''Chromatopelma'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

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 ...

of South American

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 m ...

containing the single species, ''Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens''. Commonly known as greenbottle blue tarantulas due to their metallic blue legs and blue-green carapace, they are very active and fast-growing tarantulas that are particularly attractive to hobbyists. They are native to the

Paraguaná Peninsula The Paraguaná Peninsula () is a peninsula in Venezuela, situated in the north of Falcón State, and comprises the municipalities of Carirubana, Los Taques and Falcón. The island of Aruba lies to the north. Bonaire and Curaçao are sligh ...

. They live in webbed burrows under bushes and tree roots in desert areas of northern

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. The entrance is often extended with webbing, sometimes resembling a funnel shape. These webs may protect the entrance from the harsh desert climate and act as a trap for insects. Their diet can consist of many things. These include crickets, roaches and also worms. In 2013, Venezuelan scientists announced that Greenbottle blue tarantulas were threatened by overgrazing that is destroying their habitat. Fumigation of cultivated land has also caused the migration of the species towards the Montecano Biological Reserve and the Cerro Santa Ana Natural Monument. In 2015 it was listed as an

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

species.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by

Embrik Strand Embrik Strand (2 June 1876 – 3 November 1947) was an entomologist and arachnologist who classified many insect and spider species including the greenbottle blue tarantula. Life and career Strand was born in Ål, Norway. He studied at t ...

in 1907 under the name ''Eurypelma cyaneopubescens'', and was moved to the newly created genus ''Delopelma'' by

Alexander Petrunkevitch Alexander Ivanovitch Petrunkevitch (Russian: Александр Иванович Петрункевич, December 22, 1875 in Plysky near Kyiv, now Ukraine – March 9, 1964 in New Haven) was an eminent Russian arachnologist of his time. From ...

in 1939. ''Delopelma'' and ''Eurypelma'' are now considered to be a

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''

Aphonopelma ''Aphonopelma'' is a genus of tarantulas native to the Americas. It includes nearly all the North American tarantula species north of Mexico and a considerable percentage of the tarantula species that range into Central America. Most are fairly ...

'' and ''

Avicularia ''Avicularia'' is a genus of the family Theraphosidae containing various species of arboreal tarantulas. The genus is native to Panama, the Caribbean and tropical South America. Each species in the genus has very distinguishable pink foot pads. ...

'', respectively. In 1997,

Gunter Schmidt Gunter Schmidt (born 22 November 1938) is a German sexologist, psychotherapist and social psychologist. He was born in Berlin. Schmidt was the director of the centre for sexual research in the clinic of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppe ...

considered the species sufficiently distinct to warrant the new genus ''Chromatopelma'', a name referring to its striking blue color. He differentiated ''Chromatopelma'' from ''Aphonopelma'' based on the

scopulae Scopulae, or scopula pads, are dense tufts of hair at the end of a spiders's legs. They are found mostly on hunting spiders, especially Lycosidae and Salticidae. Scopulae consist of microscopic hairs, known as setae, which are each covered in even ...

of the tarsus on the third leg, bristles that divide the metatarsus from the tarsus on the fourth leg, the very large posterior median eyes, and the single fused

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 ...

of females.

References

External links

Tarantupedia

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens care
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q135600, from2=Q2035260 Invertebrates of Venezuela Monotypic Mygalomorphae genera Spiders of South America Theraphosidae

Taxonomy

See also

References

External links