South America

Nhandu is a small genus of South American tarantulas first established by Brazilian arachnologist Sylvia M. Lucas in 1983 to house Nhandu carapoensis , the Brazilian Red. In the mid-1980s it was briefly proposed that Nhandu should be merged into the Central American genus Sericopelma , but later taxonomic work rejected that idea and kept Nhandu as a valid, separate lineage. During the 1990s a closely related genus, Brazilopelma, was created for B. coloratovillosum . In a majo

Neoholothele  is a small New World tarantula genus erected in 2015 by José Paulo Leite Guadanucci and Dirk Weinmann after a phylogenetic study showed that the long-used genus Holothele  was not actually a natural, monophyletic group. To restore order to the family tree, several spiders once placed in Holothele  were reassigned, and a new genus, Neoholothele , was created for a distinctive Caribbean–northern South American lineage. The type species, Neoholothele incei , was or

Pamphobeteus is a South American tarantula genus formally established by British arachnologist Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901, originally as part of the old “Aviculariidae” group of New World tarantulas. As spider classification was refined through the 20th century, Pamphobeteus was moved into the modern family Theraphosidae, where it now sits as a distinct genus of large, ground-dwelling tarantulas. These spiders quickly drew attention because of their impressive size and str

Species of this genus are native to Central America and northern South America. All Psalmopoeus is a New World genus of arboreal tarantulas in the family Theraphosidae. These spiders are found from Trinidad & Tobago through Central America into northern South America, including countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. All known species are tree-dwelling, and Psalmopoeus victori  was the first arboreal

Pseudhapalopus is a small, South American tarantula genus first described by Embrik Strand in 1907 from a single male specimen collected in Bolivia, named Pseudhapalopus aculeatus . For many years, additional dwarf terrestrial species from northern South America and the Caribbean were placed in this genus, including P. spinulopalpus , P. velox  and P. trinitatis . Modern taxonomic work has shown that most of those species do not truly belong in Pseudhapalopus. A 2020 revision

Phrixotrichus  is a New World tarantula genus in the family Theraphosidae, native to central Chile and western Argentina. It was erected by French arachnologist Eugène Simon in 1889  to accommodate several medium-sized, ground-dwelling tarantulas with distinctive copper-to-reddish coloration. The best-known member of the group, Phrixotrichus scrofa , was actually described much earlier, in 1782  by Juan Ignacio Molina, and originally placed in another spider genus. Over the f

Thrixopelma is a small genus of South American tarantulas first established in 1994 by German arachnologist Günter Schmidt, based on the striking Peruvian species Thrixopelma ockerti  (“Peruvian flame rump”). These are medium-to-large New World tarantulas (roughly 35–60 mm body length) with robust builds and powerful urticating hairs, found mainly in Andean and foothill habitats of Peru and Ecuador. For many years, Thrixopelma was something of a “catch-all” for several Andean

Theraphosa is a genus of giant South American tarantulas first established by French arachnologist Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1805, with the type species originally described a year earlier by Latreille as Mygale blondi  (now Theraphosa blondi ). These enormous spiders quickly became famous as the “Goliath birdeaters” after 18th–19th century illustrations showed large tarantulas preying on small birds, a dramatic image that cemented their common name even though they most

Theraphosinae is the largest subfamily of New World tarantulas, containing roughly half of all known tarantula species and dozens of genera spread across North, Central and South America. These spiders are primarily ground-dwelling and are best known for their urticating hairs, a defensive feature that likely helped drive their evolutionary success. The group’s taxonomic story starts in the early 1800s, when large South American species were described under the genus Therapho

Tapinauchenius is a New World arboreal tarantula genus first erected by Austrian arachnologist Anton Ausserer in 1871, to house Mygale plumipes —a species originally described by C. L. Koch in 1842 and shuffled through earlier catch-all genera before getting its own, more accurate home. The name combines Greek roots meaning “low” and “neck,” probably referring to the relatively flat carapace of these spiders. Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, additional Tapinauchen

Urupelma  is a recently established genus of Andean tarantulas in the family Theraphosidae. It was created in 2023 by Kaderka, Lüddecke, Řezáč, Řezáčová & Hüsser during a major revision of the Peruvian species Homoeomma peruvianum . Their work showed that this spider and several related montane taxa did not fit the diagnostic characters of Homoeomma , especially in male palpal bulb structure and female spermathecae, so they were moved into a new genus, Urupelma . The type spe

Vitalius is a genus of large New World tarantulas native to South America, first formally described in 1993 by Brazilian arachnologists Sylvia Lucas, Pedro Ismael da Silva Jr. and Rogério Bertani. The genus was created to regroup several robust ground-dwelling theraphosids from Brazil, many of which had originally been placed in older “catch-all” genera during the early 20th century. Today, Vitalius species are especially common in the Atlantic Forest and adjacent regions of

The genus Xenesthis is a group of large New World tarantulas in the family Theraphosidae, first established by French arachnologist Eugène Simon in 1891, with Xenesthis colombiana designated as the type species. These spiders are native to northern South America, with confirmed records from Colombia and Venezuela; earlier reports from Panama were later considered misidentifications. Xenesthis was originally set apart from other tarantulas by the unusually dense “scopula” (bru

Ybyrapora is a small genus of arboreal tarantulas in the family Theraphosidae, endemic to Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest. It was formally established in 2017 by Fukushima & Bertani as part of a major taxonomic revision of the old “catch-all” genus Avicularia, where several distinct lineages were split off into new genera, including Ybyrapora. The genus currently includes three species— Ybyrapora diversipes, Y. gamba, and Y. sooretama —all originally described in Avicularia and