Greenbottle blue tarantula
Chromatopelma tarantula, females
(Sometimes called Cyan Venezuela Tarantula or tarantula only Cyan ) Chromatopelma tarantula is the only species of the genus Chromatopelma. It is native to the region of Caracas in Venezuela and is also found in other areas of South America. In recent years she has been bred popular and also several times in terrariums holders. The government of Venezuela has adopted an export ban but due to high demand.
Features
Chromatopelma tarantula has a metallic blue to greenish shiny carapace, a covered with long orange hair and bright blue legs opisthosoma. Juveniles have a distinctive black markings on the opisthosoma, but lost in the course of time. Nymphs are completely colored differently: they have a wasp -like drawing on the opisthosoma and their running legs are colored black to the leg. Patella to metatarsus are beige and the tarsus finally dark gray. The carapace has a golden glow.
Females are on average between 6.5 cm and 7.2 cm long (measured from the Beißklauen to the spinnerets ). Males are on average between 3.5 cm and 4.3 cm in length, with males can also occur that reach approximately the same size as small stature females.
Distribution and habitat
Chromatopelma tarantula was detected in the north of Venezuela in the region of Caracas. There, the spider living in savannah forests, which are consisted of low-growing, populated by orchids and Tillandsia trees. The floor is covered with cacti and bromeliads plants. The climate is changeable and very hot, with daytime highs to 39 ° C, humidity is high. At night it cools down to 18 ° C and from it comes to dew formation. Some specimens were also found in the wooden structures of huts.
The bird spider is building large and sprawling residential fantasies in tree cavities or between roots. She studied primarily from the understory of trees as a basis for their Wohngespinnst. It shows no grave activity. Since they might look like a ground-dwelling species, but a distinct arboreal lifestyle, she has been described in 1907 as Avicularia.
The habitats of this type are often overgrazed by goats. The goats will eat anything Achievable from the trees and near the ground, so that the landscape quilted and for the ecological requirements of the tarantula is no longer suitable. This meant that the government in Venezuela now einrichtete protected areas in order to preserve it as a biosphere from destruction.
The animals are exposed in nature to a high pressure by climatic conditions ( long dry periods scarcer food supply ) and are therefore on average not as old and large as in terrarium care.
Defense
It applies to people as a calm to slightly defensive spider. Not yet fully grown spiders show an anxious to nervous behavior by even the smallest vibrations in their nest they snap back. The young spiders are also good climbers. They move quickly and so remember to Avicularia species.
This tarantula is a so-called "Bombardier Spider" and has been on the opisthosoma stinging hairs, which it can use to defend by stripping it with its hind legs and wegschleudert. These hairs are also used when mammals want to stick their noses into the living webs of spiders. However, the spiders set their Abdominalbrennhaare a rare and threatened the alleged attackers by beating the front legs. They escape, if it is possible.
Danger threatens them less by animal predators than by the destruction of their habitat by the Huftritte of mammals such as goats, tapirs. Another threat are parasitic nematodes or parasitic wasps.
System
The name is a combination of Latin and ancient Greek words: " chroma " is Greek and means " color", " Pelma " is Latin and means " sole ", " cyaneos " is Greek and means "dark blue" and " pubescens " is Latin and means " hairy ".
This spider was assigned several times different genera in the scheme. First, she described Embrik beach in 1907 as Eurypelma tarantula. Some years later she was asked by Petrunkevitch to the genus Delopelma. Since the Delopelma species (now Aphonopelma ) are grave end tarantulas and thus have anatomical features that are missing this spider, it was put into the monotypic genus Chromatopelma by Günter Schmidt EW 1995.
Synonyms
- C. Schmidt, 1995: tarantula Avicularia ( beach, 1907)
- Eurypelma c. Beach, 1907
- Delopelma c. Petrunkevitch, 1939