Avicularia

This article is about the spider genus. For the bryozoan zooid form, see avicularium.

Avicularia
Avicularia avicularia female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Theraphosidae
Genus: Avicularia
Lamarck, 1818[1]
Type species
Aranea avicularia
(Linnaeus, 1758)[1]
Species

See text.

Diversity
12 species
Synonyms[1]

Avicuscodra Strand, 1908
Eurypelma C. L. Koch, 1850

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.[1][2] Each species in the genus has very distinguishable pink foot pads.

Species belonging to this genus are amongst the relatively small exception of tarantulas that can jump moderate distances as juveniles, with most tarantulas being limited to lunges of 3-4 centimeters.[3]

Urticating hairs are distinct to new world tarantulas including the Avicularia that are attached to the spider's cuticle via a stalk.[4] These spiny, barbed hairs are used as a defense against potential intruders as well as embedded into silk to protect the egg sac.[5] In active defense, the hairs are released by contact with the stimulus and rubbed in.

At least three species of Avicularia are threatened by habitat loss and illegal trafficking, due to their popularity as exotic pets. Avicularia avicularia are among the tarantulas most commonly kept as pets for their "stunning" color and size.[2]

Taxonomy

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Maria Sibylla Merian's illustration of a spider eating a bird, bottom left corner. Published 1705 after a research expedition in Dutch Surinam

The genus Avicularia was erected in 1818 by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for species previously placed in Mygale Latreille, 1802, the genus name used at the time for most mygalomorph spiders. One of the species Lamarck included in his new genus was Avicularia canceridea, which included Aranea avicularia, first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Araneologists continued to use the name Mygale, although this had been used for genus of mammals in 1800, so was not available for Latreille to use for spiders. Ausserer in 1871 used Avicularia, but a degree of confusion persisted until a decision of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature in 1928 established the correctness of Avicularia, with the type species being Linnaeus' Aranea avicularia in the combination Avicularia avicularia.[6]

Linnaeus' name Avicularia is derived from the Latin avicula, meaning "little bird", with the suffix -aria, which is the Latin female singular form of -arius, meaning "pertaining to." This refers to a 1705 illustration by Maria Sibylla Merian, showing a tarantula that appears to be of this genus feeding on a bird.[7] The English names "bird spider" and "bird-eating spider," and the German name for tarantula, Vogelspinne (a compound noun literally meaning "bird" [vogel] "spider" [spinne]) reflect this Latin name.[6] Ironically, the term "bird-eater" is more typically applied to the common names of large terrestrial species of tarantulas, such as the Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi), the burgundy Goliath bird eater (Theraphosa stirmi), and the Brazilian salmon pink bird-eating tarantula (Lasiodora parahybana).

A major review of the genus drastically reduced the number of species recognized, from over 50 to 12, as of March 2017. Some species have been transferred to other genera, with others reduced to synonymy. Yet more names are considered to be doubtful in their application (nomina dubia).[6][1]

Species

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As of March 2017, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species:[1]

Transferred to other genera:[1]

Treated as synonyms or as nomina dubia:[1]

  • Avicularia ancylochira Mello-Leitão, 1923, synonym of A. avicularia
  • Avicularia arabica (Strand, 1908), nom. dub.
  • Avicularia aurantiaca Bauer, 1996, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia azuraklaasi Tesmoingt, 1996, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia bicegoi Mello-Leitão, 1923, synonym of A.  variegata
  • Avicularia braunshauseni Tesmoingt, 1999, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia cuminami Mello-Leitão, 1930, synonym of A. avicularia
  • Avicularia detrita (C. L. Koch, 1842), nom. dub.
  • Avicularia doleschalli (Ausserer, 1871), nom. dub.
  • Avicularia exilis Strand, 1907, synonym of A. avicularia
  • Avicularia fasciculata Strand, 1907, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia geroldi Tesmoingt, 1999, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia gracilis (Keyserling, 1891) → Ischnocolus gracilis, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia hirsuta (Ausserer, 1875), nom. dub.
  • Avicularia holmbergi Thorell, 1890, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia huriana Tesmoingt, 1996, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia leporina (C. L. Koch, 1841) → Iridopelma leporina, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia metallica Ausserer, 1875, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia nigrotaeniata Mello-Leitão, 1940, synonym of A. avicularia
  • Avicularia ochracea (Perty, 1833), nom. dub.
  • Avicularia plantaris (C. L. Koch, 1842) → Iridopelma plantaris, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia rapax (Ausserer, 1875), nom. dub.
  • Avicularia soratae Strand, 1907, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia surinamensis Strand, 1907, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia ulrichea Tesmoingt, 1996, nom. dub.
  • Avicularia urticans Schmidt, 1994, synonym of A. juruensis
  • Avicularia velutina Simon, 1889, synonym of A. avicularia
  • Avicularia walckenaeri (Perty, 1833), nom. dub.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Gen. Avicularia Lamarck, 1818", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2017-03-10
  2. ^ a b Ayroza, Gabriela; Candido Ferreira, Ivan Lavander; Sayegh, Raphael Santa Rosa; Tashima, Alexandre K.; Da Silva Junior, Pedro Ismael (2012). "Juruin: an antifungal peptide from the venom of the Amazonian Pink Toe spider, Avicularia juruensis, which contains the inhibitory cystine knot motif". Frontiers in Microbiology. 3: 324. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2012.00324. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 3437525. PMID 22973266.
  3. ^ "Myth: Less common spider myths". Burke Museum. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  4. ^ Bertani, Rogério; Guadanucci, José Paulo Leite (Aug 2013). "Morphology, evolution and usage of urticating setae by tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae)". Zoologia (Curitiba). 30 (4): 403–418. doi:10.1590/S1984-46702013000400006. ISSN 1984-4670.
  5. ^ Kaderka, Radan; Bulantová, Jana; Heneberg, Petr; Řezáč, Milan (2019-11-11). "Urticating setae of tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae): Morphology, revision of typology and terminology and implications for taxonomy". PLOS ONE. 14 (11): e0224384. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1424384K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0224384. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6844489. PMID 31710616.
  6. ^ a b c Fukushima, C.S. & Bertani, R. (2017), "Taxonomic revision and cladistic analysis of Avicularia Lamarck, 1818 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Aviculariinae) with description of three new aviculariine genera", ZooKeys (659): 1–185, Suppl. 1–5, doi:10.3897/zookeys.659.10717, PMC 5345366, PMID 28331414
  7. ^ Pappas, Stephanie. "Bird-eating spiders?! 3 new species of giant tarantulas discovered". Retrieved 18 April 2022.
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