Ami (spider)

Ami
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Theraphosidae
Genus: Ami
Pérez-Miles, 2008[1]
Species

See text.

Ami is a genus of tarantula spiders (family Theraphosidae) of South and Central America.

Description

The carapace (upper surface of the cephalothorax) is light to dark brown and hairy. The legs are also hairy, with spines except on the femora. There are no stridulatory bristles. Ami species have modified Type I urticating hairs on the abdomen, similar to those of Proshapalopus and Citharacanthus livingstoni. Males differ from other theraphosids in having one or two more-or-less conical processes on the rear-facing (retrolateral) surface of the tibia of the pedipalp; the pear-shaped palpal bulb is also different from other theraphosids, having somewhat convergent "keels" on the forward-facing (prolateral) surface. Females have very distinctive spermathecae, with paired receptacles attached to a "back-plate".[2]

The body lengths of the species range from about 17 to 21 mm (0.7 to 0.8 in). Males generally have longer legs than females; for example the longest leg (the fourth) of a female A. caxiuana was 21 mm (0.8 in) long and that of a male 40 mm (1.6 in) long.[2]

Taxonomy

The genus Ami was erected in 2008 by Fernando Pérez-Miles;[1] the name is based on a word in the Tupí language, meaning "spider that does not spin a web". Initially six new species were placed in the genus, and Avicularia obscura was transferred to it. Ami seems to be more closely related to the genus Proshapalopus than to other genera of the large subfamily Theraphosinae. It is also similar to the small brownish genera Cyclosternum and Reversopelma.[2]

The six new species were A. caxiuana, named after the type locality, which means "place of many snakes" in Tupí; A. yupanquii, named after the Inca leader Tupac Yupanqui, who unified the agricultural populations of Ecuador; A. bladesi named in honor of Panamanian singer and composer Ruben Blades; A. pijaos, honoring the Pijaos, an ancient culture that populated the region of the type locality; A. amazonica, referring to the Colombian Amazonic region; and A. weinmanni, named after Dirk Weinmann, the collector of the type specimens.[2]

Species

As of May 2016, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species:[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Gen. Ami Pérez-Miles, 2008", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2016-05-23
  2. 1 2 3 4 Pérez-Miles, Fernando; Gabriel, Ray; Miglio, Laura; Bonaldo, Alexandre; Gallon, Richard; Jimenez, Juan Jacobo & Bertani, Rogerio (2008), "Ami, a new Theraphosid genus from Central and South America, with the description of six new species (Araneae: Mygalomorphae)" (PDF), Zootaxa, 1915: 54–68, retrieved 2016-05-23
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.