After a rain, wild tarantulas come out to play!

[Lilac]

This guy was full of sass. He was nearly run over by my husband, but I got him out of our garage.

 

[Leila]

Nice! Do you know the species?

 

[Lilac]

Nice! Do you know the species?

A. hentzi are the typical species in our area (west Texas), but he looks like a B. vagans to me. I'm not an expert, though.

 

[Leila]

I don't believe he is a B. vagans. I might be mistaken, but I don't think Brachypelmas are found in Texas. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

That feisty T has some big hooks! Lol. Looks like he has been getting down and dirty trying to find a lover.

 

[Lilac]

I didn't think vagans lived up here, either. But he didn't look much like other pics of A. hentzi I've seen.

He's totally looking for love. I hope he finds it! We have so many cockroaches around here... I'd love it if he made babies to eat them all!!

I don't believe he is a B. vagans. I might be mistaken, but I don't think Brachypelmas are found in Texas. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

That feisty T has some big hooks! Lol. Looks like he has been getting down and dirty trying to find a lover.

 

[nicodimus22]

A lot of aphonopelma males turn black at maturity, so it's hard to say which species it is. (Hard for ME, anyway.)

 

[ErinM31]

I don't believe he is a B. vagans. I might be mistaken, but I don't think Brachypelmas are found in Texas. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

You are correct; the only genus of tarantulas native to the U.S. are of the Aphonopelma genus and to my knowledge, they are still the only ones found here.
There are five species found in Texas: A. hentzi (most widespread and a very underrated T), A. moderatum (found in the Rio Grande valley area), A. anax (largest T in the U.S. and found in the southern-most part of the state), A. armada (widespread but mostly found northeast of the Pecos river) and A. gabeli (western part of the state).

A lot of aphonopelma males turn black at maturity, so it's hard to say which species it is. (Hard for ME, anyway.)

Very true! Based on coloration and local, one could make a guess, but I think you could really only be sure with diagnostic measurements (as detailed in Hamilton et al. ZooKeys 2016).

 

[Lilac]

Thanks so much for y'alls thoughts! It's supposed to storm again this weekend, so I'll try to hunt for more. I didn't really have much interest in this genus till I moved down here, but they really are cool.

 

[Thelema777]

More reasons why i still lived in texas lol

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

I see from your profile you are in Midland. The only species of tarantula out there where the males are black is Aphonopelma gabeli. A very common species in those parts.

 

[Lilac]

I see from your profile you are in Midland. The only species of tarantula out there where the males are black is Aphonopelma gabeli. A very common species in those parts.

That's so neat. Thanks for the info!!