Tarantulas

Lyrognathus is a small genus of Old World tarantulas from South and Southeast Asia, first described by British arachnologist Reginald Innes Pocock in 1895. He based the genus on the species Lyrognathus crotalus from India, which is still the type species today. Over the next century, a few more species were added, including L. saltator from India and L. robustus from Malaysia. Some names were later cleaned up: for example, Lyrognathus pugnax  and L. liewi  are now considered

Megaphobema is a small New World tarantula genus first described by British arachnologist Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901, based on specimens of what we now call Megaphobema robustum  from Colombia. Pocock separated Megaphobema from similar, bulky South American tarantulas (like Pamphobeteus ) by its distinctive leg proportions: the third and fourth leg pairs are noticeably thicker and more powerful than the front legs, giving these spiders their “rear-heavy” look. Over the 20t

There is one species in this genus, M. balfouri. Monocentropus balfouri Common name:  Socotra Island Blue Baboon Tarantula (often shortened to Socotra Blue Baboon) Origin:  Endemic to Socotra Island, off the coast of Yemen in the Arabian Sea. Lifestyle:  Old World, terrestrial / opportunistic burrower that creates heavy webbing and often forms complex tunnel systems. One of the few tarantulas known to thrive in true communal groups under the right conditions. Adult size:  Med

Magnacrus  is a newly established genus of Old World tarantulas in the subfamily Ornithoctoninae, formally described in 2025 by Hoang, Yu, Wendt, West & von Wirth. The genus was created after a detailed revision of Asian stout-leg earth tigers showed that Citharognathus tongmianensis  (Zhu, Li & Song, 2002) did not belong in Citharognathus ; this species was transferred and re-described as Magnacrus tongmianensis , becoming the type species. At the same time, a second species

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

Omothymus is a small genus of large, arboreal tarantulas from Southeast Asia, currently containing four recognized species: O. schioedtei, O. violaceopes, O. fuchsi, and O. rafni. The genus was first established in 1891 by Tamerlan Thorell, based on the Malaysian species Omothymus schioedtei . In 1903, Eugène Simon sank Omothymus into synonymy with Cyriopagopus , and for more than a century these spiders were generally treated under that name. Modern work on arboreal Asian ta

The subfamily Ornithoctoninae was erected in 1895 to house a distinctive group of Southeast Asian tarantulas with strong burrowing habits, powerful chelicerae and a characteristic stridulating organ (sound-producing hairs) between the jaws and palps. These features, combined with their Asian distribution, separate them from the similar African Harpactirinae. Between the late 1800s and early 1900s, most of the “classic” genera were described: Ornithoctonus  (Pocock, 1892) – th

Ornithoctonus  is a small genus of Southeast Asian tarantulas first described in 1892 by British arachnologist Reginald Innes Pocock, based on specimens from the Mergui Archipelago region of Myanmar. The type species, Ornithoctonus andersoni , helped define not only the genus but later the entire subfamily Ornithoctoninae, which Pocock formally erected a few years later in 1895. Through the 20th century several species were added and later moved out of Ornithoctonus  as taxon

Orphnaecus is a small genus of Old World tarantulas first described by Eugène Simon in 1892. Endemic to the Philippines, these spiders belong to the subfamily Selenocosmiinae and are best known for their robust bodies, fossorial lifestyle, and a distinctive patch of lance-shaped stridulatory spines on the chelicerae, which they use to produce sound. For more than a century, Orphnaecus was represented only by the type species O. pellitus. In 2012, a major revision of Asian the

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

Phormictopus is a New World tarantula genus in the family Theraphosidae, native mainly to the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola and nearby Caribbean islands). A few species historically reported from South America (Brazil and Argentina) are now suspected to be misassigned and may eventually be moved to other genera. The genus was formally established in 1901 by British arachnologist Reginald Innes Pocock. He took a large Caribbean tarantula originally described as Mygale can

Pterinochilus is a small African genus of baboon spiders in the tarantula family Theraphosidae, first established in 1897 by British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock. Today around ten species are recognized, all native to sub-Saharan Africa, with the best-known member in the hobby being Pterinochilus murinus , the famous “Orange Baboon Tarantula” or OBT. Early scientific history Pre-genus groundwork (1870s–1890s) Before the genus Pterinochilus  was even named, African baboon s

Poecilotheria  is a genus of arboreal tarantulas native to India and Sri Lanka, famous for their striking “ornamental” patterns and speed. Early European naturalists first encountered these spiders in Sri Lanka in the 18th century; in 1734, Dutch zoologist Albertus Seba illustrated one as Aranea maxima ceilonica  (“the big spider from Ceylon”). As arachnology developed, the same spiders were shuffled through several genera. In 1804, Pierre André Latreille described them as My

Phormingochilus  is an Old World arboreal tarantula genus first described in 1895 by British arachnologist Reginald Innes Pocock, based on specimens from the rainforests of Borneo. He designated Phormingochilus everetti  as the type species and also described P. tigrinus  in the same work, establishing the group within what we now recognize as subfamily Ornithoctoninae. For much of the 20th century the genus was poorly known, with only a handful of Bornean species recorded. M

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

Pelinobius  is a small, Old World tarantula genus in the family Theraphosidae. It was first established by German arachnologist Ferdinand Karsch in 1885 , when he described Pelinobius muticus  from East Africa. In 1900 , British arachnologist Reginald Innes Pocock  described a very similar spider as Citharischius crawshayi  in a brand-new genus, Citharischius . For decades, many hobbyists and some authors used this name for what we now call the king baboon tarantula. The pict

Sericopelma  is a Central American tarantula genus first introduced to science in 1875, when Austrian arachnologist Anton Ausserer described Sericopelma rubronitens  (then placed in the broad “catch-all” group Eurypelma ). A few years later, in 1892, Eugène Simon elevated Sericopelma  to full genus status, but for decades it remained poorly understood and based almost entirely on male specimens. Throughout the 20th century, Sericopelma  was repeatedly confused with other New