P. metallica dark form??

[Venom1080]

does it exist? i joined the tarantulasforum today and noticed some people talking about it. looked up some pics and they look really cool. is this posibly a thing? if so, the T. psychedelicus might be dethroned from the top of my wishlist..

 

[Flexzone]

does it exist? i joined the tarantulasforum today and noticed some people talking about it. looked up some pics and they look really cool. is this posibly a thing? if so, the T. psychedelicus might be dethroned from the top of my wishlist..

I may be wrong but black form P. metallicas are just old individuals, as they apparently darken with age.

 

[Poec54]

I may be wrong but black form P. metallicas are just old individuals, as they apparently darken with age.

Correct, black metallica are older individuals. There is a blue/grey form of metallica, also a blackish form of striata and a whitish form of formosa.

 

[Pociemon]

does it exist? i joined the tarantulasforum today and noticed some people talking about it. looked up some pics and they look really cool. is this posibly a thing? if so, the T. psychedelicus might be dethroned from the top of my wishlist..

This discussion comes up regularly here in Europe aswell, but it should by now be clear for all that they are older individuals as already stated.

 

[Storm76]

Correct, black metallica are older individuals. There is a blue/grey form of metallica, also a blackish form of striata and a whitish form of formosa.

Agreed. Short addendum though: A few over here have some that are just 3-4 years old and show these darker colorations, too. I don't know if it's a mutation or something, but some suspect it a result of generations of inbreeding, while others say it's a mood of nature simply.

 

[viper69]

while others say it's a mood of nature simply

Clarify please??

 

[Storm76]

Clarify please??

In other words: Color pigments missing / turned dark, blackish.

 

[viper69]

In other words: Color pigments missing / turned dark, blackish.

So in areas where an expected, ie normal, color was missing, those regions were black/dark?

 

[Storm76]

So in areas where an expected, ie normal, color was missing, those regions were black/dark?

You know how the general metallica looks and how the "dark form" looks like. That's all I was referring to. Regions that are usually brighter are very dark, up to being black really.

 

[Vanessa]

There were some people saying that they found the dark form in sacs with the regular form. They were showing their darker colouring before aging. Can it not be that they show up naturally in addition to getting darker with age?
I fell in love with them as well, but I have a bit of an obsession with black spiders.

 

[Pociemon]

There were some people saying that they found the dark form in sacs with the regular form. They were showing their darker colouring before aging. Can it not be that they show up naturally in addition to getting darker with age?
I fell in love with them as well, but I have a bit of an obsession with black spiders.

it is used as a salestrick some places, to get more money from them. I have had sacs from several different metallicas and there is no such black metallicas. It is when they get older it will come, and it will not show on every old metallica. Another difference that is real is between adult males and females, the males are very blue, more than the females.

 

[advan]

Where's Tom?

@Philth

 

[14pokies]

I have personally seen a smokey gray and jet black metallica that was reported to be that color its whole life..

The guy that had it said he got it when it was around 2 1/2- 3 inches.. From what I remeber he paid about 4 times what a normal P.met would go for back then and was told that it came from a black form to black form breeding..

I saw it when it was in the 4-5in range so I can't say for sure if his story is true..

It was jet black though not that faded blue grayish black that some P.mets get with age and appeared relatively small to be just an old dark specimen..

I think it's possible but I also think bigfoot is possible so my opinion isn't worth much..

 

[Philth]

Where's Tom?

@Philth

I can't believe this is still a thing lol....

The guy that had it said he got it when it was around 2 1/2- 3 inches.. From what I remeber he paid about 4 times what a normal P.met would go for back then and was told that it came from a black form to black form breeding..

Please let this sucka know I have the first U.S. hatched Poecilotheria chaojii if he wants some, they're 4 times the price of some P. tigrinawesseli that I just hatched

Later, Tom

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

In other words: Color pigments missing / turned dark, blackish.

Except the blue and yellow coloration in P. metallica is caused by the structure of the setae causing reflection of blue and yellow light respectivley and not pigment. Taking that into consideration, in the black P. Metallica the blue setae would have changed structure to absorb all light. I'm not sure if the yellow turns darker in black P. metallica but if it does at east you know why. It makes sense then that the color would change over the course of several molts and why we never hear of any born that way.

 

[Toxoderidae]

I can't believe this is still a thing lol....



Please let this sucka know I have the first U.S. hatched Poecilotheria chaojii if he wants some, they're 4 times the price of some P. tigrinawesseli that I just hatched

Later, Tom

What's a P. chaojii?

 

[Storm76]

What's a P. chaojii?

All I could find: CLICKY