''Cyriopagopus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

tarantulas 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 ...

found from

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. , the genus includes species formerly placed in ''Haplopelma''. It was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1887.

Description

The species formerly placed in ''Haplopelma'' are medium to large spiders; for example, ''

Cyriopagopus schmidti ''Cyriopagopus schmidti'' is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), found in China and Vietnam. It is one of a number of species known as "Chinese bird spider" and "Chinese earth tiger". ''Haplopelma huwenum'' was synonymi ...

'' females have a total body length, including

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as " jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or similarl ...

, up to , with the longest leg, the first, being about long. The carapace (upper surface of the cephalothorax) is generally dark brown. They have eight eyes grouped on a distinctly raised portion of the cephalothorax, forming a "tubercle". The forward-facing (prolateral) sides of the

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. T ...

e have "thorns", which act as a stridulating organ. The first leg is usually the longest, followed by the fourth, second, and third. Mature females have an M-shaped

spermatheca The spermatheca (pronounced plural: spermathecae ), also called receptaculum seminis (plural: receptacula seminis), is an organ of the female reproductive tract in insects, e.g. ants, bees, some molluscs, oligochaeta worms and certain other in ...

. Mature males have a spur on the forward-facing sides of the tibiae of the first pair of legs and a pear-shaped

palpal bulb The two palpal bulbs – also known as palpal organs and genital bulbs – are the copulatory organs of a male spider. They are borne on the last segment of the pedipalps (the front "limbs" of a spider), giving the spider an appearance often desc ...

with a wide, curved embolus.

Taxonomy

The nomenclature of a group of theraphosid genera from South and Southeast Asia, including ''Cyriopagopus'', ''Haplopelma'', ''

Lampropelma ''Lampropelma'' is a genus of Indonesian tarantulas that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1892. it contains two species, found in Indonesia. Diagnosis They can be distinguished from '' Phormingochilus'' and '' Omothymus'' though ...

'', ''

Omothymus ''Omothymus'' is a genus of spiders in the family Theraphosidae, found in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Description This genus can be distinguished from others thanks to their reproductive organs. They can be distinguished from ''Phormi ...

'', and ''

Phormingochilus ''Phormingochilus'' is a genus of Indonesian tarantulas that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1895. They are occasionally kept as exotic pets, and are known for moving in bursts of speed and being defensive when cornered. Diagnosi ...

'', is somewhat confused. The status of the genera has changed several times recently, and species have been moved from one genus to another. Currently, ''Haplopelma'' is considered to be a junior synonym of ''Cyriopagopus'', and ''Melopoeus'' of ''Haplopelma'', hence of ''Cyriopagopus'', but this may change. The genus ''Cyriopagopus'' was erected by Eugène Simon in 1887 for the species '' Cyriopagopus paganus'' from

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. In 1985,

Robert Raven Robert John Raven is an Australian arachnologist, being the Head of Terrestrial Biodiversity and the Senior Curator (Arachnida) at the Queensland Museum. Dr Raven has described many species of spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breath ...

made ''Cyriopagopus'' the senior synonym of ''Melognathus'' Chamberlin, 1917. In 1890,

Tamerlan Thorell Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell (3 May 1830 – 22 December 1901) was a Swedish arachnologist. Thorell studied spiders with Giacomo Doria at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale de Genoa. He corresponded with other arachnologists, such as Octaviu ...

described a species of spider under the name ''Selenocosmia doriae''. In 1892, Eugène Simon decided that this species was sufficiently different from others placed in the genus '' Selenocosmia'' to warrant a new genus, ''Haplopelma'', with one species, ''Haplopelma doriae''. Raven in 1985 also decided that ''Haplopelma'' was the senior synonym of ''Melopoeus'' Pocock, 1895. A. M. Smith studied the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

of ''Cyriopagopus paganus'' (the

type species In 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 species that contains the biological type specime ...

of ''Cyriopagopus'') and decided that it had the key characteristics of ''Haplopelma'', making ''Cyriopagopus'' the senior synonym of ''Haplopelma''. This analysis is accepted by 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 ...

, with the comment that "''Haplopelma'', ''Cyriopagopus'', ''Melopoeus'', and other ornithoctonine genera are in urgent need of revision".

Distribution and habitat

The genus is found in Southeast Asia (China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore), Borneo, and the Philippines. Species that have been studied live in underground, silk-lined tubes, often with a surrounding web of radiating signal threads. They may be found in small colonies at the base of trees or bamboos. Some species favour steep, south-facing slopes.

Toxicity

Like all Old World tarantulas, spiders in the genus ''Cyriopagopus'' lack the

urticating hair Urticating hairs or urticating bristles are one of the primary defense mechanisms used by numerous plants, almost all New World tarantulas, and various lepidopteran caterpillars. ''Urtica'' is Latin for "nettle" (stinging nettles are in the genu ...

s found in their

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

counterparts, hence use biting as a primary means of both attack and defence. Some ''Cyriopagopus'' species are among those reported to have more toxic venom. Although bites may cause severe pain and a range of other effects, no fatalities are known. '' Cyriopagopus lividus'', '' C. hainanus'', and '' C. schmidti'' (under its synonym ''Selenocosmia huwena'') have had their venom characterized. The last two produce hainantoxins and huwentoxins, respectively. The large fangs can produce puncture wounds which are susceptible to

bacterial infection Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease. This article focuses on the bacteria that are pathogenic to humans. Most species of bacteria are harmless and are often beneficial but others can cause infectious diseases. The number ...

if not treated properly.

Species

it contains nine species, found in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

: *'' Cyriopagopus albostriatus'' (Simon, 1886) –

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

*'' Cyriopagopus doriae'' ( Thorell, 1890) –

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

(

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

) *'' Cyriopagopus hainanus'' (Liang, Peng, Huang & Chen, 1999) – China *'' Cyriopagopus lividus'' (Smith, 1996) –

*'' Cyriopagopus longipes'' (von Wirth & Striffler, 2005) –

, Laos,

(Vietnam Tiger) *'' Cyriopagopus minax'' (Thorell, 1897) –

(Thailand Black) *'' Cyriopagopus paganus'' Simon, 1887 ( type) –

*''

'' (von Wirth, 1991) – China,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

*'' Cyriopagopus vonwirthi'' ( Schmidt, 2005) –

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

In synonymy

*''C. huwenus'' (Wang, Peng & Xie, 1993) = ''Cyriopagopus schmidti'' (von Wirth, 1991)

Transferred to other genera

* ''Cyriopagopus dromeus'' (Chamberlin, 1917) → '' Melognathus dromeus'' * ''Cyriopagopus schioedtei'' (Thorell, 1891) → '' Omothymus schioedtei'' * ''Cyriopagopus thorelli'' (Simon, 1901) → '' Omothymus schioedtei''

Nomen Dubia

* ''Cyriopagopus robustus'' (Strand, 1907) -

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

* ''Cyriopagopus salangensis'' (Strand, 1907) -

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1915392 Theraphosidae Theraphosidae genera Spiders of Asia