''Vitalius'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of South American

tarantulas 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 ...

that was first described by S. Lucas, P. I. da Silva Jr. &

Rogério Bertani Rogério Bertani is a Brazilian arachnologist, active at the Butantan Institute. He is credited as one of the foremost specialists in Theraphosidae Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , ...

in 1993.

Diagnosis

They can be distinguished from other

by the lack of stridulating hairs on the

prolateral This glossary describes the terms used in formal descriptions of spiders; where applicable these terms are used in describing other arachnids. Links within the glossary are shown . Terms A Abdomen or opisthosoma: One of the two main body part ...

side of coxa 1 and in the

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 ...

. By the absence of scopula on the side of

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates wit ...

1, and

metatarsus The metatarsal bones, or metatarsus, are a group of five long bones in the foot, located between the tarsal bones of the hind- and mid-foot and the phalanges of the toes. Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the med ...

1 closing between the male spur branches.

Species

it contains ten species, found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

: *'' Vitalius buecherli'' Bertani, 2001 –

*'' Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) – Brazil *'' Vitalius longisternalis'' Bertani, 2001 – Brazil,

*'' Vitalius lucasae'' Bertani, 2001 – Brazil *'' Vitalius nondescriptus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1926) – Brazil *'' Vitalius paranaensis'' Bertani, 2001 – Brazil, Argentina *'' Vitalius roseus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) – Brazil, Argentina *'' Vitalius sorocabae'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) (

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. * Ty ...

) – Brazil *'' Vitalius vellutinus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) – Brazil *'' Vitalius wacketi'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) – Brazil

In
Synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

*''V. cephalopheus'' (Piza, 1944) = ''Vitalius vellutinus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. cesteri'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) = ''Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. communis'' (Piza, 1939) = ''Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. cucullatus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) = ''Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. exsul'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) = ''Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. insularis'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) = ''Vitalius wacketi'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. litoralis'' = ''Vitalius wacketi'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. masculus'' (Piza, 1939) = ''Vitalius wacketi'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. melanocephalus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) = ''Vitalius sorocabae'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. melloleitaoi'' = ''Vitalius nondescriptus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1926) *''V. mus'' (Piza, 1944) = ''Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. piracicabensis'' (Piza, 1933) = ''Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. urbanicola'' (Soares, 1941) = ''Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. ypiranguensis'' (Soares, 1941) = ''Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923)

Nomina dubia

*''V. platyomma'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923 - Brazil *''V. rondoniensis'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923 - Brazil *''V. tetracanthus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923 - Brazil

Formerly included

* ''Vitalius cristatus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) → ''

Lasiodora cristata ''Lasiodora'' is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1850. They are often very large; body lengths of up to , including the legs, are not unusual. They are found in South America, including the count ...

'' * ''Vitalius holophaeus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) → ''

Eupalaestrus spinosissimus ''Eupalaestrus'' is a genus of South American tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901. Species it contains six species, found in Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil: *'' Eupalaestrus campestratus'' (Simon, 1891) ...

'' * ''Vitalius vulpinus'' Schmidt, 1998 → '' Nhandu tripepii''

References

External links

Theraphosidae genera Spiders of South America Theraphosidae {{Theraphosidae-stub