The skeleton tarantula, ''Ephebopus murinus'', is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

belonging to the family

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

(tarantulas), sub-family

Aviculariinae The Aviculariinae are a subfamily of spiders in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas). They can be distinguished from other theraphosids by a number of characters. Their legs have no or few spines on the underside (ventral surface) of the tibial ...

. A

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: ...

species, it is native to several

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n countries. Its common name is derived from the skeleton-like markings on its legs.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by

Charles Athanase Walckenaer Baron Charles Athanase Walckenaer (25 December 1771 – 28 April 1852) was a French civil servant, writer, man of letters, and scientist. He was a polymath and wrote extensively on geography, natural history, and literature. Major contributio ...

in 1837 as ''Mygale murina''. In 1892,

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist in history, ...

placed it in his genus ''

Ephebopus ''Ephebopus'' is a genus of northeastern South American tarantulas that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1892. Its relation to other tarantulas is one of the most uncertain in the family, and it has been frequently moved around and ha ...

''.

Frederick Octavius Pickard-Cambridge Frederick Octavius Pickard-Cambridge (3 November 1860 – 9 February 1905) was an English arachnologist. He is sometimes confused with his uncle, Octavius Pickard-Cambridge (1828–1917), who was also an arachnologist and from whom F. O. ...

described it as ''Santaremia pococki'' in 1896 (creating a new genus). Later

Reginald Innes Pocock Reginald Innes Pocock, (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist. Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edward's ...

(1903) synonymised ''S. pococki'' with ''E. murinus'', which remains the species' accepted scientific name to date. The generic name, ''Ephebopus'' is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

meaning "youth(ful)" plus "foot", and the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''murinus'' is from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

meaning "mouse-colored".

Description

The adult ''E. murinus'' usually grows to a leg span of about 11–12 cm (4.5 inches), though females can grow as large as 15 cm (6 inches). The legs are black, the abdomen is small and brown, and the carapace is coffee colored or golden. The leg striping is similar to that of '' Aphonopelma seemani'', but more yellowish in colour.

Habitat and distribution

''E. murinus'' is a terrestrial, semi-

fossorial A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamand ...

, lowland forest-dwelling species native to northern

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

Behavior

Unlike most members of the subfamily

, which are

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

, ''E. murinus'' lives mainly on or near the forest floor, where it will build a heavily webbed

burrow file:Chipmunk-burrow (exits).jpg, An eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of Animal lo ...

beneath the topsoil or amongst branches, rocks, and other forest floor debris. As a defense against potential predators, and in common with many other

tarantulas, the species of the genus ''Ephebopus'' 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. Uniquely, rather than being located on the abdomen, ''Ephebopus'' urticating hairs are located on the spider's palps - on the medial side of the palpal femora; the spider sheds these hairs by rubbing the palp 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 ...

. ''E. murinus'' is also a fast and aggressive species, and will readily rise up and present its fangs to a potential predator.

Diet

In common with most terrestrial

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

species, ''Ephobopus murinus'' feeds on ground-dwelling insects, worms and small mammals.

References

External links

Tarantula Bibliography, Ephebopus
- A bibliographical directory for the genus ''Ephebopus''
Guide to keeping a skeleton tarantula as a pet
at WikiPets {{Taxonbar, from=Q50803028 Theraphosidae Fauna of the Amazon Spiders of Brazil Invertebrates of French Guiana Fauna of Suriname