Chilocosmia
Genus of spiders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chilocosmia is a genus of tarantulas that was first described by Schmidt & von Wirth in 1992.[2] The genus was considered a junior synonym of Orphnaecus in 2012,[3] but was re-classified as its own genus in 2025.[4] It is a monotypic genus containing the single species, Chilocosmia dichromata.[1]
| Chilocosmia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Mygalomorphae |
| Family: | Theraphosidae |
| Genus: | Chilocosmia Schmidt & von Wirth, 1992[1] |
| Type species | |
| C. dichromata Schmidt & von Wirth, 1992 | |
| Species | |
|
1, see text | |
Taxonomy
This species was originally described as Chilocosmia dichromata by Schmidt & von Wirth, in 1992.[1] In 2005, Peters changed the name to Selenocosmia dichromatus,[5] and in 2012, West, Nunn & Hogg placed Chilocosmia (along with C. dichromatus) as a junior synonym of Orphnaecus, creating the combination Orphnaecus dichromatus.[6] In 2025, Acuña, et al., found the genera sufficiently different to remain separate, re-classifying the species as Chilocosmia dichromata.[4]
Characteristics
C. dichromata has 10 large (and some small) teeth on the chelicerae in a row. It also has 4-5 rows of strikers (also on the chelicerae), that are basally thickest and longest. The 3 rows 10 unequal coxal strikers are clavate (scimitar shaped) and arranged in a semicircular shape. The cephalothorax, coxae and trochanter are reddish-brown and the abdomen and other leg segments are brown.[7]