Orphnaecus pellitus Simon, 1892

♀ Female described ♂ Male described

Female © Acuña et al. (2025), fig. 2A, dorsal habitus of a female

Type Locality and Records

Type locality

Original Description

Simon, E. (1892). Arachnides. In: Raffrey, A., I. Bolivar & E. Simon (eds.) Etudes cavernicoles de l'île Luzon. Voyage de M. E. Simon aux l'îles Phillipines (mars et avril 1890). 4e Mémoire. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 61, 35-52.

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Distribution

Philippines

Type Locality: PHILIPPINES, Luzon Island, Bicol Peninsula, Camarines Sur Province, Libmanan, 'Calapnitan Caves' [Culapnitan Caves], now within Libmanan Caves National Park

Adult Male Activity

Collection months of 2 adult male specimen records, against the rainfall where they live

Adult males collected

Mean monthly rainfall and temperature 2001–2020 near the type locality. MERRA-2 via NASA POWER, for a grid cell averaging 10 m. Wet and dry seasons, from the rainfall at the locality itself.

Specimen Records (9)

MNHN AR4678 ♂ Type Philippines

'Calapnitan Caves' [Culapnitan Caves], Libmanan, now within Libmanan Caves National Park, Camarines Sur

1892 · col. E. Simon

Male syntype of Orphnaecus pellitus, re-examined by V. von Wirth. Collection date not stated; 1892 is the year of description.

MNHN AR4678 ♀ Type Philippines

'Calapnitan Caves' [Culapnitan Caves], Libmanan, now within Libmanan Caves National Park, Camarines Sur

1892 · col. E. Simon

Female syntypes of Orphnaecus pellitus. One re-examined by V. von Wirth; images of the second supplied by A.-E. Leguin.

UST-ARC 0031-0047 ♂ Philippines

Libmanan Caves National Park (Culapnitan Caves), Brgy. Sigamot; inside Kalangkawan Cave, 50-300 m horizontal depth, Camarines Sur

April 2023 · col. L. A. Guevarra, D. C. Acuña, C. N. Noriega & J. D. Fornillos

Male portion of the Kalangkawan Cave lot UST-ARC 0031-0047 of Orphnaecus pellitus, collected in the dark zone. GenBank COI accessions for the Culapnitan material: PP778304-PP778306 and PP778313-PP778315 (non-types).

UST-ARC 0048-0051 juvenile Philippines

Libmanan Caves National Park (Culapnitan Caves), Brgy. Sigamot; inside Alinsanay Cave, 50 m horizontal depth, Camarines Sur

April 2023 · col. L. A. Guevarra, D. C. Acuña, C. N. Noriega & J. D. Fornillos

Four juveniles of Orphnaecus pellitus from Alinsanay Cave. The invasive cane toad Rhinella marina, a potential predator, was found inside the cave near the entrance.

UST-ARC 0052-0058 ♂ Philippines

Libmanan Caves National Park (Culapnitan Caves), Brgy. Sigamot; inside Laya Cave, 30-50 m horizontal depth, Camarines Sur

July 2023 · col. L. A. Guevarra, D. C. Acuña & J. D. Fornillos

Male portion of the Laya Cave lot UST-ARC 0052-0058 of Orphnaecus pellitus. Burrows shallow (to 15 cm), horizontal, laid with silk mats in guano substrate under limestone rocks.

UST-ARC 0031-0047 ♀ Philippines

Libmanan Caves National Park (Culapnitan Caves), Brgy. Sigamot; inside Kalangkawan Cave, 50-300 m horizontal depth, Camarines Sur

April 2023 · col. L. A. Guevarra, D. C. Acuña, C. N. Noriega & J. D. Fornillos

Female portion of the Kalangkawan Cave lot UST-ARC 0031-0047 of Orphnaecus pellitus.

UST-ARC 0031-0047 juvenile Philippines

Libmanan Caves National Park (Culapnitan Caves), Brgy. Sigamot; inside Kalangkawan Cave, 50-300 m horizontal depth, Camarines Sur

April 2023 · col. L. A. Guevarra, D. C. Acuña, C. N. Noriega & J. D. Fornillos

Juvenile portion of the Kalangkawan Cave lot UST-ARC 0031-0047 of Orphnaecus pellitus. Every life stage was found inside the cave system.

UST-ARC 0052-0058 ♀ Philippines

Libmanan Caves National Park (Culapnitan Caves), Brgy. Sigamot; inside Laya Cave, 30-50 m horizontal depth, Camarines Sur

July 2023 · col. L. A. Guevarra, D. C. Acuña & J. D. Fornillos

Female portion of the Laya Cave lot UST-ARC 0052-0058 of Orphnaecus pellitus.

UST-ARC 0052-0058 juvenile Philippines

Libmanan Caves National Park (Culapnitan Caves), Brgy. Sigamot; inside Laya Cave, 30-50 m horizontal depth, Camarines Sur

July 2023 · col. L. A. Guevarra, D. C. Acuña & J. D. Fornillos

Juvenile portion of the Laya Cave lot UST-ARC 0052-0058 of Orphnaecus pellitus.

Taxonomic History

1892
Orphnaecus pellitus Simon, 1892. Type species of Orphnaecus by monotypy. Rediscovered at its type locality and confirmed as a true troglobite by Acuña, Ragasa, Santiago-Bautista, von Wirth & Guevarra (2025), the first published troglobitic tarantula from Asia. A redescription is in preparation as part of an ongoing revision of the genus.

Bibliography (4)

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Acuña, D. C., Dumbrique, M. M. U., Ranido, M. C., Ragasa, L. R. P., Noriega, C. N. C., Mayor, A. B. R., Florendo Jr, G. A., Fadri, M. J. A., von Wirth, V., Santiago-Bautista, M. R. & Guevarra Jr, L. A. (2025). Taxonomic revalidation of Selenobrachys Schmidt, 1999 and Chilocosmia Schmidt & von Wirth, 1992 based on morphological and molecular analyses (Araneae, Theraphosidae), with the description of a new species from Romblon Island, Philippines. ZooKeys 1233: 139-193.

Sumogat, J. J., Acuña, D. C. & Nuñeza, O. M. (2025). A new tarantula species of the genus Orphnaecus Simon, 1892 (Araneae: Theraphosidae) from Mindanao Island, Philippines. Far Eastern Entomologist 522: 8-21.

Acuña, D. C., Ragasa, L. R. P., Santiago-Bautista, M. R., von Wirth, V. & Guevarra Jr, L. A. (2025). Revisiting and rediscovering the tarantulas (Araneae, Theraphosidae) of Culapnitan (Libmanan) Caves in the Philippines: troglomorphism, taxonomy, phylogeny and ecological niche. Subterranean Biology 52: 143-186.