Cupiennius
Cupiennius, known by the common name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trechaleidae, named by Eugène Simon in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern South America, and on some Caribbean islands. Unlike the dangerously venomous Phoneutria, bites from these spiders typically have only minor effects on humans, and have been compared to a bee sting.
Members of this genus come in a range of sizes, from cephalothorax lengths less than to large species, with a cephalothorax length of. The larger species are sometimes found far outside their native ranges in shipments of fruits, where they are frequently confused with Phoneutria spiders.Species
it contains eleven species:
- Cupiennius bimaculatus – Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Ecuador
- Cupiennius chiapanensis Medina, 2006 – Mexico
- Cupiennius coccineus F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1901 – Costa Rica to Colombia
- Cupiennius cubae Strand, 1909 – Cuba, Costa Rica to Venezuela
- Cupiennius foliatus F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1901 – Costa Rica, Panama
- Cupiennius getazi Simon, 1891 – Costa Rica, Panama
- Cupiennius granadensis – Costa Rica to Colombia
- Cupiennius remedius Barth & Cordes, 1998 – Guatemala
- Cupiennius salei – Mexico, Central America, Hispaniola
- Cupiennius valentinei – Panama
- Cupiennius vodou Brescovit & Polotow, 2005 – Hispaniola
