Iridopelma Q

[omer]

hey guys,i orderd a Iridopelma sp and ineed to know a few things...
-ther is only one Iridopelma sp?
-i read some one rought that Iridopelma have "asecond pair of tibal spurs on leg 2" is it truth? and if it is so can u point me to a photo?
thanks.
Omer.

 

[Aviculariinae]

Hi,

There are 3 described species of Iridopelma (hirsutum,seladonium,zorodes) there is also various other Undescribed Iridoplema sp going around the pet trade (sp 'Recife') being the only one that i can think of at the moment.

Click Here for more info and pictures!

-i read some one rought that Iridopelma have "asecond pair of tibal spurs on leg 2"

Yep they do. ;-)

 

[omer]

any one have a pic of it?(the second pair of tibal spurs).
and pics of I.seladonium & zorodes?
by the way im geting a I.sp recife.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Reviving this thread in hopes that there has been some definitive work on the "recife" species of Iridopelma. So, has there been? Last I read they were suspected to be a variant of the same species, from different locales. Anyone have any new info?

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Reviving this thread in hopes that there has been some definitive work on the "recife" species of Iridopelma. So, has there been? Last I read they were suspected to be a variant of the same species, from different locales. Anyone have any new info?

I will take the lack of response as a no, and that there is no one on the forum who has this knowledge.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

I have no idea, but am still waiting for Avicularia diversipes to be moved over.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

I have no idea, but am still waiting for Avicularia diversipes to be moved over.

Moved over? Please do share.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Possibly just old chatter based on the coloration and attitude that I've erroneously picked up on. I suppose these aren't the best markers for classification, so I guess best to not give credence to the notion for now. My apologies.

The slings really do look more like Iridopelma though, imo.

 

[ShadowBlade]

Well, unless the males start sprouting the second tibial spurs, I doubt things'll change

-Sean

 

[Lorum]

Possibly just old chatter based on the coloration and attitude that I've erroneously picked up on.

Well, Avicularia, Iridopelma and Pachistopelma are closely related, so that's why they are similar in some aspects, but yes, you can't use just those carachters to propose a change of position of one species from Avicularia to Iridopelma.

 

[Zoltan]

Well, unless the males start sprouting the second tibial spurs, I doubt things'll change

-Sean

^ ^

Diagnosis of the genus Iridopelma Pocock (1901: 549).

"Differs from Avicularia in having a spur on the tibia of the second leg similar to, but smaller than, that on the first leg. Moreover, the fourth leg is shorter than the first. Type Iridopelma hirsutum, sp. n." [Description of I. hirsutum follows.]

Iridopelma was actually synonymised with Avicularia by Simon not long after its description. It was Smith (1993) following Raven who properly revalidated it. He notes that the "fourth leg is shorter than the first" is a "very dubious taxonomic tool."

One could argue that the presence/absence of a tibial apophysis is not a feature of generic importance as there are examples of this varying in other genera such as Augacephalus, Nhandu, Theraphosa (i.e. one species has tibial spurs while another doesn't in the same genus). Still the fact remains that Iridopelma is based on the tibial apophysis on the second leg of the male. Whether Iridopelma is really a valid genus or not I'm obviously not qualified to say, the examination and redescription of the type species I. hirsutum must be carried out to see if there are other characters in which it differs from Avicularia. In any case, A. diversipes won't get moved to Iridopelma IMO, because a.) if gen. Iridopelma is valid, A. diversipes doesn't fit into it since the males lack tibial apophyses (Bertani & Fukushima, 2009: 26) b.) if Avicularia and Iridopelma would get synonymised, the name Avicularia has precedence and so A. diversipes would still remain Avicularia.

Also, people shouldn't get too used to the combination Iridopelma seladonium.

References:

• Bertani, R. & C. S. Fukushima. 2009. Description of two new species of Avicularia Lamarck 1818 and redescription of Avicularia diversipes (C.L. Koch 1842) (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Aviculariinae)--three possibly threatened Brazilian species. Zootaxa 2223: 25-47.
• Pocock, R. I. 1901. Some new and old genera of South American Aviculariidae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (7) 8: 540-555.
• Smith, A. M. 1993. Taxonomy focus. Journal of the British Tarantula Society 9 (1): 13-18.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Also, people shouldn't get too used to the combination Iridopelma seladonium.

Are we looking at seeing the species moved back into Avicularia or possibly getting placed in its own new genus?

 

[Zoltan]

Are we looking at seeing the species moved back into Avicularia or possibly getting placed in its own new genus?

In order to respect the ongoing work I'm not gonna disclose more until the research is published.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Fair enough. I'll look forward to the paper with bated breath.

 

[ranchulas]

Just a little thread bump...Has anyone gotten more research info on if A. diversipes is going to be moved over to Iridopelma?

 

[Zoltan]

Just a little thread bump...Has anyone gotten more research info on if A. diversipes is going to be moved over to Iridopelma?

See this post:

^ ^

Diagnosis of the genus Iridopelma Pocock (1901: 549).

"Differs from Avicularia in having a spur on the tibia of the second leg similar to, but smaller than, that on the first leg. Moreover, the fourth leg is shorter than the first. Type Iridopelma hirsutum, sp. n." [Description of I. hirsutum follows.]

Iridopelma was actually synonymised with Avicularia by Simon not long after its description. It was Smith (1993) following Raven who properly revalidated it. He notes that the "fourth leg is shorter than the first" is a "very dubious taxonomic tool."

One could argue that the presence/absence of a tibial apophysis is not a feature of generic importance as there are examples of this varying in other genera such as Augacephalus, Nhandu, Theraphosa (i.e. one species has tibial spurs while another doesn't in the same genus). Still the fact remains that Iridopelma is based on the tibial apophysis on the second leg of the male. Whether Iridopelma is really a valid genus or not I'm obviously not qualified to say, the examination and redescription of the type species I. hirsutum must be carried out to see if there are other characters in which it differs from Avicularia. In any case, A. diversipes won't get moved to Iridopelma IMO, because a.) if gen. Iridopelma is valid, A. diversipes doesn't fit into it since the males lack tibial apophyses (Bertani & Fukushima, 2009: 26) b.) if Avicularia and Iridopelma would get synonymised, the name Avicularia has precedence and so A. diversipes would still remain Avicularia.

Also, people shouldn't get too used to the combination Iridopelma seladonium.

References:

• Bertani, R. & C. S. Fukushima. 2009. Description of two new species of Avicularia Lamarck 1818 and redescription of Avicularia diversipes (C.L. Koch 1842) (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Aviculariinae)--three possibly threatened Brazilian species. Zootaxa 2223: 25-47.
• Pocock, R. I. 1901. Some new and old genera of South American Aviculariidae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (7) 8: 540-555.
• Smith, A. M. 1993. Taxonomy focus. Journal of the British Tarantula Society 9 (1): 13-18.

BTW, according to C. S. Fukushima's PhD thesis, A. diversipes belongs to a new genus with A. sooretama and A. gamba, but this is technically unpublished information.

 

[ranchulas]

Thanks for the reply!