''Neoheterophrictus crurofulvus'' 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 ...

. It is also 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 specimen ...

of ''

Neoheterophrictus ''Neoheterophrictus'' is a genus of tarantula in the family Theraphosidae. It comprises seven species, all found in India. Characteristics ''Neoheterophrictus'' is similar to ''Heterophrictus'' and ''Plesiophrictus'', however the females diff ...

'' and is found in the Western Ghats,

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 ''crurofulvus'' is a mixture of two

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

words: ''cruro'' meaning "leg" or "appendage"; and ''fulvus'' meaning "tawny" or "yellowish-brown". This refers to the light brown colour of the legs of the female, which is not seen in any other Indian Theraphosid.

Distinguishing features

''Neoheterophrictus crurofulvus'' is known from the male and female. The female is distinguished by the structure of the

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 ...

e; there are two receptacles, which narrow at the apex; also upon the apex are a multitude of tiny lobes. The male differs from other species by having a tibial spur which narrows down towards the apex where there is a pointed spine; it also lacks a basal spine in the retrolateral view of the spur; and the retrolateral two-thirds of the metatarsi and the whole tarsi are coloured white or cream.

References

Theraphosidae Spiders described in 2012 Spiders of the Indian subcontinent {{Theraphosidae-stub