Hemirrhagus is a genus of Mexican tarantulas that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1903.[3] It is considered a senior synonym of Spelopelma.[2] Species of the genus Hemirrhagus are 5 to 12 cm long, usually black in colour, the urticating hairs on the opisthosoma are arranged in one dorsomedian patch, two dorsal paramedian patches, or two lateral patches. It is unique amongst the theraphosine genera because of the retrolateral coxal heels, the shape of the male palpal bulb, and the urticating hairs on the abdomen are reduced or completely missing.[4] It is the only genus with epigean, troglophile and troglobitic species.

Hemirrhagus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Theraphosidae
Genus: Hemirrhagus
Simon, 1903[1]
Type species
H. cervinus
(Simon, 1891)
Species

27, see text

Synonyms[1]

Distribution edit

Hemirrhagus tarantulas are all found in Mexico all of them are largely distributed from Tamaulipas in the north to Chiapas in the south, primarily in the mountainous regions of Sierra Madre Oriental, Eje Volcánico Transversal, Sierra Norte de Oaxaca, and Sierra Madre Sur. All of this tarantulas are found in individual caves, some species living in the same cave. The species are found in cave systems between 100m to 1900m above sea level. Most of them are found in central Mexico and the northern part of south Mexico.[5][6]

 
Distribution map of the Hemirrhagus genus, according to Frankle and Mendoza, and Tarantupedia

Species edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Gen. Hemirrhagus Simon, 1903". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2020. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  2. ^ a b Pérez-Miles, F.; Locht, A. (2003). "Revision and cladistic analysis of the genus Hemirrhagus Simon, 1903 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae)". Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society. 12: 366.
  3. ^ Simon, E (1903). Histoire naturelle des araignées. Paris: Roret. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
  4. ^ Jorge I. Mendoza Marroquín, "Taxonomic revision of Hemirrhagus Simon, 1903 (Araneae: Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae), with description of five new species from Mexico", Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 170, Issue 4, 1 April 2014, Pages 634–689, doi:10.1111/zoj.12112
  5. ^ "Hemirrhagus". www.tarantupedia.com. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  6. ^ Mendoza, Jorge I. (2018). "Five new cave-dwelling species of Hemirrhagus Simon 1903 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae), with notes on the generic distribution and novel morphological features". Biotaxa.