Chaetopelma altugkadirorum

Chaetopelma altugkadirorum is a Vogelspinnenart. Its distribution area is Turkey ( Yayladağı county in the province of Hatay ) and Syria. The spider is one of the soil-dwelling species. The specific epithet ( altugkadirorum ) honors the Turkish arachnologists Altuğ Kızıltuğ and Kadir Boğaç Kunt.

Features

The animals reach a body length of 31 mm (males) to 41 mm (females ) and thus belong to the larger species of the genus Chaetopelma. The legs, pedipalps and chelicerae are gray-beige - brown colored with pale hair. The abdomen is dark brown with long, shaggy, pale hair. In females, the hair on the ventral side are shorter and orange-brown. The carapace is pink - brown, with the males woolly, less woolly, hairy in females. Sternum and the belly side of the coxa are gray - brown in females. In the males sit at the mouth ( labial ) 55, to the maxillae 230 Dörnchen ( Cuspules ), in females there are 73 and 220 Dörnchen.

Way of life

At the locality of the type specimen ( type locality ) in 475 m altitude, Chaetopelma altugkadirorum was found in sparse pine forests in up to 50 cm deep caves. The caves were often observed on rotting tree stumps, along decayed roots. The female paratype was discovered with spiderlings in a densely lined with silk shelter under the curb of a footpath.

Taxonomy

Chaetopelma altugkadirorum is closely related to Chaetopelma olivaceum, both species show similarities in the spermathecae and the bulbs. However, morphological and ecological differences support the distinction as a separate species. The genus Chaetopelma thus includes five species of which occur with C. altugkadirorum, C. olivaceum, C. karlamani and C. concolor four species in the Mediterranean.