# Can you Identify this species of tarantula in this movie?



## beanb142002 (May 24, 2008)

Go to the link below, watch the video and see if you can identify the tarantula species in the movie.

This scene practically got me hooked on tarantulas when I first saw it when I was around 6 or 7 years old.

I have been fascinated with them ever since.

Here is the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNjIMfqZKp8&NR=1

If it is not hyperlinked, copy and paste it to your browser.

I'd greatly appreciate any possible IDs of this tarantula.

I really want to know the tarantula species that started it all.


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## Mushroom Spore (May 24, 2008)

Looks like the humble G. rosea to me.


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## presurcukr (May 24, 2008)

B. vagan?? cant tell :wall:after looking at other clip with the T walking away it looks more like G.pulchra


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## jinx (May 24, 2008)

When I google "home alone tarantula." I keep reading that it was a Rose Hair.


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## saminthemiddle (May 24, 2008)

It certainly looks like a Grammastola to me too, but I don't think it's a G rosea, it's too dark.

I vote G. pulchra. That kid has an expensive little T!

The other thing that makes me thing G. pulchra other than its looks is its behavior and the fact that the director/producer is letting a kid handle one on set. Even a Brachypelma wouldn't be that cooperative when grabbed like that.


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## Mushroom Spore (May 24, 2008)

saminthemiddle said:


> The other thing that makes me thing G. pulchra other than its looks is its behavior and the fact that the director/producer is letting a kid handle one on set. Even a Brachypelma wouldn't be that cooperative when grabbed like that.


a) G. pulchra is no innately more docile than the average docile G. rosea (occasional rare psycho rosie doesn't count, since they obv. aren't USING a psycho spider). Plus that spider looks brown to me in the only scene with any kind of decent lighting.

b) Some Brachys ARE that docile, actually.

EDIT: This random T trivia site also says rosea. http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Bug, Tarantula.htm


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## presurcukr (May 24, 2008)

if it is G.rosea it is one of the darkest ones i've seen that's y i said G.pulchra


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## Mushroom Spore (May 24, 2008)

presurcukr said:


> if it is G.rosea it is one of the darkest ones i've seen that's y i said G.pulchra


The lighting is bad (especially on the stairs), like I said. That will make ANY spider look black. Pause it around :21 when it's on the guy's face, you can see the brown shade a bit. Especially the legs.

My rosea looks the same color in dim light, I don't know why that's weird.


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## dantediss (May 24, 2008)

its a g.rosea  in the begining of home alone it shows kevin and all their cousins in kevins brothers room looking at it....  better lighting and you get a decent close up shot .. def a lovely rosey


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## B-fish (May 24, 2008)

definetly not a G.rosea i know in the beginning of the movie when they show the T escaping from its cage it is a G.rosea but that wasn't one. I can't beleive how they treated that tarantula, picking it up like its a piece of shit and then putting it on the guy, then the guy screams when the T is right by his mouth then he throws it, terrible.


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## saminthemiddle (May 24, 2008)

What are you talking about B-Fish? Everything I saw in that clip was safe T handling procedure. Except for putting the T on the guys face which is pretty risky.

You DO know Hollywood takes really good care of their Ts right?


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## Aschamne (May 24, 2008)

If you look at the bottom of the spider as he's going toward the guy, the abdomen is orange which says A. seemani to me.

Art

Reactions: Like 1


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## Zoltan (May 24, 2008)

My bet is rosea too. If it'd be semanni I think the white stripes on its legs would be visible when it's seen from above.


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## Mikey71_DK (May 24, 2008)

Thinks it's a Grammastola allright...A G. aureostriata


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## GailC (May 24, 2008)

I say semanni too. I did some screen shots and then edited them in paint shop, the orange belly was clear, as were the leg stripes.


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## B-fish (May 24, 2008)

when the little boy picked it up that definetly wasn't safe handling, then when it was on the guys face and he picks it up and throws it that is just uncalled for, A.seemani when he throws it you see the underside of the T and it looks just like an A.seemani


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## Zoltan (May 24, 2008)

Well, the T wasn't harmed so I wouldn't worry about, B-fish.


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## B-fish (May 24, 2008)

how do you know it wasn't harmed, you can't say that for sure.


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## beanb142002 (May 24, 2008)

I read somewhere where they did not insert the scream audio until after the scene was shot.

It looked to good of  a spider to be G. Rosea.

But if it is G. Rosea, it must have been a rare phase.


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## radicaldementia (May 24, 2008)

It definitely doesn't look like a rosea, you can clearly see the abdomen is a bright orange compared to the rest of the body, plus the legs look to have stripes.

Also remember, they could have used two different T's in the different scenes of the movie, or maybe even in the same scene  :wall: 

here's some color enhanced screenshots that may help


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## dtknow (May 24, 2008)

radicalmentia is probably correct on the use of multiple tarantulas. Even dog movies are known to use multiple dogs to play the key character who knows infinitely more stunts than a single dog could ever be taught.


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## Mushroom Spore (May 24, 2008)

B-fish said:


> how do you know it wasn't harmed, you can't say that for sure.


As silly and off-topic as this argument is, I'm sure it can be solved by just having someone check the credits for Ye Olde "No Animals Were Harmed In The Making Of This Picture" Disclaimere.


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## willyomt (May 24, 2008)

*Home Alone T*

I remember thinking when I watched this movie in the theater when it first came out, that the spider looked an awful lot like a B. albopilosum.  It looked too dark to be a rose hair.

       Apparently, I'm the only one who thinks so?????????


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## B-fish (May 24, 2008)

do you mean your the only one thinks its to dark to be a chili rose, same here it iwas way way to dark to be a rose hair!! I wasn't trying to start an agurement


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## hairmetalspider (May 25, 2008)

B-fish said:


> when the little boy picked it up that definetly wasn't safe handling, then when it was on the guys face and he picks it up and throws it that is just uncalled for, A.seemani when he throws it you see the underside of the T and it looks just like an A.seemani


I'm probably one of the most defensive people as far as animal rights go, but you do realize movies have special effects right? They go through and cut,clip, edit the movie. Which VERY well may mean, and probable is wih animal cruelty laws, that the "tarantula" that was thrown off wasn't real and edited in.

They can do some amazing things in the cutting room.


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## Ace_Man (May 25, 2008)

It's not illegal to kill a tarantula in a movie. In the scorpion king, they actually were stepping on them and it was real. They figure it's just a 'bug' an not an 'animal'.


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## saminthemiddle (May 25, 2008)

you're wrong there Ace_Man, the studios practically have to account for the fleas on the dog's back. As for spiders, they very much have to account for them.


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## Olan (May 25, 2008)

I remember after seeing the movie in the theaters I was absolutely convinced it was a A. seemani.


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## WyvernsLair (May 25, 2008)

i see the "thrown" spider as being an A. seemani.  orange abdomen and noticable leg stripes. Now the spider on the stairs could have been something else. too dark to tell.


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## kupo969 (May 25, 2008)

Look closer when it's on the stairs. I has stripes on it's knees.


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## beanb142002 (May 25, 2008)

By the way, I read some where that Macaulay Culkin did not pick up the spider.  Another kid stood in for him.


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## fartkowski (May 25, 2008)

Not too sure what type of T it was, but when Marv screamed, it was my favorite part of the movie


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## Roy1982 (Mar 5, 2016)

It is a *Costa Rican zebra tarantula*, also known as the *striped-knee tarantula* (_Aphonopelma seemanni_).

Source #1 : http://homealone.wikia.com/wiki/Tarantula
Source #2 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphonopelma_seemanni


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## Yorkshire (Dec 23, 2017)

Just watched this Christmas classic today with my kids. In my mind this was always a B. Hamori, probably because of the power of Hollywood and it being their standard 'go to' T species. 

Obviously A. seemani now I know other species of T are available...


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## Draketeeth (Dec 23, 2017)

beanb142002 said:


> I read somewhere where they did not insert the scream audio until after the scene was shot.


I'd heard that too. They tried the scream while it was on his face, but the spider crunched up terrified, so they had to wait until it calmed down again, and inserted the scream after shooting.


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