Cuticular Structures of New World Tarantulas: Ultramorphology of Setae and Other Features

Taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Trichopelma Simon, 1888 (Araneae: Theraphosidae: Trichopelmatinae) in Cuba, with the descriptions of seven new species and a new species of Thalerommata Ausserer, 1875

“…The cuticle of mygalomorph spiders presents many distinct structures, e.g. ; sensitive, urticating, adherent, and covering setae, bristles, scales, spines, claws, stridulatory ridges, and lyra, among many others, although configurations vary exactly between different families (Pérez-Miles et al, 2017;Bertani & Guadanucci, 2013;Galleti-Lima & Guadanucci, 2018;Guadanucci et al, 2020). These structures present great taxonomic importance inside of the family Theraphosidae (Sherwood, 2020), defining some of the subfamily-level features.…”

“…In the subfamily Theraphosinae Thorell, 1869, the presence of stridulatory setae and their different types is a very useful character at a generic level. Urticating setae are present only in Theraphosinae and Aviculariinae of New World and their morphology is an important character in several genera, even between subfamilies (Guadanucci et al, 2020). Other cuticular structures that have been found in mygalomorph spiders are trichobothria (Guadanucci, 2012), adhesive tarsal setae (Pérez-Miles et al, 2017), labial and maxillary cuspules (Pérez-Miles & Montes de Oca, 2005), epiandrous glands (Ferretti et al, 2017) and chemosensory setae .…”

“…Scales in spiders comprise a specific type of setae because they lack innervation (Townsend & Felgenhauer, 1999) and are defined as setae inserted in small sockets and bent immediately after their insertion (Townsend & Felgenhauer, 1998;Ramírez, 2014). The presence of scales is more common in araneomorphs than mygalomorphs and is responsible, in many cases, for the characteristic colour of Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics 2024  10 (2) many spiders (Foelix et al, 2013;Guadanucci et al, 2020). In many genera of the family Theraphosidae, scales are present and reflect light, sometimes being responsible for the characteristic blue colour in many taxa (e.g.…”

Aquatic and Terrestrial Invertebrate Welfare

“…As noted previously, spiders and scorpions possess anatomical structures that are sensitive to vibratory stimuli [96,98]. When not properly shielded, habitats may allow for frequent and excessive vibration (e.g., tapping/banging by guests).…”

“…Also, only minimal glass or plastic barriers may separate guests and habitats. These barriers are often insufficient in shielding animals from vibrational stimuli (e.g., tapping/banging by guests) to which arachnids are sensitive through sensory structures like trichobothria in tarantulas [98] and pectines in scorpions [96]. Stress from repeated vibrational stimuli is likely and can result in negative consequences, such as opisthosomal (abdominal) alopecia from the defensive use of urticating setae of New World tarantulas [97,99].…”