''Vitalius'' 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 ...

of South American

tarantulas Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the Family (biology), family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Therap ...

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 tarantulas by the lack of stridulating hairs on the prolateral 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 descr ...

. By the absence of

scopula ''Scopula'' is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae described by Franz von Paula Schrank in 1802. Species It has 705 species which are listed here alphabetically. A *'' Scopula ablativa'' (Dognin, 1911) *'' Scopula abolita'' Herbulot, ...

on the side of

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

1, and

metatarsus The metatarsal bones or metatarsus (: metatarsi) are a group of five long bones in the midfoot, located between the tarsal bones (which form the heel and the ankle) and the phalanges ( toes). Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are ...

1 closing between the male spur branches.

Species

it contains eleven species, found in

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 ...

and

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 ...

: *'' Vitalius australis'' Galleti-Lima, Hamilton, Borges & Guadanucci, 2023 – Brazil *'' Vitalius buecherli'' Bertani, 2001 – Brazil *'' Vitalius chromatus'' (Schmidt, 2004) – Brazil *'' Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) – Brazil *'' Vitalius lucasae'' Bertani, 2001 – Brazil *'' Vitalius nondescriptus'' (Mello-Leitão, 1926) – Brazil *'' Vitalius paranaensis'' Bertani, 2001 – Brazil, Argentina *'' Vitalius restinga'' Bertani, 2023 – Brazil *'' Vitalius sapiranga'' Bertani, 2023 – Brazil *'' 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. * ...

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

In
Synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely 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 a ...

*''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. 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. sylviae'' (Sherwood, Gabriel & Brescovit, 2023) = ''Vitalius sorocabae'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. urbanicola'' (Soares, 1941) = ''Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923) *''V. ypiranguensis'' (Soares, 1941) = ''Vitalius dubius'' (Mello-Leitão, 1923)

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 ...

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

References

External links

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