Phoneutria fera

Phoneutria fera is a species of spider with medically significant venom in the family Ctenidae found in South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Suriname, and Guyana).^[1] It is commonly known as the Brazilian wandering spider and the banana spider,^[2] although these names are applied to other species in the genus Phoneutria, particularly Phoneutria nigriventer.^[3][2] P. fera tends to spend a larger amount of time in vegetation during the early period of its life and spends more time on the ground once it becomes larger. This is more common in females, since they are usually larger than males.^[4][5] Medical records from within the geographic range of P. fera show bites (likely from P. fera or its close relative P. reidyi), have the potential to develop moderate to severe systematic reactions in humans.^[6]

Phoneutria fera
P. fera from French Guiana
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Ctenidae
Genus:	Phoneutria
Species:	P. fera
Binomial name
Phoneutria fera Perty, 1833[1]
Synonyms[1]
Ctenus ferus (Perty, 1833) Ctenus sus Strand, 1909

Taxonomy

The name Phoneutria fera meaning “murderess, wild animal” is of both Greek and Latin origin. The genus Phoneutria derives from the Greek φονεύτρια, meaning "murderess",^[7] and the species fera which is derived from the Latin term “ferus” (also written as “feros”) meaning “wild animal”.^[8] The species P. fera is native to the northern portion of South America in the Amazon of Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and the Guyanas.

References

1. "Taxon details Phoneutria fera Perty, 1833", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2017-04-07
2. "How deadly are Brazilian wandering spiders?". The Independent. 2016-09-21. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
3. Wolfgang Bücherl; Eleanor E. Buckley (2013-09-24). Venomous Animals and Their Venoms: Venomous Invertebrates. Elsevier. pp. 237–. ISBN 978-1-4832-6289-5.
4. Gasnier, Thierry Ray; de Azevedo, Clarissa Salette; Torres-Sanchez, Martha Patricia & Höfer, Hubert (2002), "Adult size of eight hunting spider species in Central Amazonia: temporal variations and sexual dimorphisms", Journal of Arachnology, 30 (1): 146–154, doi:10.1636/0161-8202(2002)030[0146:ASOEHS]2.0.CO;2, S2CID 73624927
5. Torres-Sanchez, Martha Patricia & Gasnier, Thierry Ray (2010), "Patterns of Abundance, Habitat Use and Body Size Structure of Phoneutria reidyi and P. fera (Araneae: Ctenidae) in a Central Amazonian Rainforest", Journal of Arachnology, 38 (3): 433–440, doi:10.1636/P08-93.1, S2CID 55763428
6. Sampaio, V.S.; Gomes, A.A.; Silva, I.M.; Sachett, J.; Ferreira, L.C.; Oliveira, S.; Sabidò, M.; Chalkidis, H.; Barbosa Guerra, M.G.; Salinas, J.L.; Wen, F.H.; Lacerda, M.V. & Monteiro, W.M. (2016), "Low Health System Performance, Indigenous Status and Antivenom Underdosage Correlate with Spider Envenoming Severity in the Remote Brazilian Amazon", PLOS ONE, 11 (5): e0156386, Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1156386S, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156386, PMC 4881914, PMID 27227455
7. Tarbell, F. B. (October 1890). "An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon - An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Founded upon the Seventh Edition of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford, 1889". The Classical Review. 4 (8): 370–371. doi:10.1017/s0009840x00191048. ISSN 0009-840X. S2CID 163411345.
8. Andrews, E. A. (1987) [1851]. A Copious and Critical Latin-English Lexicon, Founded on the Larger Latin-German Lexicon of Dr. William Freund; with Additions and Corrections from the Lexicons of Gesner, Facciolati, Scheller, Georges, Etc. New York (State): Harper & brothers. p. 609.