What white kneed?

Grael

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ok i looked online for the species of my first and new spiderling the pet owner said it was a "white kneed tarantula" now i looked online and it seems to have a lot of differant names but it seemed it was a "barazilian white kneed"(Acanthoscurria geniculata) which gets to about 7 -8 inchs full grown. Now i went back to the pet store and told him shes gonna get that big and i was shocked! but he said no no its not gonna get that big its the same as the red kneed tarantula and grows to about thier size....

now she is just under 2 inchs and her markings r clear (white knees duh lol) anyway can any clear this up?? how many differant types of white kneed r there????
 

Mister Internet

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Grael,

I'm working on a project that has involved reviewing almost every Common Name in current usage for Tarantulas... the thing to realize is that you can NEVER go by the Common Name. One shop in a town can call something a "Green-eyed Spitting Starburst" tarantula if they want to.... common names don't mean anything. The only way to truly know what you're getting is by a Scientific Name ID by a reputable dealer. What you're most likely referring to in your post is "Aphonopelma seemanni", which is commonly called "Zebra Stripe" or "Stripe Knee", so someone calling it "White Knee" wouldn't be unthinkable. A. seemanni is a very common T in the pet trade, and only gets about 4.5" maybe 5" max... that is most likely why your pet shop person expressed surprise.

However, it is impossible to know for sure unless you can post detailed pics here for the REAL Tarantula experts, or get a positive Scientific Name ID from the pet shop.
 

Grael

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hmmm ill guess ill have to go up there ans ask him for the greek name thanks :)
 

That Guy

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Is it black/brown, with kinda of a yellow/white stripe to it?? I have A. Seemanni and its(For now) Black with Little, little yellowish strips on its leg...



Hampton
 

Mister Internet

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Originally posted by Grael
hmmm ill guess ill have to go up there ans ask him for the greek name thanks :)
Good luck... oh, and you can just call it "Scientific Name"... they used to be mostly Latin, but now they're such a hodgepodge of Latin, Greek and various people's names, that they're just called "Scientific Name"... :)
 

Mojo Jojo

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That is why it is a really good idea to try to learn scientific names. But if you really do have A. geniculata, then it will get big. And yes, 7-8 inches is a good number to go with. But remember, that is about the leg span.

It really is a good idea to do your homework before getting a spider that you are unfamiliar with. These spiders aren't usually considered a beginners species, as they are considered to be defensive and hungry -- (watch out for your fingers, they might look like food).

FYI, here are sites of good information that I keep bookmarked for quick reference.

http://www.e-spiderworld.com/genus_text.htm
http://hem.spray.se/minax/index/welcome_e.html
http://arachnophiliac.com/burrow/caresheets/index.htm
http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/tarantulas.html
http://www.arachnopets.com/tarantulas/tcs.htm

Gook Luck
Jon

PS, I have A. geniculata. It really is a wonderful species. It eats like a horse and is very striking in appearance.
 
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