''Tliltocatl epicureanus'' (

synonym 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 ...

''Brachypelma epicureanum'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas), found in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.

Description

The male

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

of ''Tliltocatl epicureanus'' has a total body length of 50 mm. The fourth leg is longest at 62 mm. The

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 ...

and legs are brown; the abdomen is black with rusty-red hairs (setae). Plumose setae are present on the

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...

of the first leg.

Taxonomy

''Tliltocatl epicureanus'' was first described, as ''Eurypelma epicureana'', by Ralph Chamberlin in 1925. It was transferred to the genus ''Brachypelma'' by Andrew Smith in 1993, retaining the incorrect ending of the specific name, which he corrected to ''epicureanum'' in 1995. Chamberlin described a male and a female, both from

Chichen Itza Chichen Itza , es, Chichén Itzá , often with the emphasis reversed in English to ; from yua, Chiʼchʼèen Ìitshaʼ () "at the mouth of the well of the Itza people" was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal ...

in Yucatán, Mexico. In November 2019, it was proposed that ''Brachypelma epicureanum'' be moved to the genus ''Tliltocatl''; this has been accepted by the World Spider Catalog.

Distribution and habitat

''Tliltocatl epicureanus'' is found in central Yucatán, in moist forest and rainforest. Apparently closely related to '' T. vagans'', it is much less widespread in south-eastern Mexico.

Conservation

All species of ''Brachypelma'', then including ''Tliltocatl'', were placed on CITES Appendix II in 1994, thus restricting trade. Nevertheless, large numbers of tarantulas caught in the wild continue to be smuggled out of Mexico.

References

External links

* – photographs taken in the wild {{Taxonbar, from1=Q86826222, from2=Q2629459 Theraphosidae Spiders of Mexico Spiders described in 1925