Holothele

Holothele is a small New World tarantula genus first established by Ferdinand Karsch in 1879 for the species Holothele recta from northern South America. At the time it was actually placed among the “curtain-web spiders” (family Dipluridae), and only later, in 1980, was it formally moved into the tarantula family Theraphosidae.

Through the 20th century, Holothele became a “catch-all” for many small, ground-dwelling tarantulas from Central and South America and the Caribbean. The original description was vague, so a large number of unrelated species were temporarily parked in Holothele or treated as close relatives. Several other genera were even considered its synonyms for a time, adding to the confusion.

A modern revision in 2017 re-examined the type material and clarified what truly belongs in the genus. That work showed that Karsch’s Holothele recta is the same species as Holothele longipes (described earlier in 1875), making H. longipes the type and pulling several old names into synonymy under it. The authors also provided a clear diagnosis: Holothele species lack urticating hairs, have a distinct pseudo-segmented fourth tarsus, a single row of teeth on the tarsal claws, and a labium packed with numerous cuspules.

As a result of this revision and later work, most species once placed in Holothele have been transferred to other genera such as Neoholothele, Caribothele, Schismatothele, Euthycaelus and others. Today, the World Spider Catalog recognizes a very narrow concept of the genus, currently including three species: the widely distributed Holothele longipes (ranging from Panama through much of northern South America and Trinidad), and two recently described Ecuadorian species, Holothele incurva and Holothele tsala. Holothele has gone from a broad “dumping ground” for small Neotropical tarantulas to a tightly defined genus with just a handful of closely related species, all within the family Theraphosidae.