The cobalt blue tarantula or Cyriopagopus lividus is a species of tarantula which is in the family Theraphosidae which is native to Myanmar and over the border into Thailand. It was originally described as Haplopelma lividum.
Avicularia is a genus of the family Theraphosidae containing various species of arboreal tarantulas. The genus is native to tropical Central and South America. Each species in the genus has very distinguishable pink foot pads.
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.
Ornithoctoninae is a subfamily of tarantulas found in Southeast Asia. It was first erected in 1895 by Reginald Innes Pocock based on the type specimen Ornithoctonus andersoni. Terrestrial members of this subfamily are often known as earth tigers.
Cyriopagopus hainanus is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), found in China. It is one of a number of species from China and Vietnam known as "Chinese bird spider". It produces a venom containing numerous compounds capable of blocking neurotransmitters, including neurotoxic peptides called hainantoxins.
Cyriopagopus schmidti is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), found in China and Vietnam. It is one of a number of species known as "Chinese bird spider" and "Chinese earth tiger". Haplopelma huwenum was synonymized with this species in 2008. Spiders under this name and its synonyms have been shown to produce toxins called huwentoxins.
Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. Currently, 1,010 species have been identified. 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.
Neischnocolus is a genus of spiders in the family Theraphosidae. It was first described in 1925 by Petrunkevitch. The genus Ami was separately described in 2008, but was later discovered to be a junior synonym of Neischnocolus. Species are native to Central America and northern South America.
The Malaysian earthtiger tarantula, scientific name Omothymus schioedtei, is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), found in Peninsular Malaysia. It is also known by the synonym Cyriopagopus schioedtei.
Cyriopagopus is a genus of southeast Asian tarantulas found from Myanmar to the Philippines. As of March 2017, the genus includes species formerly placed in Haplopelma. It was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1887.
Aphonopelma iodius is a species of spider in the tarantula family Theraphosidae, found in United States. A 1997 paper combined it with three other previously described species into a single species, calling it "A. iodium". However, iodius is a neuter comparative adjective and is the correct form. Aphonopelma smithii has also been synonymized with A. iodius. A. iodius is common in the Mojave Desert to the west of the Colorado River. As of 1997, the distribution of A. iodius farther south or west into the Mojave Desert or North into Nevada and Utah was undetermined.
Sericopelma is a genus of tarantula, found in Central America from Nicaragua to Panama. The limits of the genus and its distribution have long been confused; it is closely related to the genus Aphonopelma. Sericopelma species are among the largest found in Central America. They can be kept as pets, although at least one species has been described as "very aggressive".
Phlogiellus is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1897.
Homoeomma is a genus of South American tarantulas that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871. It is considered a senior synonym of Calopelma, Butantania, and of Cyclothoracoides.
Rick C. West is a Canadian arachnologist with a main expertise toward 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 new species.
Tliltocatl epicureanus is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), found in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.
Tliltocatl verdezi is a species of spiders in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), found in Mexico.
Birupes is a monotypic genus of southeast Asian tarantulas containing the single species, Birupes simoroxigorum. It was first described by R. Gabriel and D. Sherwood in 2019, and it has only been found in Malaysia.
Tliltocatl is a genus of North American tarantulas that was split off from Brachypelma in 2020. They are also large burrowing tarantulas, but don't have the striking red leg markings of Brachypelma species. A female T. vagans can grow up to 50 mm (2.0 in) long and legs can get as long as 55 mm (2.2 in). They are found predominantly in Mexico, with some species native to Central America. The name is derived from two Nahuatl words, "tlil", meaning "black", and "tocatl", meaning "spider". Habitat destruction and collection for the pet trade has led to this and Brachypelma to be protected under International Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species rules, beginning with B. smithi.
Spinosatibiapalpus is a genus of tarantulas erected by Gabriel and Sherwood in 2020 for a newly discovered species and two other previously described species bearing a unique palpal bulb morphology. The name is a reference to the spines found on the fourth section of the pedipalp in adult males. This distinctive feature was also found in Pseudhapalopus species, but because it is never mentioned in the original description of that genus, Gabriel and Sherwood called into question the validity of Pseudohapalopus, and moved all its species except P. aculeatus, known only from a single male found in Bolivia in 1907. It is impossible to place P. aculeatus because the holotype was destroyed when the museum housing it was bombed during World War II, and it has been declared as nomen dubium.
