''Ybyrapora'' 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), 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 ...

. Its species were formerly placed in the genus ''

Avicularia ''Avicularia'' is a genus of the Family (biology), family Theraphosidae containing various species of arboreal tarantulas. The genus is native to Panama, the Caribbean, and tropical South America. Each species in the genus has very distinguishab ...

''.

Description

''Ybrapora'' consists of species that are smaller than most aviculariines. Females have strongly curved, almost non-sclerotized (i.e. non-hardened)

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. The tibial apophysis (outgrowth) on the first leg is absent or small. Individuals show major colour changes as they mature. Immature spiders have a central reddish mark with jagged edges running along the centre of the abdomen, surrounded by a dark area connected to similarly dark coloured stripes running across the abdomen. These patterns become duller or disappear in adults, particularly females. File:Ybyrapora gamba immature ZK295.jpg, Immature ''Y. gamba'' File:Ybyrapora gamba female ZK296.jpg, Adult female ''Y. gamba'' File:Ybyrapora gamba male ZK297.jpg, Adult male ''Y. gamba'' File:Ybyrapora sooretama female ZK298.jpg, Adult female ''Y. sooretama''

Taxonomy

The genus was erected by

Caroline Sayuri Fukushima Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (singer) (born 1981), Japanese glitch pop musician * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (1933–2017), American football player * Jamie Caroline (born 1999), British racing drive ...

and

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 2017 for three species formerly placed in ''

'' which they regarded as distinct, both in their morphology and distribution. The genus name is derived from the

Tupi language Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi () is a classical Tupian language which was spoken by the indigenous Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. In the words of Brazilian tupinol ...

and means "tree dweller", referring to the arboreal habit of the genus.

Phylogeny

A morphological phylogenetic study in 2017 suggested that the genus is most closely related to '' Iridopelma'', forming a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

with '' Antillena'', ''

Caribena ''Caribena'' is a genus of spiders in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), found in the Antilles. The two species accepted were formerly placed in ''Avicularia''. Apart from a different distribution – ''Avicularia'' species are found in mai ...

'', ''Iridopelma'' and '' Pachistopelma'', distinct from ''

'':

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, all transferred from ''

'': *'' Ybyrapora diversipes'' (C.L. Koch, 1842) – Brazil *'' Ybyrapora gamba'' (Bertani & Fukushima, 2009) – Brazil *'' Ybyrapora sooretama'' (Bertani & Fukushima, 2009) (

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 ...

) – Brazil

Distribution and habitat

''Ybrapora'' species are found in the Atlantic rainforest of

, from

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

to the south of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28924549 Theraphosidae Spiders of Brazil Endemic spiders of Brazil Theraphosidae genera