Plesiopelma is a genus of South American tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901.[3] Plesiopelma species are particularly abundant along mountainous ranges, frequently living under stones. Both males and females live in silk tubes under stones with aggregate spatial distribution. The walls of these tunnels are covered by waterproof silk, protecting them from floods. In addition, there is a uniform saturated microclimate inside the tunnel, which protects the spiders from dehydration.[citation needed]
| Plesiopelma | |
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| Unidentified Plesiopelma species | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Mygalomorphae |
| Family: | Theraphosidae |
| Genus: | Plesiopelma Pocock, 1901[1] |
| Type species | |
| P. myodes Pocock, 1901
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| Species | |
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11, see text | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Species edit
As of May 2020[update] it contains eleven species, found in Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina:[1]
- Plesiopelma aspidosperma Ferretti & Barneche, 2013 – Argentina
- Plesiopelma gertschi (Caporiacco, 1955) – Venezuela
- Plesiopelma imperatrix Piza, 1976 – Brazil
- Plesiopelma insulare (Mello-Leitão, 1923) – Brazil
- Plesiopelma longisternale (Schiapelli & Gerschman, 1942) – Argentina, Uruguay
- Plesiopelma minense (Mello-Leitão, 1943) – Brazil
- Plesiopelma myodes Pocock, 1901 (type) – Uruguay
- Plesiopelma paganoi Ferretti & Barneche, 2013 – Argentina
- Plesiopelma physopus (Mello-Leitão, 1926) – Brazil
- Plesiopelma rectimanum (Mello-Leitão, 1923) – Brazil
- Plesiopelma semiaurantiacum (Simon, 1897) – Paraguay, Uruguay
Formerly included:
- P. flavohirtum (Simon, 1889) (Transferred to Catanduba)
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b c Gloor, Daniel; Nentwig, Wolfgang; Blick, Theo; Kropf, Christian (2020). "Gen. Plesiopelma Pocock, 1901". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
- ^ Pérez-Miles, F.; et al. (1996). "Systematic revision and cladistic analysis of Theraphosinae (Araneae: Theraphosidae)". Mygalomorph. 1: 55.
- ^ Pocock, R. I. (1901). "Some new and old genera of S.-American Avicularidae". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8 (7): 540–555. doi:10.1080/03745480109443359.
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