# Is There a WHITE Tarantula?



## VoodooFuneral (Jun 3, 2005)

Years ago, I was watching a nature program with a crew in a rainforest (I don't remember where), doing research. At one point, and at the time, to my horror, one of the guys was playfully placing on the back of one of his sleeping buddies,  a hand-sized, very fuzzy (like "Tick" the A. versicolor on Phong's Tarantulas website...but very white in color. Looking back, he was beautiful. I'd like to find out what he was, but at the time, I was intensely arachnophobic and I think I flipped the channel until that part was over.
He was probably an arboreal species (the crew's makeshift lab was a jungle treehouse. I remember that he bobbed along slowly and deliberately, like the Avicularia.

Please help! I want a big, fuzzy, white T of my very own! Please? I promise I'll feed him and take him for walks every day! (Then I will hug him, and squeeze him, and name him George).


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## cryptly (Jun 3, 2005)

Could it be Psalmopoeus pulcher? 

http://www.birdspiders.com/archive/15B03B46KD0B7KAEC2K147957DDFBC41F54.html


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## Blasphemy (Jun 3, 2005)

I have never seen a pure white tarantula, but when I read this I thought of N. chromatus because of it's really brilliant white carapace


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## DR zuum (Jun 3, 2005)

I've read a lot of posts on this subject it seems to pop up from time to time,as far as i know as ive never seen one.But i havent seen everything so who knows?I've often thought it might be possible through selective breeding using maybe H.Maculata or S.Calceatum,ive seen some very white looking specimens of these with subdued markings.Maybe selecting only the most white slings with subdued pattern and breeding them,then doing the same with thier offspring once again selecting the whitest with least markings.Maybe in several generations of doing this you might get your white T.Someone put up a pic of a very whitish looking one here somewhere i think it was in germany.But until you create one i leave you with my original post on the subject.



"It was late in the am,on a cold winters night,
when from my slumber,a noise awoke me with a 
fright.I staggered from my bed my senses dulled,
but this was no surpriser,for earlier that night 
Id killed a fifth of jaegermeister"

"I groped for the light but no illlumination was
found,for the raging storm had blown a power line
down.Again i heard the noise that from my sleep i
was woke.What could it be?To make such racket soar?
I retrieved a flashlight and headed for the door"

As i entered the hallway,i saw the T room door ajar,
had some unknown culprit come to rob my collection,
from afar?I went into the room my gnarled fists balled
rock tight,if there was someone stealing,he was in for 
a fight.But to my relief the window was open from the 
storm.My anger died as quickly as it was born."

"I drew the window closed,as a chill blew up my shorts,
had to keep my T's warm,they were my best cohorts.But
then again a noise,reached unto my ears,from the kitchen 
it came,and thus renewed my fears.So out i went and 
down the hallway stalked,and into my kitchen i now 
had walked."

"I played the light beam around,from the flashlight in
my hand,trying to catch a sight where the beam would 
land,then on the wall,it caught my sight,like the 
holy grail,it sat there shining bright.A tarantula, 
its species i could not equate,but it had the legspan 
of a dinner plate,no markings were on it as pristine
as it could get,sat a pure white tarantula,an albino
heavensent."

"I stood there with my jaw,slack as a pole axed horse,
could my touch with sanity have finally run its course?
I felt like i was Ahab finding his moby dick,i began to 
egde closer to insure it wasnt a simple refraction trick.
YES! It was real, a true albino T,upon my kitchen wall 
waiting there for me,hee hee.Dollar signs through my 
head began to skip and flutter,for a T like this id have 
hung my own brother."

"What should i buy first the hummer or the boat,id 
be sitting pretty,i began to gloat.For soon id 
have it in my hand,the proverbial golden goose,the 
key to supply and demand,ha ha turn me loose.Then to 
my dismay a glint caught my drunken stare,there was a
metal lid on the counter lying there.And as my dreams 
faded,of fame,fortune,power,and then turned lemon sour,
For it was not a true albino,A Pokie'd got in the 
flour."




FINI

Reactions: Funny 1


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## VoodooFuneral (Jun 3, 2005)

cryptly said:
			
		

> Could it be Psalmopoeus pulcher?
> 
> http://www.birdspiders.com/archive/15B03B46KD0B7KAEC2K147957DDFBC41F54.html


That's the closest I've seen. Good possibility. Are they bred in captivity?

~Brenna


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## cryptly (Jun 3, 2005)

VoodooFuneral said:
			
		

> That's the closest I've seen. Good possibility. Are they bred in captivity?
> 
> ~Brenna


Yep.      Seen CB slings on dealer's pages many times.    

It is a very pretty tarantula. . .makes me want to get into arboreals.   :drool:


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## VoodooFuneral (Jun 3, 2005)

But what is this guy? 

http://www.birdspiders.com/archive/15B01FACKD0B7KAEC2K1441B3663F4D6C7D.html


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## VoodooFuneral (Jun 3, 2005)

Nevermind, that one looks different in other photos.


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## tkn0spdr (Jun 3, 2005)

How about A metallica? They are fairly white looking.

Here's a nice example. But only in certain light.


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## moricollins (Jun 3, 2005)

as far as "white" sp. there are Xenethis sp white (or weiss) and Metriopelma sp white, there are pictures of both available on this site, just do a search.


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## Mattyb (Jun 3, 2005)

cryptly said:
			
		

> Could it be Psalmopoeus pulcher?
> 
> http://www.birdspiders.com/archive/15B03B46KD0B7KAEC2K147957DDFBC41F54.html



Yeah thats the first T that i thought of.



-Mattyb


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## P.P.'s Mom (Jun 4, 2005)

There's this guy over in the Tarantula Pictures threads:
Augacephalus junodi

under "MY PICTURE THREAD" by bugsnstuff


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## Dragoon (Jun 4, 2005)

Ummm..
why has no one mentioned the H. maculata?
Some individuals are truly white or off white, and not just washed out looking in the right sort of photo. 
The Nhandu vulpinus is a very light colored animal too, but its cinnamon looking. 
Cheers
D.


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## Randolph XX() (Jun 4, 2005)

there was a white C.schoiedeti that Martin Hubber posted ages ago from  a German Magzine cover
can Martin or any body post that again?


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## Lorgakor (Jun 4, 2005)

Dragoon said:
			
		

> Ummm..
> why has no one mentioned the H. maculata?
> Some individuals are truly white or off white, and not just washed out looking in the right sort of photo.
> The Nhandu vulpinus is a very light colored animal too, but its cinnamon looking.
> ...


Yeah, _H. maculata_ can be very white. But she said it was fuzzy. I don't know what it is, but it sounds very neat!


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## Greg Wolfe (Jun 4, 2005)

*Fuzzy white aboreal...*

A fuzzy white aboreal... man, I would kill for something like that. I have yet to see one with that appearance. There are some rare species out there.
My first thought was Xenesthis sp. (white) too.


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## Randolph XX() (Jun 4, 2005)

Greg Wolfe said:
			
		

> A fuzzy white aboreal... man, I would kill for something like that. I have yet to see one with that appearance. There are some rare species out there.
> My first thought was Xenesthis sp. (white) too.


sp white is not fully white.....it's sprinkle white when  matured


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## Morbus ascendit (Jun 4, 2005)

Hello!



			
				Randolph XX() said:
			
		

> there was a white C.schoiedeti that Martin Hubber posted ages ago from a German Magzine cover
> can Martin or any body post that again?


I guess it was this one:
http://www.dearge.de/arachne/img/cover_2003_05.jpg

The article related to the picture reads:
"Unusual color variations at nymphs of Cyriopagopus schiodtei (THORELL, 1890)"

Regards,
Uwe


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## Cerbera (Jun 4, 2005)

VoodooFuneral said:
			
		

> I promise I'll feed him and take him for walks every day! (Then I will hug him, and squeeze him, and name him George).


Well - if the spider you are describing is what I think it is, then you can put him back in the tank, and take yourself to hospital before the heart tremors start  Hug this, or even handle it, and you are asking for trouble.

Sounds like it could be a Heteroscodra Maculata, Togo Starburst to me - often called 'ghost' tarantulas. They are extremely fast, very aggressive, and not at all suitable for the inexperienced. But astonishingly beautiful, and I will look after one myself as soon as I feel I am ready - which isn't yet...


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## rastro111 (Jun 4, 2005)

there is also the strong posibility that it is a species that is either undiscovered or not in the pet trade (since it was in the rain forest and all)


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## CedrikG (Jun 4, 2005)

my first tought was H. maculata and was surprise to see it was long to be mentioned


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## VoodooFuneral (Jun 4, 2005)

http://arachnomania.net/pictures/truefeatherleg01.jpg

Featherleg (Stromatopelma calceata) 

I don't think it was an H. maculata. The temperment of the T I saw was extremely calm and slow. Even with the man picking him up, cup style, from the top, and placing him on his friend's back, the T just kept bobbing slowly along, completely unaffected by all the attention.  :? 

Who knows more about the Featherleg?

~Brenna


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## CedrikG (Jun 4, 2005)

the s. Calceata is about the same temperement of the maculata, wich is extremly nervous and or defensive


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## VoodooFuneral (Jun 5, 2005)

Oh great...another mission for a "Holy Grail".    Reminds me of when I was hunting for the rare (and ex$pen$ive) pure black Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta).
I'll keep looking....sho 'nuff.  :wall:


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