovi.
Stenaelurillus albopunctatus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Stenaelurillus that lives in Kenya. It was first described in 1949 by Ludovico di Caporiacco. The spider is medium-sized, with a cephalothorax between 2.24 and 23.55 mm long and abdomen between 2.38 and 3.92 mm long. It has two white stripes on its carapace and white speckles or spots on its abdomen. The female is generally lighter than the male. For example, the female has a brown and yellow carapace, which in the male is brown or black. The female clypeus and legs are yellow, while on the male they are brown. Otherwise, the colouration is similar to many other species in the genus. It is this similarity that led to the species Stenaelurillus guttiger being recognised as a member of the genus. The male has a spatula-like appendage at the front of its yellow pedipalps and a short thick embolus. The female has copulatory openings positioned very closely together and short insemination ducts.
Marma wesolowskae is a species of jumping spider in the genus Marma that is endemic to Brazil. It has only been found in Pernambuco. First described in 2020 by Alexandre Salgado and Gustavo Ruiz, the spider is small, typically between 3.38 and 4.01 mm in total length. The male is smaller than the female. The spider lives on sandstone and has generally a coloration that blends into the rock. The abdomen has a thick brown stripe down the middle of its back. The species can be distinguished from other members of the genus by its copulatory organs. The female has copulatory openings towards the back of the epigyne and a projecting border at the back of the eipigynal plate. The male has a long thin embolus and an embolic disc that differs from Marma nigritarsis, Marma pipa and Marma sinuosa.
Peckhamia wesolowskae is a species of jumping spider in the genus Peckhamia that lives in Cuba. The species was first described in 2020 by Franklyn Cala-Riquelme, Abel Bustamante, Sarah Crews and Bruce Cutler. The spider mimics ants of the Cephalotes genus. It is a small spider, measuring between 3.3 and 4 mm in length, the female being smaller than the male. The spider is dark reddish in colour, and lacks a distinctive pattern on either the abdomen or carapace. The chelicerae are also reddish and have a distinctive concave central section which helps to distinguish the species from others in the genus. Other distinguishing characteristics for the species include the very long thin embolus of the male and the wide spermathecae in the female.
Sahastata wesolowskae is a species of crevice weaver in the genus Sahastata that lives in Oman. It was first described in 2020 by Ivan Magalhaes, Mark Stockmann, Yuri Marusik and Sergei Zonstein. The spider is small, with a carapace that is between 1.67 and 3.36 mm long and an abdomen that is between 3.73 and 4.94 mm long. The female is larger than the male, darker in color and has a more rounded abdomen. Both have a V-shaped pattern towards the middle of the carapace, but it is clearer on the female. The male has a long and slightly bent embolus. The female has an endogyne with distinctive spermathecae. It is these copulatory organs that most clearly differentiate the species from other spiders in the genus.
Chaetopelma persianum, the Persian gold tarantula, is a species of tarantula native to northwestern Iran. First described in 2023, the species is the first of its genus to be recorded in Iran.
