Tapinauchenius plumipes

Tapinauchenius plumipes is a tarantula native to western South America. It was first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1842. Its synonyms include Tapinauchenius gigas; Amazonius germani was misidentified as T. gigas between 1994 and 2022.

Tapinauchenius plumipes
Initially identified under the synonym Tapinauchenius violaceus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Mygalomorphae
Family:	Theraphosidae
Genus:	Tapinauchenius
Species:	T. plumipes
Binomial name
Tapinauchenius plumipes (C.L. Koch, 1842)[1]
Synonyms[1]
Avicularia deborrii Becker, 1879 Avicularia violacea (Mello-Leitão, 1930) Ephebopus violaceus Mello-Leitão, 1930 Eurypelma plumipes (C. L. Koch, 1842) Mygale plumipes C. L. Koch, 1842 Pachystopelma concolor Caporiacco, 1947 Pseudoclamoris gigas (Caporiacco, 1954) Tapinauchenius concolor (Caporiacco, 1947) Tapinauchenius gigas Caporiacco, 1954 Tapinauchenius purpureus Schmidt, 1995 Tapinauchenius violaceus (Mello-Leitão, 1930)

Taxonomy

Tapinauchenius plumipes was first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1842 as Mygale plumipes. It was transferred to the genus Tapinauchenius by Anton Ausserer in 1871.^[1]

Among its synonyms is Tapinauchenius gigas.^[1] In 1994, Günter Schmidt described a spider from French Guiana he identified as T. gigas. His identification was then followed by other arachnologists. However, it is now considered that Schmidt had misidentified this spider, which was described as Amazonius germani in 2022.^[2]

Distribution

Tapinauchenius plumipes is native to western South America: Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil.^[1]

• 
  In French Guiana