Corinnine Spiders of the genus Parachemmis are distinguished from related genera by the presence of spines on their first pair of legs. To date three species have been described, one from Brazil, one from Guyana and one from Panama, however since this range covers one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, it is thought highly likely that there are many more undiscovered species in this genus.
In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 8 June 2017, Leonel Martinez, Eduardo Villarreal and Neis Martinez of the Grupo de Investigación ECOSIN and Grupo de Investigación Biodiversidad del Caribe colombiano at the Universidad del Atlántico, describe a new species of Parachemmis from San Pedro de la Sierra in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of Magdalena Department in Colombia.
The new species is named Parachemmis julioblancoi, in honour of Julio Enrique Blanco, the founder of the Universidad del Atlántico, for his many contributions to art and education in Colombia. The species is described from four male and six female specimens, collected from leaf litter in a wet mountain forest at an altitude of 2104 m. The females are larger than the males, with one specimen measured at 11.0 mm, compared to 7.7 mm for a male. Both are grey and yellow in colour.
Parachemmis julioblancoi, (A) male, scale bar is 2mm, (B) female, scale bar is 5 mm. Martinez et al. (2017).
