''Sericopelma'' 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 ...

of tarantula (family Theraphosidae), found in Central America from

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. The limits of the genus and its distribution have long been confused; it is closely related to the genus ''

Aphonopelma ''Aphonopelma'' is a genus of tarantulas native to the Americas. It includes nearly all the North American tarantula species north of Mexico and a considerable percentage of the tarantula species that range into Central America. Most are fairly ...

''. ''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".

Description

Spiders in the genus ''Sericopelma'' are some of the largest found in Central America. Males have bodies long, females are somewhat longer at . They can be kept as pets in

terraria ''Terraria'' is an action-adventure sandbox game developed by Re-Logic. The game was first released for Windows on May 16, 2011, and has since been ported to several other platforms. The game features exploration, crafting, building, painting ...

, although '' S. melanotarsum'' is described as "very aggressive".

Diagnosis

Characters that distinguish species of the genus ''Sericopelma'' from other theraphosids found in the same localities include the following. The carapace is longer than wide, with a deep transverse pit ( fovea) and distinct grooves radiating from it. The

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates wit ...

of the fourth leg has a dense pad of feathery (plumose) hair on the side facing away from the head of the animal (retrolateral); the

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 ...

of the same leg has a divided and reduced trace of tuft-like ( scopulate) hairs at the end furthest from the body. The first leg lacks stridulatory hairs. Females have spermathecae with a single lobe, expanded at the apex to form a P-shape in cross-section. Males lack tibial spurs and their palpal bulbs have an embolus of a characteristic shape.

Taxonomy

''Sericopelma'' was initially described by Anton Ausserer in 1875 as a subgenus of ''Eurypelma'' (now ''

Avicularia ''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. ...

'') with the

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 ...

'' E. rubronitens''. It was given full generic status by Simon in 1892. Until the middle of the 20th century only males were known by formal descriptions. The genus as a whole was described in 2015 as "poorly defined". Confusion with genera such as '' Brachypelma'' has been frequent; two species were transferred from that genus in 2015. A molecular phylogenetic study in 2016 produced the

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...

shown below, showing that ''Sericopelma'' is embedded in the genus ''

'', as the latter is currently circumscribed. It is likely that generic boundaries will change with further research.

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: *'' Sericopelma angustum'' (Valerio, 1980) – Costa Rica *''

Sericopelma commune ''Sericopelma'' is a genus of tarantula (family Theraphosidae), 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''. ''Serico ...

'' F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897 – Panama *''

Sericopelma dota ''Sericopelma'' is a genus of tarantula (family Theraphosidae), 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''. ''Serico ...

'' Valerio, 1980 – Costa Rica *''

Sericopelma embrithes ''Sericopelma embrithes'' is a tarantula that is native to Panama. To date, only specimens from Barro Colorado Island have been studied. Like other tarantulas, it is relatively large compared to other spiders. It can grow up to 59 mm long, includ ...

'' (Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936) – Panama *''

Sericopelma ferrugineum ''Sericopelma'' is a genus of tarantula (family Theraphosidae), 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''. ''Serico ...

'' Valerio, 1980 – Costa Rica *''

Sericopelma generala ''Sericopelma'' is a genus of tarantula (family Theraphosidae), 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''. ''Serico ...

'' Valerio, 1980 – Costa Rica *''

Sericopelma immensum ''Sericopelma'' is a genus of tarantula (family Theraphosidae), 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''. ''Serico ...

'' Valerio, 1980 – Costa Rica *'' Sericopelma melanotarsum'' Valerio, 1980 – Costa Rica *'' Sericopelma panamanum'' (Karsch, 1880) – Panama; may be included in ''S. rubronitens'' *'' Sericopelma panamense'' (Simon, 1891) – Panama (some sources include Mexico, but this is rejected in a 2015 study) *''

Sericopelma rubronitens ''Sericopelma'' is a genus of tarantula (family Theraphosidae), 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''. ''Serico ...

'' Ausserer, 1875 – Central America (Panama) *'' Sericopelma silvicola'' Valerio, 1980 – Costa Rica *'' Sericopelma upala'' Valerio, 1980 – Costa Rica One species has been rejected as a member of the genus ''Sericopelma'', but no other placement has been given, so that it is still listed in this genus: *'' Sericopelma fallax'' Mello-Leitão, 1923 – Brazil

In synonymy

* ''Sericopelma balboanum'' (Chamberlin, 1940) = ''

'' * ''Sericopelma consocius'' (Chamberlin, 1940) = ''

Nomen dubium

* ''Sericopelma striatum'' (Ausserer, 1871) –

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Transferred to other genera

* ''Sericopelma carapoense'' (Lucas, 1983) → ''

Nhandu carapoensis ''Nhandu'' is a genus of South American tarantulas that was first described by S. Lucas in 1983. ''Brazilopelma'' was synonymized with it in 2001. Diagnosis They can be distinguished by the lack of stridulating organs, extension of the scopu ...

Distribution

Specimens placed in the genus have been given localities ranging from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

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 ...

. However, detailed studies by Gabriel and Longhorn in 2011 and 2015 suggest that some of these were errors, and that the true range of the genus is from Nicaragua to Panama.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2110741 Theraphosidae Theraphosidae genera Spiders of Central America