A Catalogue on Indian Tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae)

Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. Habitat. 3. Biology. 4. Defense mechanisms. 5. Life cycle and lifespan. 6. Historical biogeography. 7. New world and old-world tarantulas. 8. General morphology. 9. Collection and preservation. 10. Theraphosid spiders listed in the IUCN Red List. 11. Theraphosid spiders protected under Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022. 12. Theraphosid spiders included in the CITES. 13. Materials and methods. 14. Results. 15. Discussion. 16. References. 17. Representative photographs. 18. Distribution map of theraphosid spiders listed in the IUCN Red List.

In the past few decades numerous species of tarantulas are being synonymized, changes being made at species and generic levels along with discovery of several new species, which produces a need to prepare a catalogue on Indian tarantula. The catalogue provides comprehensive data on Indian tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae) across the country, with detailed information on type species and distributional records. A total of 64 species belonging to 13 genera are listed in the present work. This book will be an important database for future workers, working on Indian tarantulas.