The last stop
In spring 2011, Patricio Cavallo, Martin Gamache, and I were near the end of a short trip through northern Argentina. At the final stop we found an unfamiliar green-toned tarantula. That spider later became Hapalotremus martinorum.
The camp photographs matter to me almost as much as the animal. Martin Gamache and I had known Pato through Arachnoboards before the trip, but we had not met him in person. The fieldwork turned an online connection into a lasting friendship.
From a find to a species
Cavallo and Ferretti described Hapalotremus martinorum in the Journal of Natural History. The World Spider Catalog accepts the species and records it from Argentina [1, 2]. Its name honours Martin Gamache and me.
High-altitude relatives
A 2018 revision added seven species to Hapalotremus and examined the genus at high elevations [3]. A 2025 phylogenetic study added another species and new evidence about relationships within the group [4]. The two videos below concern this wider high-altitude work, not the Argentine type locality.
An archived documentary announcement preserves the first poster draft shared in December 2021.
The discovery, camp, and later field work
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Supporters can continue with the original bonus photographs and video.
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References
- [1] World Spider Catalog (2026). World Spider Catalog, version 27. Natural History Museum Bern. Hapalotremus martinorum species record. doi:10.24436/2.
- [2] Cavallo, P. & Ferretti, N. E. (2015). The first Hapalotremus from Argentina: description and natural history of Hapalotremus martinorum sp. nov. Journal of Natural History 49(15-16): 873-887. doi:10.1080/00222933.2014.953226.
- [3] Ferretti, N., Cavallo, P., Chaparro, J. C., Ríos-Tamayo, D., Seimon, T. A. & West, R. (2018). The Neotropical genus Hapalotremus, with the description of seven new species and the highest altitude record for the family. Journal of Natural History 52(29-30): 1927-1984. doi:10.1080/00222933.2018.1506521.
- [4] Ferretti, N., Chaparro, J. C., Ochoa, J. A. & West, R. (2025). Phylogeny of the high-altitude tarantulas Hapalotremus with the description of a new species. Insect Systematics & Evolution 56(1): 90-110. doi:10.1163/1876312x-bja10068.
