Kingdom Animalia Subphylum Chelicerata Order Araneae Rank Genus | Phylum Arthropoda Class Arachnida Infraorder Mygalomorphae | |
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Melloleitaoina is a genus of tarantulas in the theraphosinae subfamily. All species (as of February 2016) are native to Argentina. The type species is Melloleitaoina crassifemur.
Contents
Taxonomy
The genus was erected in 1960 by Gerschman and Schiapelli for a single species, M. crassifemur. It was considered a junior synonym of Dryptopelma by Schmidt in 1993, but was restored by Pérez-Miles in 1996. It was expanded to include three other species in 2014 by Pérez-Miles and Perafàn.
Characteristic features
Melloleitaoina has few labial cuspules (6-14), the male has an embolus with two keels (the prolateral inferior and the prolateral superior) and the tibial apophysis has unequal branches. The female has granulated spermathecae with constriction near the apex and spiniform setae near the edge of the two last coxae.
Species
As of February 2016, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species: