''Tmesiphantes aridai'' 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 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. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

, subfamily

Theraphosinae The Theraphosinae are a large subfamily of Mygalomorphae spiders in the family Theraphosidae found primarily in the Neotropical realm. Genera The subfamily Theraphosinae includes these genera: * '' Abdomegaphobema'' * '' Acanthoscurria'' * '' ...

. The type locality is Floresta Nacional do Tapajós,

Santarém Santarém may refer to: Places * Santarém, Pará, Brazil * Santarém District, a district in Portugal * Santarém, Portugal, Capital of the Ribatejo province * Roman Catholic Diocese of Santarém, Portugal Other * Santarém cheese, a Portuguese g ...

, in the state of

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

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 ...

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Hector Gonzalez-Filho, Antonio Brescovit and

Sylvia Lucas Sylvia Elizabeth Lucas (born 22 April 1964) is the current Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces in the Republic of South Africa, after having taken office on 23 May 2019. From 2013 to 2019, she served as the 4th Premier of th ...

in 2014. The specific name ''aridai'' honors Filepe Arida, the grandson of one of the describers.

Description

The male is distinguished from other species by an inconspicuous basal tegular projection on the

palp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicera ...

s and a tibial apophysis (i.e. a projection) with two similarly sized branches, and the retrolateral one is large and has an apical spine. The female is identified 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 ...

e; these have inconspicuous constriction on the apex, also the shape of the apex is irregular.

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 are present in both genders.

References

Theraphosidae Spiders of Brazil Spiders described in 2014 {{Theraphosidae-stub