Selenocosmia is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871.[3] The genus is found in China, New Guinea, Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, India and Pakistan.[1] They are commonly referred to as whistling or barking spiders, due to their ability to stridulate using lyra hairs.[4]

Selenocosmia
Selenocosmia crassipes
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Theraphosidae
Subfamily: Selenocosmiinae
Genus: Selenocosmia
Ausserer, 1871[1]
Type species
S. javanensis
(Walckenaer, 1837)
Species

36, see text

Synonyms[1]

Diagnosis

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Selenocosmia crassipes

In a 2022 paper it was stated that "They can be distinguished from all other tarantula genera by the reduced and shallow apical keel. There is also an absence of dense tufts of retrolateral bristlelike hairs on the tibia and metatarsus of the fourth leg. They stridulate using the maxillae which have lyra hairs, which look somewhat like a scimitar.",[4] citing another article from the previous year.[5] However neither study compare against all Selenocosmia species, therefore it is unknown if this diagnosis holds for all Selenocosmia species.

Species

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As of July 2022 the genus contains thirty-six species and four subspecies, found in Asia, Australia, and Papua New Guinea:[1]

Formerly included:

Nomina dubia

  • Selenocosmia lyra Strand, 1913
  • Selenocosmia subvulpina Strand, 1907

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Gen. Selenocosmia Ausserer, 1871". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2020. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  2. ^ a b Raven, R. J. (2000). "Taxonomica Araneae I: Barychelidae, Theraphosidae, Nemesiidae and Dipluridae (Araneae)". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 45: 570.
  3. ^ Ausserer, A. (1871). "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Arachniden-Familie der Territelariae Thorell (Mygalidae Autor)". Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. 21: 117–224.
  4. ^ a b Lin, Ye-Jie; Chen, Haifeng; Yan, Xunyou (2022-06-04). "A new species of the spider genus Selenocosmia (Araneae, Theraphosidae) from Fujian, China". Biodiversity Data Journal. 10: e82406. doi:10.3897/BDJ.10.e82406. ISSN 1314-2828. PMC 9007929. PMID 35437390.
  5. ^ Kun Yu; Shuyuan Zhang; Feng Zhang; Zhimin Li; Zizong Yang (9 October 2021). "Taxonomic studies on five species of Selenocosmiinae from China (Araneae, Theraphosidae)". Faunitaxys. 9 (33): 1–13. Retrieved 9 August 2022.