Avicularia is a genus of the family Theraphosidae containing various species of arboreal tarantulas. The genus is native to Panama, the Caribbean, and tropical South America. Each species in the genus has very distinguishable pink foot pads.
Pamphobeteus nigricolor is a large species of tarantula found in Colombia, Peru and Brazil. First described in 1875 by Anton Ausserer as Lasiodora nigricolor, in 1901 Reginald Innes Pocock moved it to the new genus Pamphobeteus, and designated it as the genus's type species.
Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. As of December 2023, 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although many other members of the same infraorder (Mygalomorphae) are commonly referred to as "tarantulas" or "false tarantulas". Some of the more common species have become popular in the exotic pet trade. Many New World species kept as pets have setae known as urticating hairs that can cause irritation to the skin, and in extreme cases, cause damage to the eyes.
The Theraphosinae are a large subfamily of Mygalomorphae spiders in the family Theraphosidae found in the Neotropical realm.
Ephebopus is a genus of northeastern South American tarantulas that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1892. Its relation to other tarantulas is one of the most uncertain in the family, and it has been frequently moved around and has been placed in each of the eight subfamilies at least once.
Tapinauchenius is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871. The name is a combination of the Greek ταπεινός, meaning "low", and αὐχήν, meaning "neck". In 2022, the genus Pseudoclamoris was transferred to Tapinauchenius.
Typhochlaena is a genus of small-bodied tarantulas with an arboreal trapdoor lifestyle. All the species except for T. seladonia were first described by Rogério Bertani in 2012.
Nhandu tripepii is a spider species, and is a theraphosine theraphosid. It is native to Brazil.
Ephebopus uatuman also known as the emerald skeleton tarantula, is a tarantula native to Brazil. It was first described by Lucas, Silva and Bertani in 1992. It is named after the Uatuman River.
Kochiana is a monotypic genus of Brazilian tarantulas containing the single species, Kochiana brunnipes or the dwarf pink leg. It was first described by C. L. Koch in 1841 under the name "Mygale brunnipes", and was transferred to its own genus in 2008. As of April 2020, it has only been found in Brazil.
Pterinopelma is a genus of Brazilian tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901. As of June 2023 it contains two species, found in Brazil: P. felipeleitei and P. vitiosum. It was removed from the synonymy of Eupalaestrus in 2011.
Antillena is a genus of spiders in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas). As of March 2017, the genus contained a single species, Antillena rickwesti, found in the Dominican Republic.
Caribena is a genus of spiders in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), found in the Antilles. The two species accepted as of March 2017 were formerly placed in Avicularia. Apart from a different distribution – Avicularia species are found in mainland South and Central America – Caribena is distinguished by having longer and thinner type II urticating hairs in a conspicuous patch on the upper surface of the abdomen. Males also have a differently shaped palpal bulb.
Ybyrapora is a genus of spiders in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), found in Brazil. Its species were formerly placed in the genus Avicularia.
Avicularia juruensis is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae, found in South America. Avicularia urticans was brought into synonymy in 2017. It has been given the English name Amazonian pink toe spider. Under the synonym Avicularia urticans, it is also known as the Peruvian pinktoe tarantula. It is a large mygalomorph spider, with a maximum body length over 30 mm (1.2 in) and the longest fully extended leg about 60 mm (2.4 in). Like other species in the genus Avicularia, specimens under this name are sold as pets, although their identity has not been confirmed by taxonomic studies.
Avicularia variegata is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae found in Venezuela and Brazil. Previously described as Avicularia avicularia variegata, it is synonymous with Avicularia bicegoi.
Caribena laeta is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae, found in the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, the last dubiously according to Caroline Fukushima and Rogério Bertani in 2017. It was first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1842 under the name Mygale laeta.
Ybyrapora sooretama is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae, found in Brazil.
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.
Yanomamius is a genus of South American tarantulas first erected by Rogério Bertani and M. Q. Almeida in 2021 for two newly discovered species and one previously described species from Brazil. In one of Bertani's prior studies, he investigated a tarantula collected by the Yanomami as a source of food. Based on the limited material available for study the species was placed into Holothele. The next year, it was moved to newly erected genus Guyruita due, in part, to the multi-lobed shape of its spermathecae. When the first male was found and described, the diagnostic characteristics didn't match that of Holothele or Guyruita, so a new genus was erected for Y. waikoshiemi and three other closely related species.
