Chilobrachys is a genus of Asian tarantulas that was first described by Ferdinand Anton Franz Karsch in 1892. They are found in India, Myanmar, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Sri Lanka. They are usually medium or large-sized, and they can stridulate by using small spines present on the chelicerae.
Identification features
They have special stridulating organs in their chelicerae, which are made of short spines. Males have a palpal bulb which ends in a long and slender blade like spine, females have one pair of spermatheca. The anterior eyes form almost a straight line. Their legs have a narrower scapulae at the tip of the metatarsus.
Deaths Some cases have been reported where bites by Chilobrachys hardwickei resulted in gangrene and unconfirmed death.
Species it contains thirty-one species, found in Asia: Chilobrachys andersoni (Pocock, 1895) – India, Myanmar, Malaysia Chilobrachys annandalei Simon, 1901 – Malaysia Chilobrachys assamensis Hirst, 1909 – India Chilobrachys bicolor (Pocock, 1895) – Myanmar Chilobrachys brevipes (Thorell, 1897) – Myanmar Chilobrachys dominus Lin & Li, 2022 - China Chilobrachys dyscolus (Simon, 1886) – Vietnam Chilobrachys femoralis Pocock, 1900 – India Chilobrachys fimbriatus Pocock, 1899 – India Chilobrachys flavopilosus (Simon, 1884) – India, Myanmar Chilobrachys fumosus (Pocock, 1895) – India Chilobrachys guangxiensis (Yin & Tan, 2000) – China Chilobrachys hardwickei (Pocock, 1895) – India Chilobrachys himalayensis (Tikader, 1977) – India Chilobrachys huahini Schmidt & Huber, 1996 – Thailand Chilobrachys hubei Song & Zhao, 1988 – China Chilobrachys jinchengi Lin & Li, 2022 – China Chilobrachys jonitriantisvansickleae Nanayakkara, Sumanapala & Kirk, 2019 – Sri Lanka Chilobrachys khasiensis (Tikader, 1977) – India Chilobrachys liboensis Zhu & Zhang, 2008 – China Chilobrachys lubricus Yu, S. Y. Zhang, F. Zhang, Li & Yang, 2021 – China Chilobrachys natanicharum – Thailand Chilobrachys nitelinus Karsch, 1892 (type) – Sri Lanka Chilobrachys oculatus (Thorell, 1895) – Myanmar Chilobrachys paviei (Simon, 1886) – Thailand Chilobrachys pococki (Thorell, 1897) – Myanmar Chilobrachys sericeus (Thorell, 1895) – Myanmar Chilobrachys soricinus (Thorell, 1887) – Myanmar Chilobrachys stridulans (Wood Mason, 1877) – India Chilobrachys subarmatus (Thorell, 1891) – India (Nicobar Islands) Chilobrachys thorelli Pocock, 1900 – India Chilobrachys tschankhoensis Schenkel, 1963 – China (Nomen dubnium)
In synonymy: Chilobrachys decoratus (Tikader, 1977) = Chilobrachys fimbriatus Pocock, 1899 Chilobrachys jingzhao Zhu, Song & Li, 2001 = Chilobrachys guangxiensis Yin & Tan, 2000 One species has been changed to Selenocosmia:
Chilobrachys samarae Giltay, 1935 → Selenocosmia samarae
References