# Heteropoda davidbowie info?



## Ryuti (May 22, 2016)

I've been looking at this species for my first non-native true but i'm having a lot of trouble coming up with a lot of information about it.

I've heard size ranges from 2.5-3 inches all the way to 9 (which i find kind of hard to believe in this case)

What size enclosures do they need, any specific humidity requirements?

Are they good eaters?


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## Venom1080 (May 23, 2016)

i made a thread identical to this a few months ago. i believe i named it H. davidbowie care or heteropoda davidbowie care.


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## chanda (May 23, 2016)

I have a Malaysian Huntsman that was sold to me as _H. davidbowie_ (though I'll admit I have my doubts - it looks just like _Thelcticopis modesta _to me. I suspect the vendor may have been trying to capitalize on the David Bowie publicity and just calling all of his Malaysian huntsman spiders by that name.)

Mine is a mature female (unmated, but sitting on her second egg sac right now) and she has about a 4-5" leg span. I keep her in a front-opening Exo-Terra terrarium that's about 12x12x18, with coconut fiber substrate (to hold humidity - she's never actually down on the ground) and a couple of large angled cork slabs that she can climb on. I mist the enclosure every 2-3 days, plus we keep a humidifier running in our bug/reptile room at all times to compensate for our dry desert air. Room humidity is usually around 50%.

During the daytime, she spends all her time curled up at the top of the bark. At night she is active and prowling around the cage - as long as I don't get too close. She is not the most aggressive feeder that I have, preferring to wait until after the lights are out to eat, but she doesn't usually end up with cricket roommates, either, if you know what I mean.


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## nieksluys (May 23, 2016)

chanda said:


> I have a Malaysian Huntsman that was sold to me as _H. davidbowie_ (though I'll admit I have my doubts - it looks just like _Thelcticopis modesta _to me.


Heteropoda davidbowie was originally known as Thelcticopis modesta.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1 | Clarification Please 1


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## grimmjowls (May 23, 2016)

Venom1080 said:


> i made a thread identical to this a few months ago. i believe i named it H. davidbowie care or heteropoda davidbowie care.


Not exactly the title but here's the link, @Ryuti, I'm assuming Venom meant.

Reactions: Like 1 | Sad 1


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## Ryuti (May 23, 2016)

grimmjowls said:


> Not exactly the title but here's the link, @Ryuti, I'm assuming Venom meant.



Yep I was just looking at it a few minutes ago actually.


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## grimmjowls (May 23, 2016)

Ryuti said:


> Yep I was just looking at it a few minutes ago actually.


Whoops. Sorry, heh.

Reactions: Lollipop 1


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## Venom1080 (May 23, 2016)

oh yeah, i was pretty close..


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## chanda (May 23, 2016)

nieksluys said:


> Heteropoda davidbowie was originally known as Thelcticopis modesta.


Thanks. I had heard that from some people - but had heard from others that they were two different species. Do you know of any sources that cite the name change?


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## Rick McJimsey (May 23, 2016)

lol wasn't i the one who said "9"?

i literally just said a random number


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## Ryuti (May 23, 2016)

Rick McJimsey said:


> lol wasn't i the one who said "9"?
> 
> i literally just said a random number


yes shh lmao


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## nieksluys (May 24, 2016)

yeah, Peter jaeger revisioned it. in around 2007 i believe (around that time).
theres a scientific paper online regarding it, but Peter jaeger also has a facebookpage where someone asked him, and he explained why he renamed the species after the singer.

regards,

Niek


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## gunslinger (Jun 1, 2016)

I believe the paper in question may be: 
Revision of the huntsman spider genus Heteropoda Latreille 1804: species with exception male palpal conformations from southeast Asia and Australia. _Senckenbergiana biologica_, *88*: 239-310.


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## Philth (Jun 1, 2016)

_Thelcticopis modesta_ is still a valid species. The hobby was incorrectly using that name for the spider we now call _H. davidbowie_. That is why when you google _Thelcticopis modesta_, old pictures of_ H. davidbowie_ come up.  P. Jäger then described _H. davidbowie_ in 2008, but that has nothing to do with the spider described as _T. modesta_ in 1890. It was just a name importers picked out of a hat , like they often do. 

Later, Tom

Reactions: Informative 2


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## nieksluys (Jun 3, 2016)

Wow, thanks for that informastion Tom, didn't even know that, but makes sense, davidbowie looks nothing like some other  Thelcticopis species i've seen around.


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