The species belonging to Poecilotheria were first documented in 1734 by Dutch zoologist Albertus Seba, when he went to Sri Lanka.

However, the most precise scientific explanation came in 1804 when Pierre André Latreille described the spider as Mygale fasciata.

In 1885, Eugène Simon proposed the generic name Poecilotheria instead of Scurria due to species description errors with a mollusk.

In 2014, Ranil P. Nanayakkara, a Sri Lanka arachnologist, regarded P. vittata, P. striata, P. bara, and P. subfusca as distinct species.

[3] As of 2020[update], the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species, seven from India, seven from Sri Lanka and two from both countries.

The first and fourth pair of legs are colored with striking yellow and black patterns, a feature used especially to identify up to species level.

Mature males are easily recognizable by highly sclerotized sperm storage pouches called palpal bulbs.