{"id":64521,"date":"2025-08-12T17:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T17:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/64521\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T17:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T17:50:09","slug":"four-new-tarantulas-with-huge-genitals-have-just-been-discovered-apparently-males-use-them-to-fend-off-cannibalistic-females","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/64521\/","title":{"rendered":"Four new tarantulas with huge genitals have just been discovered. Apparently males use them to fend off cannibalistic females"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four newly described species of tarantula have been given their own genus, thanks to the record-breaking length of their genitalia. Appropriately, they have been named after Satyrs, the Greek mythological part-man and part-animal figures known for their large male genitalia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The males of these spiders have the longest palps<\/a> among all known tarantulas,\u201d says Dr. Alireza Zamani, a researcher at the University of Turku in Finland and lead author of\u00a0the paper published in\u00a0ZooKeys<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Satyrex ferox is the largest of the four new species. Credit: Mark Stockmann<\/p>\n

Why so big?<\/p>\n

Spiders, including tarantulas, don\u2019t have the same male genitalia as mammals. Instead, they have appendages by their mouths called palps which can be used for a variety of purposes \u2013 including reproduction. <\/p>\n

During mating, sperm is transferred onto structures called papal bulbs, which are then inserted into a female and the sperm is deposited.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s thought that the extraordinary length of these palps is to help the males survive the reproduction process, by enabling them to increase the distance between them and the cannibalistic female.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SatyrexSatyrex ferox female, found in Oman. Credit: P\u0159emysl Fabi\u00e1nek<\/p>\n

Discovering the new species<\/p>\n

This taxonomic study was kickstarted by iNaturalist sightings and social media posts on tarantulas, mentioning the remarkably large palps. Zamani gathered together some preserved specimens, as well as photos and videos of these spiders in the wild, and determined that they were undescribed species.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on both morphological and molecular data, they are so distinct from their closest relatives that we had to establish an entirely new genus to classify them, and we named it\u00a0Satyrex,” he explains. ‘Satyrex’ is the combination of two words: ‘Satyr’ and ‘rex’. Satyrs accompanied the god Dionysus and were known to be bawdy and love women, wine and music. ‘Rex’ is the Latin name for ‘king’.<\/p>\n

The largest of the four was named ‘ferox’ \u2013 meaning ‘fierce’ \u2013 due to its defensive behaviour. If it feels threatened, which apparently it does at even \u201cthe slightest disturbance\u201d, it will raise up its front legs and also produce a large hissing sound by rubbing together the specialised hairs on its front legs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The four newly described species were found in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. A previously described species was also reassigned to the new\u00a0Satyrex\u00a0genus, and also has distinctly long male palps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SatyrexSatyrex ferox habit. Credit: Mark Stockmann<\/p>\n

Top image: Satyrex ferox, male. Credit: Mark Stockmann<\/p>\n

More amazing wildlife stories from around the world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four newly described species of tarantula have been given their own genus, thanks to the record-breaking length of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-64521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}