Spider
Location: Austin, TX
January 5, 2011 10:54 am
Hello Bugman,
This spider was waiting for me at my front door when I got home from work last night. With legs spread, it’s probably 3 to 4 inches across. It moved rather slowly. I tried to search the web for identification, but every species I found that looked similar was not native to this area. Thanks for any information you can provide.
Signature: Jeff
Tarantula
Hi Jeff,
That is a very black Tarantula. We imagine it is in the genus Aphonopelma. According to the AgriLife Website: “There are 14 species of tarantulas in the genus, Aphonopelma, listed from Texas in a recent work. Identification of species is difficult and requires mature males, a microscope, proper literature and experience.”
Update:Â March 27, 2017
We will look into the possibility of this being a Trapdoor Spider.
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This is not a tarantula. This is a trap door species, I had the species named at one time when I also found one in front of my house. The shiny legs and hairless-ness is a sure sign of not being a tarantula.
Thanks for the correction on this old posting.