''Neoheterophrictus'' is a genus of

tarantula 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 ...

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 comprises seven species, all found in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Characteristics

''Neoheterophrictus'' is similar to '' Heterophrictus'' and '' Plesiophrictus'', however the females differ by having a different

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 othe ...

e structure, which have two receptacles with many lobes/termini at the end. Males are distinguished from '' Plesiophrictus'' by the absence of a tegular keel on the male

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 ...

. It occurs in the Western Ghats,

Etymology

The name is a combination of two words ''neo'' and ''heterophrictus'', ''neo'' in Latin meaning "new" and '' Heterophrictus'' being a genus name within the family Theraphosidae.

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 ...

recognized seven species. All are restricted to India. *''

Neoheterophrictus amboli ''Neoheterophrictus amboli'' is a species of theraphosid spiders, which is found in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous ...

'' Mirza & Sanap, 2014 *'' Neoheterophrictus bhori'' (Gravely, 1915) *'' Neoheterophrictus crurofulvus'' Siliwal, Gupta & Raven, 2012 *'' Neoheterophrictus madraspatanus'' (Gravely, 1935) *'' Neoheterophrictus sahyadri'' Siliwal, Gupta & Raven, 2012 *'' Neoheterophrictus smithi'' Mirza, Bhosale & Sanap, 2014 *'' Neoheterophrictus uttarakannada'' Siliwal, Gupta & Raven, 2012

References

Theraphosidae Spiders of the Indian subcontinent Theraphosidae genera {{Theraphosidae-stub