P. subfusca: Habitat; Notes on "different" populations

Michael Jacobi

ARACHNOCULTURE MAGAZINE
Old Timer
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Mar 17, 2003
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938
I have received a number of inquiries regarding the supposedly "lowland" form of P. subfusca that recently entered the US trade. To view my thoughts on the subject, please read this post at my Arboreal Tarantula Forum. (Feel free to join the forum if you are not already a member. Note: Full real names are required as usernames and only discussion of tree-dwelling theraphosids is permitted).

All the best, Michael
 

david goldsboro

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
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Aug 25, 2005
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88
I have these so called lowland form and they are kept in warm humid conditions not like the common one i have had no problems at all with them i only keep them this way because the person who bred them here in the uk 3 females produced sacs when it was very warm (summer) so i continued to keep them the same i also have the common subfusca that looks totally differant in colour when you have both spiders side by side also the size of the lowland is bigger my adult female is the same size as my adult female p rufilatas i have sent 1 of these lowland females to Richard Gallon so he can compare them to the comon ones , i agree they should not be cross bred and they should stay laybled as lowland so they dont get mixed up and mess the blood lines up like p smithi and end up with hybrids , this is just my veiws on the subject i to would like to know how they came in to the hobby all i know that a guy called Peter Pastor was addvertissing slings from wild caught parents so he might be the peron to contact and find out how how got them thats where all the ones that entered the uk came from i also bought 3 more lowland slings from him a few months ago to introduce fresh blood in to my breeding stock
 

Michael Jacobi

ARACHNOCULTURE MAGAZINE
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 17, 2003
Messages
938
The comment on adult size is of greatest interest to me. The (museum) specimen originally called "P. bara", which is in fact Poecilotheria subfusca is, according to Andrew Smith, the largest specimen of Poecilotheria he has examined. He has told me that he believes that there was a disjunct population to the north (which included the bara specimen) that he feels is probably now extinct and may have included the largest of all Poecs. Of course, smaller size is also an adaptation to montane habitats, so one would expect the very dark population to be smaller in size and my females are about 6" in legspan.

I have a few specimens coming from the small number that Peter Pastor exported to the US. For the record, my information is that Peter did not breed them but someone else in Slovakia did. I will contact Peter directly to inquire.

Finally, just one comment on "warm, humid conditions". I don't really keep any tarantulas in an environment that I would describe as that. Without temperature and relative humidity values I am not sure what you are referring to (and since you live in the UK, I am sure your definition of warm and humid is different than that of someone like me who lives in the southeastern US!), but even those Poecilotheria that are truly lowland/warm climate species will do fine at moderate temperature (70-80F) and humidity (60-70%).
 
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