''Munduruku bicoloratum'' is a theraphosid

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

, endemic to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and is the only species in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus ''Munduruku''.

Etymology

The generic name ''"Munduruku"'' comes from the Munduruku people, who inhabited the region where the types were collected. The specific name ''"bicoloratum"'' comes from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, meaning "two-coloured" referring to the abdominal colours.

Classification

''Munduruku bicoloratum'' could be placed in the genus '' Plesiopelma'', but its characteristics show that this would broaden the diagnostic features of this genus too much, therefore causing it to become a non monophyletic group.Miglio, L. T., Bonaldo, A. B. & Pérez-Miles, F. (2013). On Munduruku, a new theraphosid genus from Oriental Amazonia (Araneae, Mygalomorphae). Iheringia, Série Zoologia 103: 185-189.

Characteristics

This genus has a unique abdominal pattern, and has a sub-apical keel on the

embolus An embolus (; plural emboli; from the Greek ἔμβολος "wedge", "plug") is an unattached mass that travels through the bloodstream and is capable of creating blockages. When an embolus occludes a blood vessel, it is called an embolism or emb ...

. It also has

urticating hair Urticating hairs or urticating bristles are one of the primary defense mechanisms used by numerous plants, almost all New World tarantulas, and various lepidopteran caterpillars. ''Urtica'' is Latin for "nettle" (stinging nettles are in the genu ...

type III in the male, and types III and IV in the female. It also lacks a process on the first male

metatarsus The metatarsal bones, or metatarsus, are a group of five long bones in the foot, located between the tarsal bones of the hind- and mid-foot and the phalanges of the toes. Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the me ...

and has a tibial spur that has fused bases and converging branches.

References

Theraphosidae Spiders of Brazil Spiders described in 2013 {{Theraphosidae-stub