''Ephebopus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of northeastern South American

tarantulas Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the Family (biology), family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Therap ...

that was first described by

Eugène Louis Simon Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

tarantulas, these spiders will brush

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 from their bodies as a defense against potential

predation Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

. However, these spiders are unique because instead of the abdomen, these hairs are located on the

pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to ...

s, and are removed by rubbing the palps against the

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated ...

Diagnosis

They can be differentiated from all other tarantulas by the urticating patch of type 5

s, on the

femora.

Species

it contains five species, found in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

, and

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

: *'' Ephebopus cyanognathus'' West & Marshall, 2000 –

*''

Ephebopus foliatus ''Ephebopus foliatus'' is a species of tarantula (family Theraphosidae) found in Guiana. References Theraphosidae Spiders described in 2008 Spiders of South America Taxa named by Rick C. West {{Theraphosidae-stub ...

'' West, Marshall, Fukushima & Bertani, 2008 –

*'' Ephebopus murinus'' (Walckenaer, 1837) (

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

) – French Guiana,

*'' Ephebopus rufescens'' West & Marshall, 2000 – French Guiana, Brazil *'' Ephebopus uatuman'' Lucas, Silva & Bertani, 1992 – Brazil

In synonymy

* ''E. bistriatus'' (C. L. Koch, 1838) = '' Ephebopus murinus'' (Walckenaer, 1837)

Nomen Dubium

* ''Ephebopus fossor'' Pocock, 1903 -

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Transferred to other genera

* ''Ephebopus violaceus'' Mello-Leitão, 1930 → ''

Tapinauchenius plumipes ''Tapinauchenius plumipes'', the orange tree spider, is a tarantula endemic to French Guiana. It was first described by Ludovico Di Caporiacco in 1954. Its previous name, ''Tapinauchenius gigas'' was based on the Latin word for giant, being gigas ...

References