''Iridopelma'' 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 ...

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 ...

ian tarantulas that was first described by

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 ...

in 1901.

Diagnosis

Males of this genus can be distinguished by the tibial spurs on leg 1 and 2, while females differ from most other genera by the anterior eye row, which is strongly curved forward. ''

Avicularia ''Avicularia'' is a genus of the Family (biology), 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 distinguishab ...

'' and '' Typhochlaena'' both own the latter characteristics; however, ''Iridopelma'' can be distinguished from ''

'' by the

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

, which lacks a curvature, and from '' Typhochlaena'' by the

spinneret A spinneret is a silk-spinning organ of a spider or the larva of an insect. Some adult insects also have spinnerets, such as those borne on the forelegs of Embioptera. Spinnerets are usually on the underside of a spider's opisthosoma, and ar ...

s, which are finger-shaped.

Species

it contains six species, all found in

: *'' Iridopelma hirsutum'' Pocock, 1901 (

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. * ...

) –

*'' Iridopelma katiae'' Bertani, 2012 – Brazil *''

Iridopelma marcoi ''Iridopelma'' is a genus of Brazilian Theraphosidae, tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901. Diagnosis Males of this genus can be distinguished by the tibial spurs on leg 1 and 2, while females differ from most othe ...

'' Bertani, 2012 – Brazil *'' Iridopelma oliveirai'' Bertani, 2012 – Brazil *''

Iridopelma vanini ''Iridopelma'' is a genus of Brazilian Theraphosidae, tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901. Diagnosis Males of this genus can be distinguished by the tibial spurs on leg 1 and 2, while females differ from most othe ...

'' Bertani, 2012 – Brazil *'' Iridopelma zorodes'' ( Mello-Leitão, 1926) – Brazil

In synonymy

*''I. palmicola'' (Mello-Leitão, 1945) = '' Iridopelma hirsutum''

Nomina dubia

* ''Iridopelma leporina'' (C. L. Koch, 1841) - Brazil * ''Iridopelma plantaris'' (C. L. Koch, 1842) - Brazil

Transferred to other genera

* ''Iridopelma seladonium'' (C. L. Koch, 1841) → '' Typhochlaena seladonia''

References