Tamopsis
Tamopsis is a genus of tree trunk spiders that was first described by B. Baehr & M. Baehr in 1987. Like other members of the family, they may be called two-tailed spiders, referring to two elongated spinnerets. The name is derived from the genus Tama and the Ancient Greek ὄψις, meaning "resembling".
These spiders differ from Tama edwardsi in the more complex palpal bulb and the median apophysis that may either be coiled or have a hook- or spoon-shaped structure at its tip. These species are generally arboreal, where the spiders originally included in Tama in 1987 are mainly terrestrial.
Distribution
Spiders in this genus are mostly endemic to Australia, with one species endemic to New Guinea.Description
Tamopsis species are small to medium-sized spiders. Females of the type species Tamopsis eucalypti have a body length of about, and males have a body length of about. They resemble other members of the family Hersiliidae in having unusually long posterior lateral spinnerets, which in some species can be longer than the abdomen. They live in trees rather than on the ground and do not make complex webs. Their legs are relatively long, with an undivided metatarsus. The chelicerae have three teeth at the front edge. The male palpal bulb has a complex median apophysis, sometimes coiled and usually with a hook-shaped structure at the end. The embolus of the palpal bulb can slide out of a lateral apophysis, which otherwise partly or completely hides it. The female has one to three seminal receptacles on each side.Species
In 1987, Barbara Baehr and Martin Baehr reviewed the Australian members of the family Hersiliidae. They erected a new genus Tamopsis, and described 25 new species within the genus. Two species formerly placed in the genus Tama were transferred to Tamopsis. They described even more species in a series of papers from 1988 to 1998.Two Australian species, T. novaehollandiae and T. brachyura, are regarded as doubtful because their described types are either juveniles or have been lost and are not identifiable from their descriptions.
, this genus includes fifty species:Tamopsis amplithorax B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis arnhemensis B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis brachycauda B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis brevipes B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis brisbanensis B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis centralis B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis circumvidens B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis cooloolensis B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis darlingtoniana B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis daviesae B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis depressa B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1992 – Australia Tamopsis ediacarae B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1988 – Australia Tamopsis eucalypti – Australia Tamopsis facialis B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1993 – Australia Tamopsis fickerti – Australia Tamopsis fitzroyensis B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis floreni Rheims & Brescovit, 2004 – BorneoTamopsis forrestae B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1988 – Australia Tamopsis gibbosa B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1993 – Australia Tamopsis gracilis B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1993 – Australia Tamopsis grayi B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis harveyi B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1993 – Australia Tamopsis hirsti B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1998 – Australia Tamopsis jongi B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1995 – Australia Tamopsis kimberleyana B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1998 – Australia Tamopsis kochi B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis leichhardtiana B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis longbottomi B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1993 – Australia Tamopsis mainae B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1993 – Australia Tamopsis mallee B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1989 – Australia Tamopsis minor B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1998 – Australia Tamopsis nanutarrae B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1989 – Australia Tamopsis occidentalis B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis perthensis B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis petricola B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1995 – Australia Tamopsis piankai B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1993 – Australia Tamopsis platycephala B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis pseudocircumvidens B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis queenslandica B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis raveni B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis reevesbyana B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis riverinae B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1993 – Australia Tamopsis rossi B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis transiens B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1992 – Australia Tamopsis trionix B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis tropica B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis tweedensis B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1987 – Australia Tamopsis warialdae B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1998 – Australia Tamopsis wau M. Baehr & B. Baehr, 1993 – New GuineaTamopsis weiri B. Baehr & M. Baehr, 1995 – Australia