''Phormictopus'' 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 ...

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 ...

s 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 ...

(tarantulas) that occurs in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, mainly

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and Hispaniola, with three species probably misplaced in this genus 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 ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Description

''Phormictopus'' species are quite large spiders; for example a female of '' Phormictus auratus'' had a total body length of with the longest leg (the fourth) being long. They have

stridulating Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fish, snakes and spiders. The mech ...

organs on the coxae and trochanters of 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 first pair of legs. Males have two apophyses (projections) on the tibia of the first pair of legs, and

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 of type I. Females have a two-part

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 ...

, and

urticating hairs 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 ...

of types I and III.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Phormictopus'' was erected 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. He transferred ''Mygale cancerides'', first described by

Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoology, zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained hi ...

in 1806, to his new genus as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. When Jan-Peter Rudloff reviewed the genus in 2008, it included 14 species. He reduced this number to seven definitely belonging to the genus, and described five more. Three species were considered misplaced in ''Phormictopus'', but no definite alternative placement was provided. With these exclusions, the genus is probably restricted to the West Indies.

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 ...

accepted the following species: *'' Phormictopus atrichomatus'' Schmidt, 1991 – probably

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

*'' Phormictopus auratus'' Ortiz & Bertani, 2005 –

*'' Phormictopus australis'' Mello-Leitão, 1941 -

*'' Phormictopus bistriatus'' Rudloff, 2008 –

*''

Phormictopus cancerides ''Phormictopus cancerides'', also known as the Hispaniolan giant tarantula, is a tarantula endemic to Hispaniola in the Caribbean. Hunting During the day they hide under rocks and debris, and come out at night to look for prey. Their fangs are q ...

'' (Latreille, 1806) (

) – Caribbean to Brazil *'' Phormictopus cautus'' (Ausserer, 1875) –

*'' Phormictopus cochleasvorax'' Rudloff, 2008 –

*'' Phormictopus cubensis'' Chamberlin, 1917 –

*'' Phormictopus fritzschei'' Rudloff, 2008 –

*'' Phormictopus jonai'' Rudloff, 2008 –

*'' Phormictopus melodermus'' Chamberlin, 1917 –

*'' Phormictopus platus'' Chamberlin, 1917 –

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

*'' Phormictopus ribeiroi'' Mello-Leitão, 1923 -

*'' Phormictopus schepanskii'' Rudloff, 2008 –

In synonymy

* ''Phormictopus cancerides centumfocensis'' (Franganillo, 1926) = '' Phormictopus cautus'' * ''Phormictopus cancerides tenuispinus'' Strand, 1906 = ''

'' * ''Phormictopus dubius'' (Chamberlin, 1917) = '' Phormictopus cubensis'' * ''Phormictopus nesiotes'' Chamberlin, 1917 = '' Phormictopus cautus'' * ''Phormictopus piephoi'' Schmidt, 2003 = '' Phormictopus cubensis''

Nomina dubia In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...

''Phormictopus brasiliensis'' Strand, 1907 -

''Phormictopus hirsutus'' Strand, 1907 -

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Transferred to other genera

''Phormictopus intermedius'' (Ausserer, 1875) → ''

Cyrtopholis intermedia ''Cyrtopholis'' is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1892. Diagnosis This genus can be distinguished by being found in the Caribbean, and by the presence of claviform stridulatory hairs on the trochanter ...

'' ''Phormictopus multicuspidatus'' Mello-Leitão, 1929 → '' Proshapalopus multicuspidatus'' ''Phormictopus pheopygus'' Mello-Leitão, 1923 → ''

Acanthoscurria gomesiana ''Acanthoscurria gomesiana'' is a species of 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 t ...