Vitalius
| Vitalius | |
|---|---|
| V. paranaensis in Paraná, Brazil | |
| V. ornatissimus in Tocantins, Brazil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Mygalomorphae |
| Family: | Theraphosidae |
| Genus: | Vitalius Lucas, Silva & Bertani, 1993[1] |
| Type species | |
| V. sorocabae (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
| |
| Species | |
|
11, see text | |
Vitalius is a genus of South American tarantulas that was first described by S. Lucas, P. I. da Silva Jr. & Rogério Bertani in 1993.[2]
Distribution
The described species are mainly endemic to Brazil, with V. paranaensis reaching into Argentina.[1]
Diagnosis
They can be distinguished from other tarantulas by the lack of stridulating hairs on the prolateral side of coxa 1 and in the palpal bulb. By the absence of scopula on the side of femur 1, and metatarsus 1 closing between the male spur branches.[3]
Taxonomy
V. wacketi was elevated to monotypic genus Tekoapora in 2023.[4]
Species
-
female V. buecherli
-
V. chromatus
-
V. lucasae
-
male V. nondescriptus
As of October 2025, this genus includes eleven species:[1]
- Vitalius australis Galleti-Lima, Hamilton, Borges & Guadanucci, 2023 – Brazil
- Vitalius buecherli Bertani, 2001 – Brazil
- Vitalius chromatus (Schmidt, 2004) – Brazil
- Vitalius dubius (Mello-Leitão, 1923) – Brazil
- Vitalius lucasae Bertani, 2001 – Brazil
- Vitalius ornatissimus Bertani & Motta, 2024 – Brazil
- Vitalius paranaensis Bertani, 2001 – Brazil, Argentina
- Vitalius restinga Bertani, 2023 – Brazil
- Vitalius sapiranga Bertani, 2023 – Brazil
- Vitalius sorocabae (Mello-Leitão, 1923) – Brazil (type species)
- Vitalius vellutinus (Mello-Leitão, 1923) – Brazil
In Synonymy
- V. cephalopheus (Piza, 1944) = Vitalius vellutinus (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. cesteri (Mello-Leitão, 1923) = Vitalius dubius (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. communis (Piza, 1939) = Vitalius dubius (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. cucullatus (Mello-Leitão, 1923) = Vitalius dubius (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. exsul (Mello-Leitão, 1923) = Vitalius dubius (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. melanocephalus (Mello-Leitão, 1923) = Vitalius sorocabae (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. melloleitaoi = Vitalius nondescriptus (Mello-Leitão, 1926)
- V. mus (Piza, 1944) = Vitalius dubius (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. piracicabensis (Piza, 1933) = Vitalius dubius (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. sylviae (Sherwood, Gabriel & Brescovit, 2023) = Vitalius sorocabae (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. urbanicola (Soares, 1941) = Vitalius dubius (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. ypiranguensis (Soares, 1941) = Vitalius dubius (Mello-Leitão, 1923)
- V. platyomma (Mello-Leitão, 1923) - Brazil
- V. rondoniensis (Mello-Leitão, 1923) - Brazil
- V. tetracanthus (Mello-Leitão, 1923) - Brazil
References
- ^ a b c "Gen. Vitalius Lucas, Silva & Bertani, 1993". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
- ^ Lucas, Sylvia; Silva Jr., Pedro Ismael da; Bertani, Rogério (1993). "Vitalius a new genus of the subfamily Theraphosinae Thorell, 1870 from Brazil (Araneae, Theraphosidae)". Spixiana. 16: 241–245.
- ^ Bertani, Rogério (2001-04-20). "Revision, cladistic analysis, and zoogeography of Vitalius, Nhandu, and Proshapalopus; with notes on other Theraphosine genera (Araneae, Theraphosidae)". Arquivos de Zoologia. 36 (3): 265–356. doi:10.11606/issn.2176-7793.v36i3p265-356 (inactive 12 July 2025). ISSN 2176-7793.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link) - ^ Galleti-Lima, A.; Hamilton, C. A.; Borges, L. M.; Guadanucci, J. P. L. (2023). "Phylogenomics of Lasiodoriforms: reclassification of the South American genus Vitalius Lucas, Silva and Bertani and allied genera (Araneae: Theraphosidae)". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 11 1177627: 1–19. Bibcode:2023FrEEv..1177627G. doi:10.3389/fevo.2023.1177627.