Colombian giant purple-rayed tarantula
| Colombian giant purple-rayed tarantula | ||||||||||||
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Colombian giant purple tarantula ( Pamphobeteus insignis ), female |
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| Pamphobeteus insignis | ||||||||||||
| Pocock , 1903 |
The Colombian purple giant tarantula ( Pamphobeteus insignis ) is a spider from the tarantula family (Theraphosidae). The trivial name indicates the distribution area and the visual appearance of the species .
The English common name of the Colombian purple giant tarantula is Colombian purplebloom tarantula (translated as "Colombian purple flower tarantula").
features
The Colombian purple giant tarantula reaches a body length of around 80 to 90 millimeters and a leg span of a good 190 millimeters, and specimens with a leg span of around 216 millimeters have also been detected. The Colombian purple giant tarantula, like all species of the genus Pamphobeteus, is one of the larger tarantulas.
The species is comparatively compact and robustly built. The strong extremities and the large opisthosoma (abdomen) are striking . The hairs are rather short in this species. Like all species of the genus, the Colombian purple-rayed giant tarantula has stridulation organs on the third and fourth pair of legs and, like many American tarantulas, has stinging hair and is therefore counted among the tarantulas that can be bombarded.
Sexual dimorphism
Like many spiders, the Colombian purple giant tarantula has a noticeable sexual dimorphism (difference between the sexes), so here too the female is significantly stronger than the male. The dimorphism of the sexes of the Colombian purple-rayed giant tarantula is noticeable not only in the body structure but also in the color.
The female is blackish olive-brown, although the basic color changes into a reddish brown shortly before moulting. The male also has a brownish basic color, but like all species of the genus has a shimmer of color through iridescence . This appears pink to purple here and is visible on the femora (thigh) and the carapace (back shield of the prosoma or front body). This colouration, caused by the refraction of light, gave the Colombian giant purple tarantula its common German name.
Similar species
The Colombian purple giant tarantula can easily be confused with the Colombian purple giant tarantula ( Pamphobeteus ornatus ) and especially with the black blue-rayed giant tarantula ( Pamphobeteus nigricolor ), both of which belong to the same genus as the Colombian purple giant tarantula. All three species have similar body dimensions and a brownish basic color.
The Colombian purple-rayed giant tarantula differs from the black blue-rayed giant tarantula by the presence of a dense collection of very fine, tight-fitting spines with barbs on the trochanters (thigh rings) of the pedipalps (transformed extremities in the head area), which the black blue-rayed giant tarantula lacks. The iridescence on the carapace can only be seen in the males of the Colombian purple-rayed giant tarantula, in the other two species only on the legs.
Occurrence
The Colombian purple giant tarantula is exclusively represented in Colombia , according to its common name . There she lives in the Amazon rainforest and stays on the ground according to her way of life.
Threat and protection
The population of the Colombian purple giant tarantula is not rated by the IUCN , which means that no information is available about possible population threats to the species. Accordingly, it is not subject to any protection status.
Way of life
The Colombian purple giant tarantula is one of the ground-dwelling tarantulas and, like other species of the family, uses this way of life to dig an earth tube lined with webbing , which serves as the spider's abode. If an existing hiding place is found, it will be taken and expanded if necessary.
The nocturnal species, like all tarantulas, is hidden during the day and preferably shows up at dusk at the exit of its shelter and lurks there for any prey. In the prey spectrum of Colombian Lilastrahligen giant tarantula include, among other arthropods because of the size of the spider even small vertebrates , including rodents and reptiles in the appropriate size. Successful overpowering of specimens of the Bahamaanolis ( Norops sagrei ) has already been observed in captivity .
Defense behavior
The Colombian purple giant tarantula is one of the more defensive species of the family and prefers to defend itself by bombing in the event of disturbances, such as encounters with possible predators (predators), whereby they fling stinging hairs towards an attacker. Like other tarantulas, if the disturbance persists, this species can also adopt the threatening gesture typical of tarantulas, in which the spider stands up and raises the pedipalps together with the front pair of legs. If this threatening gesture is ineffective, the Colombian purple giant tarantula can also be provoked to bite.
Life cycle and reproduction
The reproductive behavior of the Colombian purple-rayed giant tarantula corresponds to that of other tarantulas and mostly proceeds without aggressive behavior on the part of the female towards the male, as is often the case with other spider families. A sexually mature male seeks shelter for a female who makes it noticeable for sexual partners through pheromones of its own species. The male now drums on the ground for courtship in front of the female's refuge and thus reveals himself to the female as a sexual partner. When ready to mate, a female also replies by drumming.
Some time after mating, the female then makes a comparatively large egg cocoon with a diameter of around 50 to 80 millimeters, which can usually contain 80 and a maximum of 180 eggs. The young also hatch after a longer period of time and, as is usual with spiders, grow through several moults. The young animals already have a body length of approx. 19 to 24 millimeters after hatching and a length of approx. 127 to 146 millimeters in the first scavenging skin (moulting stage) and are therefore comparatively large.
The young grow up quite quickly. Males can reach sexual maturity after one and a half years and females after two and a half years.
Terrariums
Like many tarantulas, the Colombian purple-rayed giant tarantula is occasionally kept as a pet in the terrarium hobby due to its striking appearance, including its impressive size for spiders . Compared to other tarantulas, however, it is very rarely available in stores, which means that the demand is usually significantly higher than the supply.
In addition to their appearance, interested parties also positively perceive their more predictable nature compared to some other tarantulas. Due to the digging lifestyle, it is important to keep the soil deep and digging and, if possible, a hiding place, which should be provided for the spider. In addition, the respective housing should be selected with regard to the dimensions for keeping a single specimen according to the size of the spider. Finally, the humidity and temperature of their natural tropical habitat should be simulated as well as possible.
The species was exported from Colombia to other continents in the early to mid-1990s for the purpose of the pet trade, which lasted until 1998 , together with the species Pamphobeteus ferox, also belonging to the genus Pamphobeteus, and the black blue-rayed giant tarantula ( P. nigricolor ). Since then, it has rarely been reproduced by breeding in captivity, which explains the availability of the Colombian giant purple tarantula in trade.
Systematics
The Colombian purple giant tarantula was first described in 1903 by Reginald Innes Pocock together with other species of the genus Pamphobeteus and at this point in time it was classified in the genus described by the same author two years earlier and was given the name Pamphobeteus insignis, which is still valid today . Accordingly, the species was not renamed or changed.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Pamphobeteus insignis (Pocock, 1903) at Arachnophilia.de, accessed on April 23, 2020.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Pamphobeteus insignis (Pocock, 1903) at Tarantulaspiders.com, accessed on April 23, 2020.
- ^ R. Bertani, CS Fukushima, PI da Silva Junior: Two new species of Pamphobeteus Pocock 1901 (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) from Brazil, with a new type of stridulatory organ , Zootaxa 1826, 1st volume, 2008, p. 45 –58, accessed April 23, 2020.
- ↑ a b Pamphobeteus insignis (Pocock, 1903) in the WSC World Spider Catalog , accessed April 23, 2020.
- ↑ Pamphobeteus insignis (Pocock, 1903) at Global Biodiversity Information Facility , accessed on 23 April 2020th
literature
- Hans W. Kothe: tarantulas. 1st edition. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-4400-9367-0 .
- Volker von Wirth: tarantulas. 1st edition. Gräfe and Unzer, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-8338-2151-6 .
Web links
- Pamphobeteus insignis in the World Spider Catalog
- Pamphobeteus insignis (Pocock, 1903) at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- Pamphobeteus insignis (Pocock, 1903) at Tarantupedia
- Pamphobeteus insignis (Pocock, 1903) at Arachnophilia.de
- Pamphobeteus insignis (Pocock, 1903) at Tarantulaspiders.com