Recommended Reading: Tarantulas Through a Different Lens

  Recommended Reading: Tarantulas Through a Different Lens I recently had the opportunity to read an excellent article by Cesar Medina Davila , conservation biologist, science communicator, and founder of Wildlife Nomads , titled “Tarantulas: 12 Facts That Change How You See Them.” For those who follow Arácnido Taxonomy, the subject matter will certainly be familiar. What I particularly appreciate about Cesar’s article, however, is its accessibility. Tarantulas are remarkably diverse animals, yet much of the general public’s understanding of them remains shaped by fear, exaggerated portrayals, and the tendency to treat more than a thousand species as though they were essentially the same animal. Cesar approaches the subject from a different direction. Drawing in part from his own experience working with tarantulas, he introduces readers to the biology behind these animals and, perhaps more importantly, challenges some of the assumptions that have followed them for generations. More...

Revising the revision: on 12 new species of Stethorrhagus Simon, 1896 from Colombia and Ecuador (Araneae: Corinnidae: Corinninae), with reassessments of all previously described species

 


Revising the revision: on 12 new species of Stethorrhagus Simon, 1896 from Colombia and Ecuador (Araneae: Corinnidae: Corinninae), with reassessments of all previously described species

Abstract

Twelve new species of the genus Stethorrhagus Simon, 1896 are described: S. bradypus sp. nov. (♂♀), S. callithrix sp. nov. (♂♀), S. loxodonta sp. nov. (♂♀), S. naja sp. nov. (♂♀), S. papilio sp. nov. (♀) and S. sylvilagus sp. nov. (♂♀) from Colombia; S. canis sp. nov. (♀), S. felis sp. nov. (♂♀), S. mandrillus sp. nov. (♂♀), S. ovis sp. nov. (♂♀), S. sciurus sp. nov. (♀) and S. tremarctos sp. nov. (♂♀) from Ecuador, increasing the number of known species in the genus from 15 to 27. Detailed morphological descriptions, photos of the body and copulatory organs, illustrations of copulatory organs, and comparisons with closely related species are given for all new species, along with emended diagnoses, distribution maps and an updated key to all currently accepted species in the genus. The geographical distribution of S. lupulus and S. oxossi are updated with new records from Brazil and Peru, and Brazil, respectively. Additionally, photographs of the type material of S. limbatus Simon, 1896, S. nigrinus (Berland, 1913), S. maculatus (L. Koch, 1866), Shyula Bonaldo & Brescovit, 1994, S. planada Bonaldo & Brescovit, 1994, S. duidae Gertsch, 1942, S. roraimae Gertsch, 1942, S. peckorum Bonaldo & Brescovit, 1994, and S. archangelus Bonaldo & Brescovit, 1994 are supplied.

Xavier, C., Brescovit, A. D., & Bonaldo, A. B. (2025). Revising the revision: on 12 new species of Stethorrhagus Simon, 1896 from Colombia and Ecuador (Araneae: Corinnidae: Corinninae), with reassessments of all previously described species. European Journal of Taxonomy, 1013(1), 1–76. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.1013.3057