A 2025 paper restored Selenobrachys as a valid genus. Its type species, first described as Selenobrachys philippinus in 1999 and moved to Orphnaecus in 2012, returned to its original combination. The same study described Selenobrachys ustromsupasius from Romblon Island. [1][2]
What changed
Acuña and colleagues combined morphological study with molecular phylogenetic analyses. The World Spider Catalog now accepts Selenobrachys philippinus Schmidt, 1999, records it from Negros Island in the Philippines, and lists it as the type species of the genus. [1][2]
The nickname “Orange Bitey Thing” is not a taxonomic name. Color also does not replace the diagnostic characters used in the revision.
Aspinochilus rufus from Java offers a related naming story: keepers knew it by a hobby label before the genus and species were described in 2024. Birupes simoroxigorum from Sarawak is another Southeast Asian case in which the genus and species were described together.
References
- Acuña, D. C. et al. (2025). Taxonomic revalidation of Selenobrachys Schmidt, 1999 and Chilocosmia Schmidt & von Wirth, 1992 based on morphological and molecular analyses (Araneae, Theraphosidae), with the description of a new species from Romblon Island, Philippines. ZooKeys 1233: 139–193.
- World Spider Catalog: Selenobrachys philippinus.
