This record describes Aphonopelma iodius (species). Recorded family: Theraphosidae. Recorded order: Araneae.
Identification and Appearance
no rights reserved. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/402925585
Aphonopelma iodius or desert tarantula is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae, found in United States (California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah).
Wikipedia reference for Aphonopelma iodius: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphonopelma_iodius.
Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.
About Spiders: the wider group
Order-level background for Araneae, the group containing Aphonopelma iodius. Species-specific details appear above.
Group overview
As of 2023, 51,673 spider species in 136 families have been recorded, though an estimated 150,000 species exist. Spiders rank 7th in total species diversity among all organism orders. Only 0.5% of spider species pose any risk to human health.
Ecological role of the group
Spider venom contains complex peptides with diverse pharmacological activities, making them valuable for drug development research. Spiders produce up to 7 types of silk from specialized glands. Spider silk genes have been inserted into mammals and plants for biotech applications.
Economic and practical significance of the group
The global spider community kills an estimated 400-800 million tons of prey annually (2017 study). Spiders provide billions of dollars in natural pest control for agriculture. Spider silk is 5× stronger than steel of the same diameter, driving a biomaterials research industry.
Recorded sources for this group: World Spider Catalog, PNAS, Nature, ScienceDirect. Imported estimates may describe particular regions or reporting periods.
no rights reserved. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/402925585(c) Chris A. Hamilton, Brent E. Hendrixson, Jason E. Bond, some rights reserved (CC BY) | (c) Tony Iwane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Iwane | (c) Zsolt Semperger, all rights reserved, uploaded by Zsolt Semperger | (c) Rick Mandel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Rick Mandel | no rights reserved, uploaded by Anne Parsons | (c) Bastien, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bastien | (c) LJ Moore-McClelland, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by LJ Moore-McClelland | (c) Bobby Kamansky, all rights reserved, uploaded by Bobby Kamansky | Contributed by Will Chatfield-Taylor; Additional contributions by Aaron Schusteff , Kyhl Austin(c) Chris A. Hamilton, Brent E. Hendrixson, Jason E. Bond, some rights reserved (CC BY) | (c) Tony Iwane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Iwane | (c) Zsolt Semperger, all rights reserved, uploaded by Zsolt Semperger | (c) Rick Mandel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Rick Mandel | no rights reserved, uploaded by Anne Parsons | (c) Bastien, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bastien | (c) LJ Moore-McClelland, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by LJ Moore-McClelland | (c) Bobby Kamansky, all rights reserved, uploaded by Bobby Kamansky | Contributed by Will Chatfield-Taylor; Additional contributions by Aaron Schusteff , Kyhl Austin(c) Chris A. Hamilton, Brent E. Hendrixson, Jason E. Bond, some rights reserved (CC BY) | (c) Tony Iwane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Iwane | (c) Zsolt Semperger, all rights reserved, uploaded by Zsolt Semperger | (c) Rick Mandel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Rick Mandel | no rights reserved, uploaded by Anne Parsons | (c) Bastien, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bastien | (c) LJ Moore-McClelland, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by LJ Moore-McClelland | (c) Bobby Kamansky, all rights reserved, uploaded by Bobby Kamansky | Contributed by Will Chatfield-Taylor; Additional contributions by Aaron Schusteff , Kyhl Austin(c) Chris A. Hamilton, Brent E. Hendrixson, Jason E. Bond, some rights reserved (CC BY) | (c) Tony Iwane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Iwane | (c) Zsolt Semperger, all rights reserved, uploaded by Zsolt Semperger | (c) Rick Mandel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Rick Mandel | no rights reserved, uploaded by Anne Parsons | (c) Bastien, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bastien | (c) LJ Moore-McClelland, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by LJ Moore-McClelland | (c) Bobby Kamansky, all rights reserved, uploaded by Bobby Kamansky | Contributed by Will Chatfield-Taylor; Additional contributions by Aaron Schusteff , Kyhl Austin(c) Chris A. Hamilton, Brent E. Hendrixson, Jason E. Bond, some rights reserved (CC BY) | (c) Tony Iwane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Iwane | (c) Zsolt Semperger, all rights reserved, uploaded by Zsolt Semperger | (c) Rick Mandel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Rick Mandel | no rights reserved, uploaded by Anne Parsons | (c) Bastien, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bastien | (c) LJ Moore-McClelland, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by LJ Moore-McClelland | (c) Bobby Kamansky, all rights reserved, uploaded by Bobby Kamansky | Contributed by Will Chatfield-Taylor; Additional contributions by Aaron Schusteff , Kyhl Austin(c) Chris A. Hamilton, Brent E. Hendrixson, Jason E. Bond, some rights reserved (CC BY) | (c) Tony Iwane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Iwane | (c) Zsolt Semperger, all rights reserved, uploaded by Zsolt Semperger | (c) Rick Mandel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Rick Mandel | no rights reserved, uploaded by Anne Parsons | (c) Bastien, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bastien | (c) LJ Moore-McClelland, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by LJ Moore-McClelland | (c) Bobby Kamansky, all rights reserved, uploaded by Bobby Kamansky | Contributed by Will Chatfield-Taylor; Additional contributions by Aaron Schusteff , Kyhl Austin(c) Chris A. Hamilton, Brent E. Hendrixson, Jason E. Bond, some rights reserved (CC BY) | (c) Tony Iwane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Iwane | (c) Zsolt Semperger, all rights reserved, uploaded by Zsolt Semperger | (c) Rick Mandel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Rick Mandel | no rights reserved, uploaded by Anne Parsons | (c) Bastien, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bastien | (c) LJ Moore-McClelland, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by LJ Moore-McClelland | (c) Bobby Kamansky, all rights reserved, uploaded by Bobby Kamansky | Contributed by Will Chatfield-Taylor; Additional contributions by Aaron Schusteff , Kyhl Austin
Photo credits: (c) Chris A. Hamilton, Brent E. Hendrixson, Jason E. Bond, some rights reserved (CC BY) | (c) Tony Iwane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Iwane | (c) Zsolt Semperger, all rights reserved, uploaded by Zsolt Semperger | (c) Rick Mandel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Rick Mandel | no rights reserved, uploaded by Anne Parsons | (c) Bastien, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bastien | (c) LJ Moore-McClelland, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by LJ Moore-McClelland | (c) Bobby Kamansky, all rights reserved, uploaded by Bobby Kamansky | Contributed by Will Chatfield-Taylor; Additional contributions by Aaron Schusteff , Kyhl Austin
