# Rattlesnake Tarantula



## opticle (Aug 1, 2010)

Let's hope this species can start in the hobby soon, recently found in 
Australia.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99NpCPjtJ78


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## J.huff23 (Aug 1, 2010)

I've seen that video before. Its always awesome to watch! But I think that a lot of Australian Ts do this, not just this certain T.


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## kru008 (Aug 1, 2010)

pretty much most of the larger ts do this. And that is one pissed off t!! LOL!!


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## syndicate (Aug 1, 2010)

Gotta love that Aussie spider attitude haha!I will say tho that most of my Australian tarantulas are pretty laid back.Much rather run and hide then start a fight!Would be really cool to raise some of these up!
-Chris


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## Falk (Aug 1, 2010)

What genus is that? just got a stupid common name that says nothing.


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## syndicate (Aug 1, 2010)

Prob Phlogius or something of the sorts heh


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## pede2 (Aug 1, 2010)

woah, thats awesome! one pretty mad T!


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## Falk (Aug 1, 2010)

syndicate said:


> Prob Phlogius or something of the sorts heh


I was thinking of _Selenocosmia_ but you are probably right


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## syndicate (Aug 1, 2010)

Junior synonym of _Selenocosmia_ ;]


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## Falk (Aug 1, 2010)

syndicate said:


> Junior synonym of _Selenocosmia_ ;]


Yes it is:wall:


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## Philth (Aug 1, 2010)

I keep alot of Aussie's and I have not yet heard one of them rattle, bark, whistle, hiss, fart or produce any sound yet.  Im not saying they wont, as none of mine have reached full size yet.  Most of mine dart down there hole as soon as I get close to them as Chris mentioned.

This rattlesnake one is bad ass, Id love to raise some, although why would it mimic a rattlesnake when rattle snakes are not found in Australia ?  Prob just a coincidence that they sound alike:?

Later, Tom


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## Miss Bianca (Aug 1, 2010)

Some form of hissing eh?


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## syndicate (Aug 1, 2010)

LOL!I've heard plenty of tarantulas stridulate here when threatened but never like that spider in the video.I'm guessing its not really trying to imitate anything but more or so has some rather special spines located on the stridulating organs.Also seems like this species has a serious attitude problem but I bet even these spiders will be more calm once there settled in with a burrow.
-Chris


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## Protectyaaaneck (Aug 1, 2010)

I guess she doesn't like the tweezers.


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## AussieT (Aug 2, 2010)

Its belongs to the Selenotholus genus (per Ravens up coming description). And we are just starting to get these guys going in the Aussie hobby at the moment. Steve Nunn should be exporting these guys soon I should imagine. The Rattlesnake sound is only found in this genus, however whilst nearly all genus' will stridulate (Phlogius, Selenotholus, Coremiocnemis and Selenotypus), all produce a different sound when they do so. Once they reach adulthood, your once placid little juvies will want to eat your face as we have witnessed over here in Oz with our adults.


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## Steve Nunn (Aug 31, 2010)

Hi,
This is perhaps one of the most interesting spiders from the entire Selenocosmiinae. It does not fit ANY known Australian genus, it is not closest related to other Australian genera, but nearer related to other Selenocosmiinae (can't elaborate for now) not found anywhere near Australia. The name is actually quite descriptive, when you hear one of these things stridulate it is ridiculous, the sound of a rattlesnake, hence the name. I think the name very appropriate actually, but common names, well, yeah, how good is any common name. It's no overestimation of the sound either, it's remarkable. If you haven't listened to that video, I'd suggest you do so, it's very interesting, no other tarantula is as noisy as this species. Further, they stridulate at any given opportunity. Where other species hardly ever make an aubible sound, this species is the opposite. I think a guy called Jason made that video, not sure, but that is the new species and the common name is more apt than some common names 

They are smallish, but absolutely unique on many levels. From a taxonomic aspect, they are more than just fascinating, they are a key group to better understand selenocosmiine biogeography. Dr Raven will be covering these eventually, there is more than one species known to him from this group.

But whatever you do, don't write these off as just another little brown jobbie


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## groovyspider (Aug 31, 2010)

awww i was all excited to see a T with a cute little rattle snake tail lol,
man that thing was stridulating like crazy ive never had mine that p'o. also if you listen closly you can hear him blowing like on the T and as said in tkg Ts take that as an predator investigating per say and well i guess that little guy didnt know what flight was so he was trying to fight. man i would hate for that to get ahold of me :razz:


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## Dal (Aug 31, 2010)

cool sound lol


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## gargoyl52 (Aug 31, 2010)

That is so amazingly cool.  I would definatly get some of those.  Havnt dove intto the aussie Ts as of yet put plan to soon.


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## Moltar (Aug 31, 2010)

I absolutely love these little guys (from what I've read, anyway). I hope they can make their way somehow (legally) into the US hobby. Australian export laws being what they are I won't be holding my breath though.


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## jbm150 (Aug 31, 2010)

How big do they max out at?  It's fascinating that they don't appear to have any close relatives in Australia.  Keep us updated, Aussie Ts are so interesting.  Little brown jobbie or not


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## Mamisha-X (Aug 31, 2010)

Protectyaaaneck said:


> I guess she doesn't like the tweezers.


I would have to agree 100% on that haha :}


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## pato_chacoana (Aug 31, 2010)

very cool stridulation !! steve, do they make it louder than _Theraphosa_ species? anyway, it's true that they make a unique kind of stridulation... haven't heard anything quite like it!

cheers,
pato


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## Steve Nunn (Sep 1, 2010)

Hi guys,
I think the biggest one found to date is only about 3.5" or so, quite small. The sound is LOUD. @ Pato, I'm not sure if it would be as loud as T.blondi, but I suspect so. The stridulating hiss is at least twice to three times as loud as the Aussie stridulators (among the most developed/large stridulating organs in Selenocosmiinae), and some of those are fairly ready to make the sounds when provoked.

Maybe one day they will be exported, but it will depend on Australia's ever tightening hold on exports, and if I could CB the group to 2nd gen. in time. Laws in Australia will be changing shortly. That's a LOT of if's, I only have one specimen myself at present, most were sold into the hobby before I knew they had hit the market over here, so I never had the chance to buy a breeding group from the suppliers.  From what I understand, the guys who sold them kept enough themselves to plan to CB these for the Aussie hobby. Maybe one day, but I can't see I'll get hold of enough to CB to 2nd gen. any time soon 

As for exports, I have one immediate export planned for Denmark/France/Germany, but that is private to a group of friends (not a reseller deal), I'm not sure if any of those guys will be selling any of the animals. After that, I seriously doubt I will export the Aussie spiders again, the permits are costly and the sales are just not stable enough to sustain the costs of maintaining the state and federal permits. This last permit application was difficult to say the least (export permits must be renewed every 6 months), I won't go into the complications here, but I don't plan on going through that again.

So, I'd really, really, really suggest anybody who has any Australian T's from my old exports band together to try and preserve them in the international hobby  I'm sure the Phlogius specimens will be fine, but the Selenotypus may be  LOT harder to breed, once those ones reach maturity. 

Steve


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## zonbonzovi (Sep 1, 2010)

Steve Nunn said:


> I seriously doubt I will export the Aussie spiders again, the permits are costly and the sales are just not stable enough to sustain the costs of maintaining the state and federal permits. This last permit application was difficult to say the least (export permits must be renewed every 6 months), I won't go into the complications here, but I don't plan on going through that again.
> 
> So, I'd really, really, really suggest anybody who has any Australian T's from my old exports band together to try and preserve them in the international hobby  I'm sure the Phlogius specimens will be fine, but the Selenotypus may be  LOT harder to breed, once those ones reach maturity.
> 
> Steve


Sorry, just figured this needed emphasis.  Wanted to thank you, as well, for going through the work that you did to provide these to the hobby outside of Oz.  I'm pretty new to Phlogius but they really are quite fascinating and underrated.  It's too bad that they are commonly seen as "just another brown tarantula".  Coolest slings I've raised yet.


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## dactylus (Feb 15, 2012)

Steve,

Can you tell us if this genus/species has been officially described yet?  Very interesting group of "yet to be described" genera.

Thank you.







Steve Nunn said:


> Hi,
> This is perhaps one of the most interesting spiders from the entire Selenocosmiinae. It does not fit ANY known Australian genus, it is not closest related to other Australian genera, but nearer related to other Selenocosmiinae (can't elaborate for now) not found anywhere near Australia. The name is actually quite descriptive, when you hear one of these things stridulate it is ridiculous, the sound of a rattlesnake, hence the name. I think the name very appropriate actually, but common names, well, yeah, how good is any common name. It's no overestimation of the sound either, it's remarkable. If you haven't listened to that video, I'd suggest you do so, it's very interesting, no other tarantula is as noisy as this species. Further, they stridulate at any given opportunity. Where other species hardly ever make an aubible sound, this species is the opposite. I think a guy called Jason made that video, not sure, but that is the new species and the common name is more apt than some common names
> 
> They are smallish, but absolutely unique on many levels. From a taxonomic aspect, they are more than just fascinating, they are a key group to better understand selenocosmiine biogeography. Dr Raven will be covering these eventually, there is more than one species known to him from this group.
> ...


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## zonbonzovi (Feb 15, 2012)

^After having searched about for an answer to that very question recently, it seems that Dr. Raven is still working on it.  Haven't even found an abstract.  Steve or the Queensland Museum may have more details, though.


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## Zoltan (Feb 15, 2012)

dactylus said:


> Steve,
> 
> Can you tell us if this genus/species has been officially described yet?  Very interesting group of "yet to be described" genera.
> 
> Thank you.


Not published yet as far as I'm aware.


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## GxTx (Feb 15, 2012)

Wow, that video was great, ive heard an OBT hiss, but thats something else right there hahaha.


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