Selenobrachys philippinus Schmidt, 1999

♀ Female described ♂ Male described

Female

Type Locality and Records

Type locality

Original Description

Schmidt, G. (1999). Selenobrachys philippinus gen. et sp. n. (Araneae: Theraphosidae: Selenocosmiinae), eine neue Theraphosidae sp. von der Insel Negros (Philippinen). Arachnologisches Magazin 7(5/6): 1-13.

Distribution

Philippines

Adult Male Activity

Collection months of 1 adult male specimen record, against the rainfall where they live

Adult males collected

Mean monthly rainfall and temperature 2001–2020 near where these males were collected, Philippines. MERRA-2 via NASA POWER, for a grid cell averaging 51 m. Wet and dry seasons, from the rainfall at the locality itself.

Specimen Records (3)

SMF 39202-84 ♀ Holotype Philippines

Mambucal (now Mambucal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary), Negros Island, Negros Occidental

Holotype female of Selenobrachys philippinus Schmidt, 1999, re-examined by Acuña et al. (2025) when restoring the original combination.

SMNS Aran-004187-004192 ♂ Philippines

Mount Canlaon, Negros Island, Negros Occidental

2010 · col. J. M. Verdez

Non-type material of Selenobrachys philippinus: 5 males and 1 female.

PASI ara0006, UST-ARC 0112-0127 ♂ Philippines

Mambucal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary, Negros Island, 365 m a.s.l.; burrows under metamorphic rock boulders and crevices, Negros Occidental

June 2023 · col. L. A. Guevarra, D. C. Acuña, C. N. Noriega, R. Enguito & L. J. S. Villaflor

Non-type material of Selenobrachys philippinus: 1 male, 9 females and 8 juveniles. The male is the basis for the first description of the sex (field nos NOM1A-01 to NOM1A-16).

Taxonomic History

1999
Selenobrachys philippinus Schmidt, 1999 Transferred to Orphnaecus by West et al. (2012) when Selenobrachys was synonymised with that genus. Acuña et al. (2025) revalidated Selenobrachys on morphological and molecular grounds — the distinctive oval, distally tapering maxillary lyra with strong paddles, together with spermathecal and male palpal characters and cladistic separation in COI and 12S-tRNA-Val-16S — and restored the original combination. The male is described here for the first time.

Bibliography (2)

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.