mexican T ID

[pandinus]

just caught two of these T's in cozumel mexico. I found a third, but had no container large enough to catch it in. i would put the two i have between 3-4" and the other about 4.5". the one that i couldnt get was massive!! probably between 8-10"!! i'm no good at guessing T's, the pics make it look black, but in real life, it is actually a dark blue on most of the body, with bright red hairs on the abdomen. any ideas?

John

 

[Elmolax]

Looks like an Aphonopelma anax to me, but im just a T beginner so... meh o._.O

 

[Randolph XX()]

u gotta be kidding me, 8"-10" mexican T?????

 

[Imegnixs_Cinder]

Other than the size, I would say if its from Mexico maybe a red rump? (B Vagans) but I aint ever heard of a Vagans growing to 10 inches before, but I spose there could be a first time for everything.

 

[metallica]

just caught two of these T's in cozumel mexico. I found a third, but had no container large enough to catch it in.

when you say caught... you mean just for the photo.....? i thought Mexico has it's borders closed for all animals?

 

[pandinus]

nope, i actually took them with me. i declared them at customs and everything. they are 100% legal.

 

[Ron_K]

Legality

Actually they are not legal. the Last I knew all the native taratulas of Mexico were on the cites list which makes them illegal to tranport/export out of mexico. Just because the customs officers were not aware of this and allowed you to take them into the country does not make it legal. I would be very careful, You never know who might take it into their head to report something like this.

Ron_K

 

[GoTerps]

the Last I knew all the native taratulas of Mexico were on the cites list

Not true, the Brachypelma are, but not all tarantulas in Mexico are on the CITES list. As far as exporting legality of the rest of the Mexican T's goes I have no clue, I'm just speaking about inclusion in CITES.

But of course that looks like it may very well be a Bracypelma... sooo

 

[FryLock]

This raise a good question how the hell can say a normal customs officer differentiate between say a non CITES Mexican Aphonopelma.sp and a fairly nondescript (or unknown) CITES Brachy.sp on the fly .

 

[Beccas_824]

I know its hard to get a porper ID form a picture-but that deosn't look like a B. vagans to me.
From my understanding, B. smithi was the only mexican T on the CITES list. (of course I could be wrong about this) Yeah, and the guy at the boarder probably just waved you through, because maybe he just didn't want to deal with T's or was about ready to get off shift or something.

 

[GoTerps]

From my understanding, B. smithi was the only mexican T on the CITES list. (of course I could be wrong about this)

No, that's not true.

The following comes directly from the CITES website:

Aphonopelma albiceps (Pocock, 1903)
Aphonopelma pallidum (Pickard-Cambridge, 1897)
Brachypelma annitha Tesmoingst, Cleton & Verdez, 1997
Brachypelma auratum Schmidt, 1992
Brachypelma baumgarteni Smith, 1993
Brachypelma boehmei Schmidt & Klaas, 1993
Brachypelma emilia (White, 1856)
Brachypelma epicureanum (Chamberlin, 1925)
Brachypelma hamorii Tesmoingst, Cleton & Verdez, 1997
Brachypelma klaasi (Schmidt & Krause, 1994)
Brachypelma ruhnaui (Schmidt, 1997)
Brachypelma schroederi Rudloff, 2003
Brachypelma smithi (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897)
Brachypelma vagans (Ausserer, 1875)
Brachypelma verdezi Schmidt, 2003

Those are exactly what's listed from Mexico in Appendix II.

You can visit the CITES site by clicking HERE

The page has a very useful search engine...you can limit your search by country and by taxa.

 

[Beccas_824]

Oh wow. I din't know that so many Brachys were listed. (hence thats why i added the 'I could be wrong' part) It just seems liek B. smithi is the one everyone talks about being on CITES all the time. Thanks for the link.

 

[GoTerps]

Oh wow. I din't know that so many Brachys were listed. (hence thats why i added the 'I could be wrong' part) It just seems liek B. smithi is the one everyone talks about being on CITES all the time. Thanks for the link.

Yeah, actually all the Brachypelma are listed... so there's even more than that... I was just limiting it to Mexico.

Your welcome for the link

 

[Wade]

The entire genus Brachpelma is listed under CITES, because it was feared that officials wouldn't be able to tell one from annother. B. smithi was the one they were mainly concerned with because it was being exported in huge numbers. Not sure why the Aphonopelma are there.

Your spiders are NOT legal, the fact that you got through only reflects the ignorance of the customs officials. I know professional entomologists who can't get permission to take things out of Mexico.

Under the Lacey Act, the USFWS could still sieze them from you if they found out you have them. Not sure you'd personally get into any trouble, since you apparently didn't know there was anything wrong, but Mexico is very, very stict about that stuff. Unless of course you bribed the right officials

Wade

 

[pandinus]

well, if they take them that is fine by me. I hate to see that happen, but if that's the case, then i should have never been allowed to have them in the first place. And may the record state that i am NOT a smuggler!! I did not try to sneak these past in anyway, and i was 100% honest at customs. in any case, are you all even sure it is a brachypelma at all? I would prefer if this thread stayed more on the subject of ID than on wether or not something is legal etc.


John

 

[bagheera]

It is whispered that ALL Brachypelmas and ALL Anophopelma from south o' the border will make it onto the CITES list.

We will have to make do with Florida Brachy's!


Oh, and I wouldn't count on a custom's officer to properly identify a carton of cigarettes marked, "cigarettes".

 

[Ice Cold Milk]

u gotta be kidding me, 8"-10" mexican T?????

When I was in mexico, I stayed for 2 weeks at a ranch that had a colony of several thousand A. chalcodes (or similar species). Surprisingly enough, there was the occasional female that we'd come across that was 7", and the locals reported seeing bigger. So I wouldn't be TOO skeptical!
-=Matt=-

 

[Mr Ed]

looks like a B. Vagans to me, oh and Pandinus next time you go pick one up for me LOL. I didn't realize that there were so many Brachys. I'm looking for a pic of Brachypelma verdezi now. Is there a common name for this sp.?

 

[Imegnixs_Cinder]

looks like a B. Vagans to me, oh and Pandinus next time you go pick one up for me LOL. I didn't realize that there were so many Brachys. I'm looking for a pic of Brachypelma verdezi now. Is there a common name for this sp.?

2003 Brachypelma sp. "pallidum" (pet trade name" often called "Mexican Rose Grey") Brachypelma verdezi Described by Dr. G. Schmidt
Info according to http://www.tarantulaspiders.com/pages/taxonomy.htm
For a pic of one see http://www.brachypelmas.co.uk/just brachypelma/gallery/images/verdezi/CL.htm or http://www.giantspiders.com/B_verdezi_male.html

 

[M.F.Bagaturov]

HEllo!

Just my two cents... first - this is not Brachypelma vagans at all...
As for limited primordial info of the photo it more looks like some Citharacanthus spp. to me by habitus and possible adult size refered, but only looking on the taxonomic feature You can confirm what it is or not...
All Brachypelma species must have featherlike hairs on trochanter and lower surface of femur of leg I.. check for this first. also look here for other Brachy info: http://www.tarantulas.tropica.ru/english/index2.php?link=brachypelma.html