''Annandaliella ermakulamensis'' is a species of

tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

(family Theraphosidae) in the subfamily

Selenogyrinae The Selenogyrinae are a subfamily of tarantulas found in Africa and Asia."Family: Therap ...

. It is one of three species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Annandaliella'' and the first to be described in 73 years. It is native to

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...

Kerala State Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Cana ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Etymology

The specific name of this tarantula, ''ermakulmensis'', honors the type locality, Ermakulam.

Characteristics

''Annandaliella ermakulamensis'' has three peg-like

seta In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...

e on the inside of the chelicerae, a tibial comb consisting of long black setae on a tibial apophysis (i.e. a protrusion), and a long, tapering embolus without any apical keels. It is reddish brown, but on the cephalothorax it has thick dark bands radiating from the fovea, a grove in the center of the cephalothorax, to the coxae of the legs and the ocularium.

References

Theraphosidae Spiders described in 2008 Spiders of the Indian subcontinent {{theraphosidae-stub