Trichopelma is a genus of South American and Caribbean tarantulas first described by Eugène Simon in 1888.
Taxonomy This genus was erected by Eugène Simon in 1888 with Trichopelma illetabile and the type species Trichopelma nitidum. A major review of mygalomorph spiders by Robert J. Raven in 1985 led to the genus being greatly enlarged, merging it with other genera Hapalopinus, Leptofischelia, Merothele, Obaerarius and Stothis. Raven placed this expanded genus in the family Barychelidae. In 1994, he proposed moving Trichopelma to the related family Theraphosidae, but without any new evidence, the move was not generally accepted. In 2014 José P. L. Guadanucci carried out a morphological phylogenetic analysis of some mygalomorph genera, including Trichopelma. The study supported Raven's hypothesis, and the genus was moved to Theraphosidae as a member of a re-limited subfamily Ischnocolinae sensu stricto.
Species it contains 29 species: Trichopelma affine (Simon, 1892) - St. Vincent Trichopelma baracoense Ríos-Tamayo, 2024 - Cuba Trichopelma bimini Mori & Bertani, 2020 - Bahamas Trichopelma cheguevarai Ríos-Tamayo, 2024 - Cuba Trichopelma citma Ríos-Tamayo, 2024 - Cuba Trichopelma coenobita (Simon, 1889) - Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago Trichopelma cubanum (Simon, 1903) - Cuba = Trichopelma banksia Özdikmen & Demir, 2012 = Trichopelma cubanum (Banks, 1909), transferred from Stothis Trichopelma fidelcastroi Ríos-Tamayo, 2024 - Cuba Trichopelma fulvum (Bryant, 1948) - Haiti = Trichopelma maculosus (Bryant, 1948), transferred from Psalistops Trichopelma gabrieli Mori & Bertani, 2020 - Dominican Republic Trichopelma goloboffi Mori & Bertani, 2020 - Cuba Trichopelma grande Ortiz & Fonseca, 2024 - Cuba Ortiz, D., & Fonseca, E. (2024). A hairy giant among dwarves: Trichopelma grande, a distinct new species of tarantula from Cuba (Araneae: Theraphosidae). Journal of Natural History, 58(45–48), 2189–2205. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00222933.2024.2401921 Trichopelma granmense Ríos-Tamayo, 2024 - Cuba Trichopelma huffi Mori & Bertani, 2020 - Dominican Republic Trichopelma illetabile Simon, 1888 - Brazil Trichopelma insulanum (Petrunkevitch, 1926) - US Virgin Is. (St. Thomas), Puerto Rico = Trichopelma arastellatum (Franganillo, 1930), transferred from Leptopelma = Trichopelma corozali (Petrunkevitch, 1929), transferred from Psalistops Trichopelma juventud Mori & Bertani, 2020 - Cuba Trichopelma laselva Valerio, 1986 - Costa Rica Trichopelma laurae Mori & Bertani, 2020 - Cuba Trichopelma loui Mori & Bertani, 2020 - Jamaica Trichopelma maculatum (Banks, 1906) - Bahama Is. Trichopelma nitidum Simon, 1888 (type) - Hispaniola Trichopelma platnicki Mori & Bertani, 2020 - Jamaica Trichopelma rudloffi Ríos-Tamayo, 2024 - Cuba Trichopelma soroense Ríos-Tamayo, 2024 - Cuba Trichopelma steini (Simon, 1889) - Venezuela Trichopelma tostoi Mori & Bertani, 2020 - Dominican Republic Trichopelma venadense (Valerio, 1986) - Costa Rica Trichopelma zebra (Petrunkevitch, 1925) - Panama
There are three species categorized as nomina dubia (doubtful names):
Trichopelma eucubanum Özdikmen & Demir, 2012 - Cuba, replacement name; originally Stothis maculata Franganillo, 1930 Trichopelma scopulatum (Fischel, 1927) - Venezuela, originally in Leptostylus and changed to the replacement name Leptofischelia Trichopelma spinosum (Franganillo, 1926) - Cuba, originally in Stothis
References