# Vietnam Bird Eater tarantula



## word (Sep 7, 2004)

got one of these at my local pet shop today.  the guy said he thought it was a female but who knows...  very fiesty, that's for sure!


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## word (Sep 7, 2004)

she's missing one of her spinnerets.  how big of a deal is that?  the other one seems to be working fine and she's already eating.


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## Joe1968 (Sep 7, 2004)

congrats, looks like a Haplopelma minax, i bought one last month, i luv this specie, very mean and agressive   i hate it when pet stores never agreed and a single common name, mine was labeled "Thailand black". other common name is asian bird eating spider.

if you have an H. minax be glad because it is quite rare in this hobby.


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## Mike H. (Sep 7, 2004)

Nice looking T. as far as the spinneret it should regenerate on the next molt...

Regards, Mike


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## word (Sep 7, 2004)

Joe1968 said:
			
		

> congrats, looks like a Haplopelma minax, i bought one last month, i luv this specie, very mean and agressive   i hate it when pet stores never agreed and a single common name, mine was labeled "Thailand black". other common name is asian bird eating spider.
> 
> if you have an H. minax be glad because it is quite rare in this hobby.


i think it's more likely an H. longipedum sp. than minax.  it's just not very black like a minax should be   they didn't know the scientific name at the shop    imagine that.  been awhile since i've seen a T. threat posture.  kinda fun


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## Joe1968 (Sep 7, 2004)

word said:
			
		

> i think it's more likely an H. longipedum sp. than minax.  it's just not very black like a minax should be   they didn't know the scientific name at the shop    imagine that.  been awhile since i've seen a T. threat posture.  kinda fun



you know what you may be right, i'm not 100% sure if i got a H.minax  :?  mine looks very similar to yours. anyways what ever specie you and i got, they seem very feisty and love to burrow. i'll attach more pics and compare it, to yours. 

the abdomen on mine is not completely black, it had some chevron markings, the abdomen has a tint of blueish color. carapace is larger than the abdoemn, comon on asian species.

thanks,
Joe


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## Lopez (Sep 7, 2004)

Neither of those spiders *look* to me like sp."longipedum"

IMO "longipedum" is normally easy to spot from sp."Vietnam", minax, or sp."aureopilosum".
Just check out Leg IV on this "longipedum".....much longer than Leg I and very stocky and bushy with it (cheers Soren for pointing this out in the flesh!)






















Volker kindly examined the exuvia of this spider for me and confirmed it is sp."longipedum"  - positive identification just from pictures is not really possible, particularly with Asian spiders!


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## word (Sep 7, 2004)

oops, i mis-typed.  i was thinking aueropilosum, not longipedum    who knows what it really is... maybe i'll see if i can find someone to send the exo to for a positive ID.


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## Lopez (Sep 7, 2004)

word said:
			
		

> oops, i mis-typed.  i was thinking aueropilosum, not longipedum    who knows what it really is... maybe i'll see if i can find someone to send the exo to for a positive ID.


Speaking of sp."aureopilosum" - how's this for a dark one?
Normally the outer edges of the legs are gold, but this just goes to show how unstable colouration is as an identification tool

Click thumbnails for larger pictures:



Both your spiders "look" like the Haplopelma species commonly imported from Vietnam.


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## David Burns (Sep 7, 2004)

That's just great, if we can't tell what species we have, I say you should just breed whatever Haplo male you have with whatever Haplo female you have. Somebody should release a taxanomic guide to diferentiate the species or there will just be H. lividums and Haplopelma genericus. I've already gone though this with Hystocrates. I give up, breed them all together!


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## JacenBeers (Sep 7, 2004)

Could it be Cyriopagopus paganus?


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## LPacker79 (Sep 7, 2004)

JacenBeers said:
			
		

> Could it be Cyriopagopus paganus?


Some people will tell you that C. paganus and Haplopelma sp. "longipedum" are one and the same. However, the original type specimen for C. paganus is missing and nobody really knows what it is.


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## Joe1968 (Sep 8, 2004)

David Burns said:
			
		

> That's just great, if we can't tell what species we have, I say you should just breed whatever Haplo male you have with whatever Haplo female you have. Somebody should release a taxanomic guide to diferentiate the species or there will just be H. lividums and Haplopelma genericus. I've already gone though this with Hystocrates. I give up, breed them all together!



i know whay ya mean, sometimes its get a little frustruating not knowing what specie you have.


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## Mattyb (Sep 8, 2004)

Beautiful Birdeater, looks like she needs to fatten up alittle though.



-Mattyb


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## Randolph XX() (Sep 8, 2004)

can it be H.shcmidti "dark morph?"


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## Vanan (Sep 8, 2004)

Looks just like my H. sp "vietnam". Although this is coming from an untrained eye.

Thanks for pointing out that about the "longepidum" Lopez!! Great info!


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## Martin H. (Sep 10, 2004)

Lopez said:
			
		

> Speaking of sp."aureopilosum" - how's this for a dark one?
> Normally the outer edges of the legs are gold, but this just goes to show how unstable colouration is as an identification tool


dito, see this one before and after a molt:









all the best,
Martin


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## spiderguy25827 (Mar 18, 2006)

*this spider*

hello i have the same exact tarantula but i do not know what it is mine is a female so is it a h minmax or longipidum i dont know but it is the same as the first couple of pics i would really like to know i was told that it is a viteman birdeater and i woul;d like to know what it is i do knopw this it is very mean and very fat


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## common spider (Mar 19, 2006)

All I know is from all the cool pics that I have seen I know I want one of each.


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## Wolfy72 (Mar 19, 2006)

There is a huge thread about this particular T on the boards here somewhere, it seems to be an ongoing controversy on the correct ID, so far as anyone has venture to guess it's been narrowed down to Haplopelma Sp. nothing further if im not mistaken. 
I cant exactly recall where the thread is located but i do believe Soulsick started the thread so ya may wanna search for it.... just thought i'd post and point ya's there maybe it will help


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## PeterKlaasi (Mar 19, 2006)

It looks like a chinese black tiger to me. Here are the links:

http://www.e-spiderworld.com/gallery/pages/Haplopelma sp Chinese Black Tiger.htm

http://www.e-spiderworld.com/gallery/index_15.htm


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## Scolopendra55 (Mar 19, 2006)

The genus Haplopelma is SO CONFUSING!!!!!


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## David Burns (Mar 19, 2006)

Yes the Haplopelma sp. is quite mixed up and you will rarely know what you have. But there are some some bright people working on the problem and 2 of these experts are going to be Keynote speakers at the ArachnoCon in San Antonio Texas on the 13-15 of july 2006.


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## masticore1984 (Mar 19, 2006)

the one in question looks like a H. longipes but from were you got it at i think it is a Haplopelma Sp."veitnam" those are my suggestions 
i've got 3 of these


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## phormingochilus (Mar 19, 2006)

@ Peterklaasi: "It looks like a chinese black tiger to me. Here are the links:"

& 

@ Randolph: "can it be H.shcmidti "dark morph?""

Do any of you see the prominent "sideburns" (relatively long white erect hairs along the outer edge of the cheliceral bases) that distinguishes the "schmidti group of Haplopelma?

I don't

I go with Martin H. and Leon: For me it cannot be H. longipes nor O. aureotibialis due to the features mentioned and demonstrated by the two. To my eye it looks like the Haplopelma species commonly imported from Vietnam, in the hobby as H. sp. "Vietnam" allegedly and possibly a synonym for a regional colour variety of H. minax.

To place a spider in the correct genus is hard enough - to define it as a definite species is very very difficult and almost impossible from a picture alone, though you can go along way with locality data and overall morphology ... and many years of specialised experience ...

Regards
Søren


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## PeterKlaasi (Mar 20, 2006)

isn't vietnam bordering china ? It's not like T's need passports do they ?


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## phormingochilus (Mar 20, 2006)

Off course they don't need passport and of course they don't respect man made borders, but there are definite morphologic differences between the spider in question and the "schmidti" group (distributed in Vietnam as well). One such stable morphologic character is the morphology of the retrolateral scopula of the cheliceral bases = commonly known as the "side-burns", "moustache" etc. a character which can be distinguished immediatly and without microscope, and which the spider in question do not posses to the degree found in the "schmidti" group. Thus it cannot be H. schmidti, H. huwenum, H. hainanum or any of the other species in the "schmidti" group within Haplopelma. On the contrary it do share many overall morphological characteristics of the "minax" group, but not the ones associated with H. lividum, H.longipes (both have longer and ore robust leg IV than leg I. H. longipes has very well-developed metatarsal scopula on leg IV) or H. albostriatum (prominent white lines on the extremeties). Thus the locality and the morphology suggest what we in the hobby know as Haplopelma sp. "Vietnam" and which some has suggested to be merely a geographic colour variety of H. minax.

Hope this elucidated more than it obscured

Very Best Regards
Søren



			
				PeterKlaasi said:
			
		

> isn't vietnam bordering china ? It's not like T's need passports do they ?


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## Lopez (Mar 20, 2006)

PeterKlaasi said:
			
		

> isn't vietnam bordering china ? It's not like T's need passports do they ?


Soren did not rule out your suggestion because of geography, he ruled it out using physical characteristics.

The spider referred to as "Chinese Black Tiger" has a prominent cheliceral beard - the spider we are debating the ID of does not....


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## phormingochilus (Mar 20, 2006)

One second too slow on the reply buttom Leon ;-) 

See you at the BTS ;-)

Regards
Søren


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## MindUtopia (Mar 20, 2006)

PeterKlaasi said:
			
		

> isn't vietnam bordering china ? It's not like T's need passports do they ?


One of the downfalls of trying to ID by pics alone.  You can get a good idea with many species but in genuses like this one and Avicularia it's just a guess in the dark in the absence of distinct morphologic characteristics (which often just narrow the list without pointing to a distinct concrete answer).


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## GailC (Mar 20, 2006)

I just got the same kind of T myself nasty little thing she is and already down a hole. Very cool spider and my first old world species.


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## phormingochilus (Mar 21, 2006)

With the difference that with the "minax" group and "schmidti" group within the genus Haplopelma as it stands today, we have stable and good characters for most described species (and all of the material from the former Siam) ;-)

So not just a guess in the dark with this one ;-)

Regards
Søren




			
				MindUtopia said:
			
		

> One of the downfalls of trying to ID by pics alone.  You can get a good idea with many species but in genuses like this one and Avicularia it's just a guess in the dark in the absence of distinct morphologic characteristics (which often just narrow the list without pointing to a distinct concrete answer).


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## MindUtopia (Mar 21, 2006)

phormingochilus said:
			
		

> To place a spider in the correct genus is hard enough - to define it as a definite species is very very difficult and almost impossible from a picture alone, though you can go along way with locality data and overall morphology ... and many years of specialised experience ...


Hmmm, that's not what you said above.  I was agreeing with you, but now you seem to be contradicting yourself.


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## phormingochilus (Mar 21, 2006)

On which point(s) if I may ask? ;-)

Regards
Søren



			
				MindUtopia said:
			
		

> Hmmm, that's not what you said above.  I was agreeing with you, but now you seem to be contradicting yourself.


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## spiderguy25827 (Mar 21, 2006)

*viteman birdeater*

hello my name is eric i have one if these t i have been told it isd a longipidum but i am not to sure so can some help me please :?


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## FOX (Mar 22, 2006)

Now then, i think this may solve my problem, i have one of these nasty little fellows, i have just put a thread on about him, the difference is mine is very black but still has grey chevrons, so mine could be a minix eh? Mine was titled ''selenocosmia, vietman black.
I will post pics as i've got to sort this one out, its driving me crazy. Jay x


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## smof (Mar 22, 2006)

Lopez said:
			
		

> Soren did not rule out your suggestion because of geography, he ruled it out using physical characteristics.
> 
> The spider referred to as "Chinese Black Tiger" has a prominent cheliceral beard - the spider we are debating the ID of does not....


That spider is awesome!


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