Thrixopelma michaeli Dupérré & Tapia, 2025

Described by Nadine Dupérré, Elicio Tapia

♂ Male described

Male © Dupérré & Tapia (2025, fig. 12) — holotype male ECFN 11524

Type Locality and Records

Type locality

Original Description

Dupérré, N. & Tapia, E. (2025). Description of seven new species of Theraphosidae (Araneae, Theraphosinae; Ischnocolinae) from Ecuador, along with the identification of a new variation of type I urticating setae. Zootaxa 5722(4): 451-484.

Distribution

Ecuador

Type Locality: ECUADOR: Nangaritza, Tepui, Zamora Chinchipe, 1552 m

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, Ecuador. MERRA-2 via NASA POWER, for a grid cell averaging 1149 m. Wet and dry seasons, from the rainfall at the locality itself.

Etymology

A patronym honouring Michael Huben, for his contribution to the study of the Ecuadorian invertebrate fauna and as the collector of many new species.

Specimen Records (1)

ECFN 11524 (QCAZ) ♂ Holotype Ecuador

Nangaritza, Tepui, 1552 m, shaken from trees, Zamora Chinchipe

July 2024 · col. E. Tapia & J. Velez

Holotype male of Thrixopelma michaeli, and the only known specimen; collected 1-2 July 2024

Taxonomic History

2025
Thrixopelma michaeli Dupérré & Tapia, 2025
As with T. supay, described into Thrixopelma a week after Sherwood et al. (2025) dismantled it, in a paper that does not cite theirs. Both species it is diagnosed against have since moved: T. nadineae is now Crypticarachne nadineae and T. kimraykawsaki is now Ewok kimraykawsaki. Left as published.