# Help: Grammostola Pulchripes or Aphonopelma Seemanni?



## Chris_Skeleton (Feb 22, 2010)

I recently went to my lps and they had a tarantula in that I was told was a Costa Rican Striped Knee and they sold it to me for $19.99. So when I got home and started researching some info about it, I was reading about the spinnerettes being tan. And the ones on my spider are black with a tan line in the middle. It is also brown with more of a golden color to its stripes. All this led me to believe it was a chaco golden knee. So are my assumptions correct about a golden knee? What are distinguishing features between the two?


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## redrumpslump (Feb 22, 2010)

A pic would help


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## Steve Calceatum (Feb 22, 2010)

Does it look like this???


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## SpiderDane (Feb 22, 2010)

Here is a picture of my A. seemanni. A. seemanni have orange/tan spinners


(click to see bigger picture)


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## metallica (Feb 22, 2010)

nice pics of your A. sp "Guatemala". now all we need is a pic of A. seemanni.


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## SpiderDane (Feb 22, 2010)

metallica said:


> nice pics of your A. sp "Guatemala". now all we need is a pic of A. seemanni.


What makes you think it´s A. sp "Guatemala" 

The picture is pre-molt.


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## metallica (Feb 22, 2010)

the stripe pattern is diffrent. pre-molt or not.


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## SpiderDane (Feb 22, 2010)

metallica said:


> the stripe pattern is diffrent. pre-molt or not.


:wall: Your right. Sorry about that.


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## Chris_Skeleton (Feb 22, 2010)

xsyorra said:


> Does it look like this???


This is exactly what it looks like. I was just unsure about the stripe on the spinnerettes. I was told mine is a female and less than a year old. How fast do these grow because mineis already about 3-4"? Also is $19.99 a good deal? They told me they can order these "stripe knees" from their dealer so I was just wondering how much money they are losing.


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## Falk (Feb 22, 2010)

The blue form of _A. seemanni_ comes from Guatemala.


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## Mack&Cass (Feb 22, 2010)

I don't know if it's a good deal or not, but I can tell you that it's definitely way more than a year old if it's 3-4" You're looking at 3ish years probably, especially if it's female. They're slow growers.

Cass


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## satanslilhelper (Feb 22, 2010)

If it is a female then you got a good deal. They go for around $50 for that size.


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## Moltar (Feb 22, 2010)

The really obvious differences are yellow stripes vs white and that A seemani have orange/tan spinnerettes. "Stripe Knee" usually refers to A. seemani though. The common for G. pulchripes would be "Chaco Gold Knee/Stripe" or something similar. Also, a 4" specimen is more likely 2-3 years old, not 1. That would apply to either species.


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## gvfarns (Feb 22, 2010)

satanslilhelper said:


> If it is a female then you got a good deal. They go for around $50 for that size.


Or more.  But of course from a LPS there's no telling about their sexing.

Actually, 19.99 is a pretty great price for just about any T that's a decent size.  Certainly a female.    You sometimes find lower prices on certain species online but after you factor in shipping it's generally over that by a good margin.


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## rd_07 (Feb 22, 2010)

looks similar to what was sold to me as a.seemani (is it?)


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## metallica (Feb 22, 2010)

nope, not A. seemanni.


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## gvfarns (Feb 22, 2010)

metallica said:


> nope, not A. seemanni.


You seem to be very able (eager?) to exclude tarantulas from classification as seemanni.  Those both look like hobby seemanni's to me.  Can you be more specific, maybe post a picture or two, to illustrate why you believe these are not A seemanni?  There is enough variety in tarantula coloration that I would be very hesitant to exclude these guys based on the pictures shown here, particularly since seemanni has a couple of regional color forms.


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## Steve Calceatum (Feb 22, 2010)

Chris_Skeleton said:


> This is exactly what it looks like. I was just unsure about the stripe on the spinnerettes. I was told mine is a female and less than a year old. How fast do these grow because mineis already about 3-4"? Also is $19.99 a good deal? They told me they can order these "stripe knees" from their dealer so I was just wondering how much money they are losing.


My girl has a stripe on her spinnerettes. Regardless of the sex, $20 is a hell of a steal or a Chaco. I bought mine at a LPS as an "unsexed" (sexed by me at the shop) 3.5" juvie for $40. (Sex was later confirmed by molt...on Christmas day, no less!!! What a present!!! )


They are slow-growers, so you will have yours for quite some time. Enjoy!!! _G. pulchripes_ is an amazing species!!!! One of the few NW terrestrials I actually like.


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## Shell (Feb 22, 2010)

xsyorra said:


> My girl has a stripe on her spinnerettes. Regardless of the sex, $20 is a hell of a steal or a Chaco. I bought mine at a LPS as an "unsexed" (sexed by me at the shop) 3.5" juvie for $40. (Sex was later confirmed by molt...on Christmas day, no less!!! What a present!!! )
> 
> 
> They are slow-growers, so you will have yours for quite some time. Enjoy!!! _G. pulchripes_ is an amazing species!!!! One of the few NW terrestrials I actually like.


+1 to everything here! You got a hell of a deal. My G.pulchripes was my first T and my favorite of my entire collection, she is an awesome spider. As xsyorra said they grow slow, so you will have yours for quite awhile, enjoy, they are a great species.


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## Chris_Skeleton (Feb 23, 2010)

Now I just have to hope its not a male


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## metallica (Feb 23, 2010)

gvfarns said:


> You seem to be very able (eager?) to exclude tarantulas from classification as seemanni.  Those both look like hobby seemanni's to me.  Can you be more specific, maybe post a picture or two, to illustrate why you believe these are not A seemanni?  There is enough variety in tarantula coloration that I would be very hesitant to exclude these guys based on the pictures shown here, particularly since seemanni has a couple of regional color forms.


if it was just a colorform, then the stripe pattern would still be the same. this pattern is diffrent then that of A. seemanni.


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## Falk (Feb 23, 2010)

Looks like an _Eupalaestrus campestratus_


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## gvfarns (Feb 23, 2010)

metallica said:


> if it was just a colorform, then the stripe pattern would still be the same. this pattern is diffrent then that of A. seemanni.


Hmmm.  Doesn't sound persuasive to me.  The intensity and shape of the stripes may not vary noticeably between the brown and blue color forms, but they may between individuals.   And given that there are two known color forms over two territories, it seems likely that over other geographical ranges there would be slighter variation in things like intensity and size of the leg striping.  Is the particular pattern of the stripes part of the species definition?  

We know from experience that coloration is not at all a reliable species differentiator because these animals vary significantly across individuals and over time in their color. Thorax shape, eye placement, spermathacae shape, presence of certain types of hairs.  Those are examples of reliable indicators that are therefore included in species definition.  "Stripe pattern" seems to me an even less reliable classifier for seemanni than "orange spinnerets" is.

They don't really look like most other examples of seemanni I've seen, but I'm inclined to say we can't say with confidence that the two examples posted in this thread are not seemanni based on the pictures.


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## metallica (Feb 23, 2010)

in the original description paper, >>>here<<<, we can read:
"Protarsi I, II, III, IV with a single short, narrow, central, basal sandy line."

this lining is nicely illustrated by A. Smith in his book Tarantula Spiders
Tarantulas of the USA and Mexico. (page 143)


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## Chris_Skeleton (Feb 23, 2010)

Here are some pics of mine


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## gvfarns (Feb 23, 2010)

metallica said:


> in the original description paper, >>>here<<<, we can read:
> "Protarsi I, II, III, IV with a single short, narrow, central, basal sandy line."
> 
> this lining is nicely illustrated by A. Smith in his book Tarantula Spiders
> Tarantulas of the USA and Mexico. (page 143)


Well that's pretty good.  I guess I should take back my previous objections, at least as they stand. 

We should be clear, though, that it's really a current dichotomous key that's needed.  For example, if we accepted this description as a requirement for categorization of this species, we would exclude the blue color form, would we not?

Good researching, though.  I'm impressed.


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## Zoltan (Feb 23, 2010)

metallica said:


> in the original description paper, >>>here<<<, we can read:
> "Protarsi I, II, III, IV with a single short, narrow, central, basal sandy line."
> 
> this lining is nicely illustrated by A. Smith in his book Tarantula Spiders
> Tarantulas of the USA and Mexico. (page 143)


And the really nice figure here (fig. 1). BTW, "protarsus" is an alternative (and perhaps old) term for metatarsus (6th segment of the leg).


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## gvfarns (Feb 23, 2010)

Chris_Skeleton said:


> Here are some pics of mine


Def G pulchripes.  Congrats.  Probably a better starter tarantula anyway.  In my experience seemanni is much more skittish.


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## rd_07 (Feb 23, 2010)

Chris_Skeleton said:


> Here are some pics of mine


that's a chaco


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## Chris_Skeleton (Feb 23, 2010)

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/gallery/showimage.php?i=15863&c=9

Can someone please take a look at the pic I posted and let me know if it is a female or a male.


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## malevolentrobot (Feb 23, 2010)

Chris_Skeleton said:


> Here are some pics of mine


oh you lucky _lucky_ T owner...

i just bought a .5" sling at a lps for $15, after being told one around yours size would retail at $100+ in my area.

i wish any lps in my area would screw up like yours did.


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## whovian89 (Sep 6, 2017)

A. seemannis are not expensive. I purchased an adult female for $40 at the local reptile expo last month.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Walker253 (Sep 6, 2017)

I think they moved on...

I love my blue seemanni.


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