''Neoheterophrictus madraspatanus'' 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 ...

in 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 ...

, found in India.

Description

Males vary in body length, ranging from 7 to 20 mm; the largest females are about 19 mm long. Both sexes are brownish in colour, lighter in smaller individuals and darker in larger ones. Males have special structures on the distal end of the tibia of their first legs, including on the ventral side a large curved projection (apophysis) whose apex is divided into three.

Taxonomy

First described by Frederic Henry Gravely in 1935 in the genus ''

Plesiophrictus ''Plesiophrictus'' is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1899. Species it contains eight species, found in Sri Lanka, India, and Micronesia: *'' Plesiophrictus fabrei'' ( Simon, 1892) – India *'' Plesiop ...

'', the species was transferred to the genus ''

Neoheterophrictus ''Neoheterophrictus'' is a genus of tarantula in the family Theraphosidae. It comprises 8 species, all found in India. Characteristics ''Neoheterophrictus'' is similar to '' Heterophrictus'' and ''Plesiophrictus'', however the females differ ...

'' by Rajesh V. Sanap and Zeeshan A. Mirza in 2013, based on the structure of the male tibial spur.

Distribution

The original specimens were found in the city of

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, India, and surrounding areas.

References

Theraphosidae Endemic fauna of India Spiders of the Indian subcontinent Spiders described in 1935 {{Theraphosidae-stub