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.
Avicularia avicularia, sometimes called the pinktoe tarantula, is a species of tarantula native from Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago to Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. This species is sometimes called the Guyana pinktoe, or South American pinktoe.
Pamphobeteus is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901. It includes some of the largest spiders in the world. They are found in South America, including the countries of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia and Panama.
Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. As of August 2022, 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 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.
Montrichardia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. It contains two species, Montrichardia arborescens and Montrichardia linifera, and one extinct species Montrichardia aquatica. The genus is helophytic and distributed in tropical America. The extinct species M. aquatica is known from fossils found in a Neotropical rainforest environment preserved in the Paleocene Cerrejón Formation of Colombia. Living Montrichardia species have a diploid chromosome number of 2n=48.
Psalmopoeus irminia, also known as the Venezuelan suntiger, is a species of tarantula endemic to Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil.
Cyriocosmus is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1903. They are small to medium spiders, with a bicolored or one same color carapace.
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.
Holothele is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Ferdinand Anton Franz Karsch in 1879. Originally placed with the curtain-web spiders, it was transferred to the tarantulas in 1980.
Hapalopus is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1875.
Xenesthis is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1891. As of May 2020 it contains four species, found in Colombia and Venezuela, though it was previously considered to be found in Panama.
Melognathus is a monotypic genus of southeast Asian tarantulas containing the single species, Melognathus dromeus. It was erected in 1917 for a holotype collected from a ship that visited southeast Asia. In 1985, the species was moved to Cyriopagopus because the autapomorphies were not considered significant enough to warrant a new genus. Opinions between biologists were split, some using the original name and some using Cyriopagopus. In a 2019 report, Gabriel and Sherwood pointed out that in addition to the differences in pedipalp morphology, the holotype exhibits leg features that indicate an arboreal species, while species of Cyriopagopus are largely terrestrial. The ambiguous location of the holotype has left room for speculation, but as of February 2022 the World Spider Catalog accepts this genus.
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.
Psalmopoeus victori, the Mexican half & half or Darth Maul tarantula, is a species of tarantula endemic to the moist forests of Veracruz, Mexico, although the exact location is withheld to protect from illegal collection.
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.
Cymbiapophysa is a genus of spiders in the family Theraphosidae, first described by Pocock, in 1903, as of 2022 it contains 4 species. The tarantulas of this genus inhabit Central America. Males of this genus can be distinguished by the presence of a distal retrolateral apophysis on the cymbium of the male pedipalp. And females can be distinguished with twin spermathecae, by the morphology and the short and squat receptacles.
Psalmopoeus pulcher, also known by its common name Panama blonde tarantula, is a species of spider from the genus Psalmopoeus.
