''Neischnocolus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

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 ...

s in the family

Theraphosidae Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although m ...

. 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.

Description

The carapace (upper surface of the cephalothorax) is light to dark brown and hairy. The legs are also hairy, with spines except on the femora. There are no stridulatory bristles. ''Neischnocolus'' species have modified Type I

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 ...

s on the abdomen, similar to those of ''

Proshapalopus ''Proshapalopus'' is a genus of South American tarantulas that was first described by Cândido Firmino de Mello-Leitão in 1923. Species it contains four species, found in Colombia and Brazil: *'' Proshapalopus amazonicus'' Bertani, 2001 – ...

'' and '' Citharacanthus livingstoni''. Males differ from other theraphosids in having one or two more-or-less conical processes on the rear-facing (retrolateral) surface of the tibia of the

pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") an ...

; the pear-shaped

palpal bulb The two palpal bulbs – also known as palpal organs and genital bulbs – are the copulatory organs of a male spider. They are borne on the last segment of the pedipalps (the front "limbs" of a spider), giving the spider an appearance often desc ...

is also different from other theraphosids, having somewhat convergent "keels" on the forward-facing (prolateral) surface. Females have very distinctive

spermatheca The spermatheca (pronounced plural: spermathecae ), also called receptaculum seminis (plural: receptacula seminis), is an organ of the female reproductive tract in insects, e.g. ants, bees, some molluscs, oligochaeta worms and certain other in ...

e, with paired receptacles attached to a "back-plate". The body lengths of the species range from about . Males generally have longer legs than females; for example the longest leg (the fourth) of a female ''N. caxiuana'' was long and that of a male long.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Ami'' was erected in 2008 by Fernando Pérez-Miles; the name is based on a word in the

Tupí Tupí, also known as ''formatge de tupí'', is a fermented cheese of a certain area of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees made from cows' or sheep's milk. It is a cheese traditionally prepared in the mountainous Pallars region, as well as in the Cerda ...

language, meaning "spider that does not spin a web". Initially six new species were placed in the genus, and ''Avicularia obscura'' was transferred to it. ''Ami'' seemed to be more closely related to the genus ''

'' than to other genera of the large subfamily

Theraphosinae The Theraphosinae are a large subfamily of Mygalomorphae spiders in the family Theraphosidae found in the Neotropical realm. Genera The subfamily Theraphosinae includes these genera: * '' Acanthoscurria'' * '' Aenigmarachne'' * ''Aphonopelm ...

. It is also similar to the small brownish genera '' Cyclosternum'' and '' Reversopelma''. The six new species were ''A. caxiuana'', named after the type locality, which means "place of many snakes" in Tupí; ''A. yupanquii'', named after the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

leader Tupac Yupanqui, who unified the agricultural populations of Ecuador; ''A. bladesi'' named in honor of Panamanian singer and composer

Ruben Blades Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...

; ''A. pijaos'', honoring the

Pijao The Pijao (also Piajao, Pixao, Pinao) are an indigenous people from Colombia. Ethnography The Pijao or Pijaos formed a loose federation of Amerindians and were living in the present-day department of Tolima, Colombia. In pre-Columbian time ...

s, an ancient culture that populated the region of the type locality; ''A. amazonica'', referring to the Colombian Amazonic region; and ''A. weinmanni'', named after Dirk Weinmann, the collector of the type specimens. In 2019, Pérez-Miles and co-workers discovered that ''Ami bladesi'' was identical to the earlier described ''Neischnocolus panamanus'' Petrunkevitch, 1925, whose

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

had been rediscovered. Accordingly, ''Ami'' was considered to be a junior synonym of ''Neischnocolus'', and all the species were transferred to that genus.

Species

, the

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

accepted the following species: *'' Neischnocolus amazonica'' (Jimenez & Bertani, 2008) (syn. ''Ami amazonica'') – Colombia *'' Neischnocolus armihuariensis'' (Kaderka, 2014) (syn. ''Ami armihuariensis'') – Peru *'' Neischnocolus caxiuana'' (Pérez-Miles, Miglio & Bonaldo, 2008) (syn. ''Ami caxiuana'') – Brazil *''

Neischnocolus iquitos ''Neischnocolus'' is a genus of spiders in the family Tarantula, Theraphosidae. It was first described in 1925 by Petrunkevitch. The genus ''Ami'' was separately described in 2008, but was later discovered to be a Synonym (taxonomy)#Zoology, juni ...

'' Kaderka, 2020 – Peru *'' Neischnocolus obscurus'' (Ausserer, 1875) (syn. ''Ami obscura'') – Colombia *'' Neischnocolus panamanus'' Petrunkevitch, 1925 (

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

) (syns. ''Ami bladesi'', ''Barropelma parvior'') – Costa Rica, Panama *''

Neischnocolus pijaos ''Neischnocolus'' is a genus of spiders in the family Tarantula, Theraphosidae. It was first described in 1925 by Petrunkevitch. The genus ''Ami'' was separately described in 2008, but was later discovered to be a Synonym (taxonomy)#Zoology, juni ...

'' (Jimenez & Bertani, 2008) (syn. ''Ami pijaos'') – Colombia *'' Neischnocolus valentinae'' (Almeida, Salvatierra & de Morais, 2019) (syn. ''Ami valentinae'') – Brazil *'' Neischnocolus weinmanni'' (Pérez-Miles, 2008) (syn. ''Ami weinmanni'') – Venezuela *'' Neischnocolus yupanquii'' (Pérez-Miles, Gabriel & Gallon, 2008) (syn. ''Ami yupanquii'') – Ecuador

Notes

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q27464925, from2=Q2445120, from3=Q27464907 Theraphosidae Theraphosidae genera