tarantula in costa rica?
Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 3:00 PM
hi there,
we found this one taking refuge from the rain last night in our room near san isidro, costa rica… wondering if you can tell us what it is and whether it’s f or m?
thanks so much!
kyla
san isidro, costa rica
Hi Kyla,
After searching the images on the Tarantula Photo Gallery Website, we don’t feel that we have the necessary skills to provide you with an accurate identification. There are not enough similarities to make the Costa Rican Tigerump , Cyclosternum fasciatum, a definite positive ID. We couldn’t find a satisfactory match on the Gallery of Tarantulas webpage, but there are several species from Venezuala and Costa Rica named Suntigers. The dark diamond pattern between the red markings on your specimen is very distinctive, and doesn’t match anything we can find. After 45 minutes of unsuccessful searching, the best we can do is to post your image and hope an Arachnophile has the answers to your questions.
Update: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:52:56 -0800 (PST)
Hi, Daniel:
I suspect the ornate tarantula from Costa Rica is a juvenile specimen, in which case there is no telling what gender it is. Males do not get their secondary sexual characteristics until their final molt into adulthood. Many species can be quite colorful as immatures, while being rather “dull” in color as adults. Not sure if anyone will be able to conclude the identification if it ‘is’ a baby.
Eric
I am not an expert, but I do believe that this tarantula is actually the Costa Rican Zebra tarantula (Aphonopelma seemani). Will burrow in captivity. 6″ or more of substrate should be provided. Skittish / nervous and not recommend for handling. Does well with higher humidity. Mating is a bit difficult in captivity, as the females are not always receptive and males are typically very nervous/skittish. (Information found on http://www.beccastarantulas.com/index.html )
This species has the common name of Costa Rica Tiger Rump and is currently going through clarification on the species.
Its very likely to be Cyclosternum fasciatum as this is a natural species but a similar species, Cyclosternum pentalore, can be found in Guatemala.
Neither grow to much more than 5-6″ and lifespan is expected to be around 12 years.
Their venom, as is the case with all terrestrial New World tarantula, is mild but they do posses urticating hairs.
Thanks for your research