#harpactira

Golden Blue-leg Baboon Spider (Harpactira pulchripes), family Theraphosidae, found in Southern Africa

Requested by my irl friend Ricky this time ^^

Meet black arachnia and bulkheads daughter

Harpactira

She was a bit of an accident (a happy surprise as bulkhead puts it) but it didn't stop her from joining this world and being the little ray of sunshine for both her parents ^^

She is a sweet little bean and enjoys the arts, especially painting with her dad and helping him with his new peices, "accidentally" becoming the inspiration for many of them

I’m getting close to 2 years of keeping Ts and my... Clutter (is that the term for a group of spiders?) has grown in numbers more than I’ve expected it to.

So. How are they?

As far as i know they’re all alive and well. That’s one thing.

As for the specific spiders.

#01 Tliltocatl vagans (Mio??)

Not really a fan of me taking photos of her. Voracious eater and overall sweetheart to manage. She was biting my poking straw during the last rehouse and getting uncomfortably bold with each pounce.

That is. She didn’t attack me or try to defend herself. She simply considered the straw to be food...

In the end I had to cup her for the move to be possible... Fun fun fun...

I’m like 95% sure it’s a female and (not sure if I’ve mentioned before) one of the name suggestions is Mio.

On the other hand I wanted to give that name to L.klugi if it turns out to be female so I might need to think of another name.

#02 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (Typhoon)

Sir not appearing in this summary. He’s still a part of a breeding loan... Or being currently digested by his girlfriend. I’ll call and ask about him in a few more weeks.

#03 Phormictopus Sp. “green (gold carapace)”

Finally got a chance to look at him! First such opportunity since NOVEMBER. It’s hard to see on the photo but his femurs have a bit of green on them.

He’s growing really large - the last molt is almost exactly 10cm in diagonal leg span and my attempt at measuring him when I had the opportunity gave me the result of 11 cm DLS of a kinda relaxed spider. He might be around 12 cm actually.

Fussy eater until recently and overall an ungrateful prick. I’ve checked another molt and he still seems male so... I’ll need another name.

#04 Psalmopoeus cambridgei (Bertha)

Confirmed female and the only escapee in my collection. She has molted again since then and when fully spread she might actually be larger than the Phormictopus above.

The plastic jar I thought would last her for few more months might be too small after another molt.

Also - as before she still sucks when it comes to hunting roaches... Beautiful but annoying spider to deal with.

#05 Lasiodora klugi

FINALLY.

You can actually see hints of how this spider will look ultimately.

Really hoping it’s a female but the last molt was torn in the very spot you need to check to be able to tell...

All right. You can keep your secrets... FOR NOW!

Anyway. The amazing growth rate I’ve been told about? After having this spider for nearly a year and a half it finally started! After dropping it’s sling colors the spider grew A LOT.

I’ve actually rehoused it ahead of time before it molted - expecting this box to last 3-4 molts. I’m afraid I’ll need to rehouse again after next molt. The spider grew by at least 25% and probably more.

#06 Harpactira pulchripes (Gilgamesh)

So... It turns out my most expensive spider is also a male...

He’s not mature yet but I’ve got some good pictures of him and it was pretty obvious even for me. People online only confirmed that.

He’s around 8 cm in DLS and at his age some males mature already. I’m guessing 2 more molts before I need to look for a female for him.

As you can see I’ve rehoused him to a tall jar that’s filled with soil up to about 3/5 of it’s height. The remaining 2/5 is filled with branches. Instead of digging this little bugger decided to make a web castle... He’s not eating either so I assume he’ll molt soon. After that we’ll see if he’ll dig a nice burrow or settle for a nest between branches.

#07 & #08 Phormictopus Sp. “Bayahibe”

Jewels of my collection. Still small slings but they’re much better behaved than the other Phormictopus.

Also - great eaters unlike the other one.

How good are they? Well. Some people out there are worrying about feeding small spiders live food. It’s “for their safety” and not to give them something they can’t handle.

I had spiders that were simply afraid of prey that was “too big” for them.

Those guys? Well...

This is one of them with an adult cockroach. It stood no chance.

So much for the need of a pre-killed prey. The spiders are predators and if they’re willing to pounce the prey they will take it down (and roaches can’t really fight back).

#09 & #10 Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens

The two slings I’ve received for lending Typhoon.

I’ve wanted his offspring but... Well. The breeder insisted I take two slings off their stock instead of waiting for a potential egg sac.

Overall I’ve already got practice with this species and just placed them into larger boxes already to allow some webbing to take place.

Harpactira Genus – Husbandry Notes

Harpactira Husbandry Notes (ft. H. baviana, H. cafreriana, H. hamiltoni, and H. pulchripes) Gorgeous “baboon tarantulas” from South Africa, Harpactira species have become much more prevalent in the hobby as of late, with many vendors offering a variety of slings for sale. Recently, there have been more Harpactira species available than ever, their newfound popularity possibly spurred by the…

Golden Blue-legged Baboon Spiders (Harpactira pulchripes), hatchlings, family Therphosidae, found in South Africa

Venomous.

Their venom is strong, and considered to be medically serious to humans.

Unlike other Baboon Spiders, they are not aggressive, but rather, are known for being fast and skittish.

Golden Blue-legged Baboon Spider (Harpactira pulchripes), hatchlings, family Therphosidae, South Africa

Venomous.

Their venom is strong, and considered to be medically serious to humans.

Unlike other Baboon Spiders, they are not aggressive, but rather, are known for being fast and skittish.

Well. Not exactly one year if we count my ants and mantises but today exactly one year ago I bought my first tarantula... And my second one...

For that reason and because i didn’t post about my animals in a LONG WHILE I’m going to update you on all of them.

Anyway... Lets get the hard one done with first: My mantises.

Sadly those don’t live long and a few weeks ago my last praying mantis has passed away. It was to be expected as they live only for about a year and I got them all before even my first tarantula.

Out of 7 praying mantis I’ve bought 4 reached maturity. Two died of unknown causes, one fell during a molt. Yeah... They are fragile like that.

Still - I want to believe those other 4 had good lives filled with roaches and all the other things mantises like...

Ok.

Now the fun part.

ANTS.

I’m not sure if I reported this before but from my 2 Manica rubida colonies one lost it’s queen right before winter.

Normally the colony would be doomed but at the end of their hibernation I joined the two colonies and the surviving queen adopted the orphaned workers.

The surviving colony is doing quite well I’d say:

Here’s Queen Sola in all of her winged glory. The population of workers has decreased lately but I’m planning to upgrade their habitat in a few weeks.

Still - there’s soon gonna be a boom in new workers:

The pile of larvae and pupae is just enormous.

Now. The other colony - mt Formica cinerea? Umm...

This queen is taking it rather easy. She underwent hibernation with just 8 workers last year and took her time before laying new batch of eggs. The 2nd generation of workers replaced the old one as it was passing away and the numbers never exceeded 20 workers. All seem rather small for the species still.

I try to provide them with a lot of honey (they have a constant supply) and more than enough roaches (I’m exchanging them weekly so that they don’t go bad).

There are about 10 pupae and some more larvae in there... not sure how many because those ants make their test tubes really filthy somehow. And yes - test tubes. I provided another, clean one and they didn’t even bother trying to move into it...

I hope they’ll increase their population before hibernating this year.

Now. The recent find...

During my last hike I found this beauty. The young queen of the second largest ant species in my country: Camponotus herculeanus.

Known for their large size, ability to bite into wood and a soldier caste of workers those ants are one of the most desired species among antkeepers in my country.

I was hoping to find a queen of their larger cousins but I’m not gonna be picky about it.

The queen is currently stored in a dark and calm place where she can do her job and give birth to her first generation of workers (which might take a long time - those species develop slowly).

I expect to see first soldier ants in 3-4 years.

Now. The tarantulas in order of acquisition:

1. Tliltocatl vagans (ex. Brachypelma vagans)

Now this little spider underwent a lot.

A name change among other things - the genus was separated into two and... Well... I don’t want to bother you with details. My Brachypelma is now Tliltocatl.

It molted 6 times during the time I had it and I expect it to molt again within a week. It’s currently pushing 8cm in diagonal leg span (DLS) and after molting it’ll be once again my biggest spider.

Sadly it is due to that the colors are so... Brown.

After molting it’ll be velvet black (legs) with a vibrant red abdomen. I’m hoping for a black carapace after this molt as well.

This is also my only suspected female tarantula.

most keepers want females because they live several times longer than males. 15-30 years (depending on species) compared to 3-7 for males.

2. Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens

We got there!

We got the blue colors - finally!

Until recently the carapace was still a mixture of dark blue and gold - now it’s finally getting the blue-green look to it.

It molted just recently and is still kinda shy - I had to lure it out with food for this picture but I managed somehow.

Suspect male but people on arachnoboards told me to wait a bit longer as they can be a bit tricky to properly identify.

It’s last molt is about 7,5 cm in DLS meaning the spider is now bigger than that.

3. Phormictopus sp. green gold carapace

Another BIG ONE.

Big boy actually. Last attempt at sexing left almost no doubts - it is a male.

On one hand I’m happy because males of Phormictopus genus get some stunning colors when they mature.

On the other hand... Well. He’ll have a short life and the species is quite hard to come by so I might not be able to find him a date.

Perhaps I’ll try to contact the breeder who sold him to me and ask if he’s still breeding them but... I have the feeling that the guy doesn’t like me much.

As for the spider himself... I complained a lot about his temperament - he was bolty and kicked hair at the slightest of disturbances... Was. Recently he got quite calm and almost... gentle... I hope he stays this way.

It also grows FAST. It was a lot smaller than my first two spiders and now can rival them in size at about 7,5 cm in DLS.

4. Psalmopoeus cambridgei

Mr shy. I can’t get a good picture of him no matter how much I try.

Always hiding or escaping the moment I take out the camera. A fussy eater and and overall pain in the butt.

Also - suspect male. His molts are always ruined so they can’t be used to determine it with all certainty but I had a good look on him two or three times and he seems male to me.

I might be wrong tho.

5. Lasiodora klugi

The SMOL one. Not so small anymore.

Still my smallest spider but it grew a lot from that tiny, tiny spiderling that I got back in September.

I hear they speed up a lot after hitting the juvenile stage which should happen soon...

Ultimately this will be my largest spider.

No clue if it’s male or female - too small to even try checking.

6 Harpactira pulchripes

The evil one, eh?

The only Old World tarantula in my collection - Old World meaning it’s from Africa and lacks the irritating hairs the New World Ts use for defense.

To make up for this the OW spiders are faster and their venom is quite nasty.

I get a threat posture from this little guy every time I try to take it’s molt out. That is... 3 times so far.

Still a beautiful spider that grows A LOT with each molt.

So. That’s it. All of my animals not counting the cat. I hope you enjoyed this update.