''Poecilotheria'' is a genus of tarantulas native to India and Sri Lanka. It was first described by
Eugène Louis Simon
Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".CITES.
The genus name is a combination of the Ancient Greek " poikilos" (), meaning "spotted", and therion" (), meaning "wild beast".
Taxonomy
The species belonging to ''Poecilotheria'' were first documented in 1734 by Dutch zoologist Albertus Seba, when he went to
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. He published the new spiders he saw in his illustrations of the book ''Albertus Seba's Thesaurus'' under the name of ''Aranea maxima ceilonica'' (meaning ''big spider from Sri Lanka''). However, the most precise scientific explanation came in 1804 when Pierre Latreille described the spider as ''Mygale fasciata''.
After about 40 years delay, in 1850, C.L. Koch revised the generic name ''Mygale'' in to ''Scurria'' and species as ''Scurria fasciata''. In 1885,
Eugène Simon
Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history, describing over 4, ...
proposed the generic name ''Poecilotheria'' instead of ''Scurria'' due to species description errors with a mollusk.
There is a debate about the taxonomy of a few species. Some sources identify ''Poecilotheria vittata'' of Sri Lanka as a synonym of ''Poecilotheria striata'' of India, but in other sources both of them have been given valid species identity. The naming of ''Poecilotheria bara'' from Sri Lanka is also in debate – whether it is the same species as ''Poecilotheria subfusca'', found in south central parts of Sri Lanka. In 2014, Ranil P. Nanayakkara, a Sri Lanka arachnologist, regarded ''P. vittata'', ''P. striata'', ''P. bara'', and ''P. subfusca'' as distinct species.
Species
, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species, seven from India, six from Sri Lanka and two from both countries.
India
*''
Poecilotheria formosa
''Poecilotheria formosa'' is a species of tarantula, commonly known as the salem ornamental, beautiful parachute spider, or finely formed parachute spider.
Distribution
''P. formosa'' is found only in South-Eastern Ghats between Salem and Tirupa ...
'' Pocock, 1899 — Salem ornamental
*''
Poecilotheria metallica
''Poecilotheria metallica'', also known as the peacock tarantula, is an Old World species of tarantula. It is the only blue species of the genus ''Poecilotheria''. Like others in its genus it exhibits an intricate fractal-like pattern on the abd ...
Poecilotheria rufilata
''Poecilotheria rufilata'', also known as the red slate ornamental, reddish parachute spider, Travancore slate-red, or rufus parachute spider, is an arboreal tarantula. It is endemic to South Western Ghats of India
India, officially the ...
'' Pocock, 1899 — red slate ornamental
*''
Poecilotheria striata
''Poecilotheria striata'', or the Mysore ornamental tarantula, is a large arboreal tarantula of the family Theraphosidae. It is endemic to India.
Ecology
The species is found in dry and moist deciduous forests, at altitudes between 500 and ...
Poecilotheria tigrinawesseli
''Poecilotheria tigrinawesseli'', also known as Wessel's tiger ornamental or Anantagiri's parachute spider, is an arboreal tarantula. It is endemic to Eastern Ghats of India and known from six locations around Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh ...
Poecilotheria ornata
''Poecilotheria ornata'', known as the fringed ornamental or ornate tiger spider, is a large arboreal tarantula, which is endemic to Sri Lanka. Their legspan sometimes reaches 10 inches (25 cm) in females, and is probably the second lar ...
'' Pocock, 1899 — fringed ornamental
*''
Poecilotheria rajaei
''Poecilotheria rajaei'' is a tarantula in the genus ''Poecilotheria'' endemic to Sri Lanka.
Genus
The genus is native to Sri Lanka and India. The name ''Poecilotheria'' is derived from Greek: "poikilos", meaning spotted, and "therion", meaning ...
Poecilotheria smithi
''Poecilotheria smithi'', or the yellow-backed ornamental, is a species of large arboreal tarantulas. It is endemic to Sri Lanka and considered to be critically endangered.
Size
The female is much larger than male, with a head-to-body length of ...
'' Kirk, 1996 — yellow backed ornamental
*''
Poecilotheria subfusca
''Poecilotheria subfusca'', or the ivory ornamental, is a spider in the tarantula family, Theraphosidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. , the World Spider Catalog regarded ''Poecilotheria bara'' as a synonym. Other sources, particularly in the pet ...
'' Pocock, 1895 — ivory ornamental
Both countries
*''
Poecilotheria hanumavilasumica
''Poecilotheria hanumavilasumica'', also known as the Rameshwaram ornamental, or Rameshwaram parachute spider, is a critically endangered species of tarantula.
Distribution
It was discovered in 2004 by Andrew Smith from a sacred grove of the Han ...
'' Smith, 2004 — Rameshwaram ornamental
*''
Poecilotheria vittata
''Poecilotheria vittata'', sometimes called Pederson's ornamental, the ghost ornamental, or magam tiger spider, is an arboreal tarantula. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. In IUCN Red List, the species is cited as a synonym of Indian species '' Poecil ...
'' Pocock, 1895 — Magam ornamental
Junior synonyms
The following species were once considered to be species, but are now considered synonyms of other species by the World Spider Catalog, :
*''Poecilotheria amarasekarai'' = ''P. rajaei''; regarded as distinct by other sources
*''
Poecilotheria bara
''Poecilotheria subfusca'', or the ivory ornamental, is a spider in the tarantula family, Theraphosidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. , the World Spider Catalog regarded ''Poecilotheria bara'' as a synonym. Other sources, particularly in the pet ...
Species of ''Poecilotheria'' are easily distinguishable from other species of family Theraphosidae due to the flattened
carapace
A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...
, maxilla with spines, and black teeth like tubercles. Their legs lack spines and the scopula of the legs are clearly seen. There are unique color patterns on the ventral surface, especially on the legs. The dorsal surface of the abdomen has several variegated stripes and spots of black and white. The first and fourth pair of legs are colored with striking yellow and black patterns, a feature used especially to identify up to species level.
Males and females show sexual dimorphism, which enables easy recognition. Mature males are easily recognizable by highly sclerotized sperm storage pouches called palpal bulbs. Palpal bulbs are used to inject sperm in to female's genitalia. Males are smaller than females and also more slenderly built. In males, the first pair and fourth pair of legs are of the same length, but in females, the first pair of legs are longer than the fourth pair. Males are usually more dull colored with cryptic markings and are inconspicuous. However, the folium marking on the opisthosoma is darker than that of females.
Ecology
Ornamental tarantulas are nocturnal and crepuscular hunters. They come out to forage in dusk and dawn. Unlike many other spiders, they do not use a cobweb to catch prey. Instead, they are ambush predators, where they sit and wait until the prey comes closer or passes by, then follow the prey with exceptional speed, catch it, and inject venom to immobilize it.
Once the prey is secured, they roll the prey in silk and start to feed. The most common prey of tiger spiders are insects, larvae, small birds and small mammals like bats, and even other spiders and males of the same species (by females).
Several species of ''Poecilotheria'' are classed as "endangered" or "critically endangered", with the main threats being habitat loss and for at least one species, ''P. metallica'', collection and smuggling for the pet trade.
Conservation
As of 2019, all species of ''Poecilotheria'' are listed on CITES Appendix II. This means that specimens cannot be legally traded (internationally) without CITES export permits from the country of export (or CITES re-export permits if the specimens had been previously imported from another country).