Venom1080
Arachnoemperor
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- Sep 24, 2015
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Poecilotheria identification
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mygale/26473424326/in/album-72157667172201195/
Poecilotheria can be a very confusing genus to properly identify to the new Pokie keeper. There are several species that will look very similar to others in the genus. Pictured above is all the species we have in the hobby. Missing is P rajaei. As we do not have the species and likely never will. Nor do we need it, however, with how poorly India treats its nature, some captive breeding would only help the species in the long run. Regardless, this is meant to be a quick guide to iding that random pokie you grabbed at the expo, better hope its immature or female, as mature males can be much harder. Although not impossible so long it’s pure and not a hybrid. This genus has many hybrids in the hobby, mostly due to its visually similar species and its popularity. Even worse, since many don’t know how to tell the genus apart, the problem only gets worse with time.
Hobby Poecilotheria can be separated into three distinct groups. I call them the regalis lookalikes, miranda lookalikes, and the outliers. The regalis lookalikes are composed of; regalis, fasiciata, smithi, hanumavilasumica, striata, vittata. Simply put, these are the species that will make even experienced pokie keepers look twice dorsally. Ventrally, they are pretty simple to tell apart from the others. Some are what we call sister species, basically meaning they look very similar to each other, and iding will be a little harder. The sister species in this group are fasciata and hanumavilasumica, and regalis and striata. For the former, a simple check of the first band on leg pair i will tell you quickly what youre looking at. Hanuma has a thick band while fasciata has a thin black band. Both have the characteristic yellow banding on the first two pairs of legs, and both share another unique visual characteristic. Both species have an orange tinge to most of their ventral side. Making separating the two from the other 12 even easier. Striata and regalis on the other hand, have very similar ventral banding, however, regalis has an obvious cream stripe across the first pair of book lungs and over the epigrastric furrow. Striata does not. Making this by far the easiest sister species in the genus to tell apart. Its worth mentioning rajaei also has this ventral band, but seeing its not in the hobby, it’s a nonissue. That’s four of the six in this group down. Vittata is another easy tell, it has no yellow on the ventral side yet retains much of the dorsal patterning of regalis. Last is smithi. Smithi is probably closest to vittata out of the bunch but has some pale yellow ventrally. It also has unique patterning on leg iv. Specifically, the femur, or first segment of the leg attached to the trochanter and coxa.. The patterning is very dark and the black banding, both in size and placement is unique among this group. Checking any ventral pic of an adult female will explain it better than I can.
The miranda lookalikes. This is a small group comprised of three species. Miranda, tigrinawesseli, and formosa. Miranda has a obvious difference from the other two on the dorsal patterning on leg i. known in the hobby as simply “white knees”. There is a long stretch of white on the femur leading onto the tibia that tigrinawesseli and formosa don’t have. This makes dorsal iding a joke for those who are aware of this trick. Ventrally, miranda is also very different from the other two by having nearly completely black femurs on all four leg pairs. Tigrinawesseli and formosa are a little harder, having to look at leg banding alone as age plays a large difference in the carapace for both species. Aged females of both species exhibit a nearly completely black carapace. So, we must look to the ventral. Fortunately, these have a few easy differences. Tigrinawesseli have many differences from formosa. Leg pair iii and iv are the most obvious. I always id from the femur going out to the tarsus, as there are easy differences early on with this method. tigrina have black patterning ventrally where formosa do not on leg pair iv, and obviously thicker banding on leg iii. Also ventrally.
The third group I like to call the outliers, these are the species that are unique even among Poecilotheria, a genus highly praised for fascinating patterns and markings. They are rufilata, ornata, metallica, and subfusca Highland and Lowland. More on that last species later. Much more. Rufilata are my personal favorite tarantula species, they are extremely unique from the genus due to their giant size and green/brown color. They exhibit stunning patterns as well. Sizes of 10” are confirmed in captivity. Truly one of the largest spiders in our world. P. ornata is in a similar position. They are also very large, exceeding 8” pretty easily and likely maxing out around 8.5-9’. They have a similar dorsal look to the regalis lookalike group. And females will have a predominantly white and black pattern dorsally. But have a few key differences. Males are a dull green and have little to no carapace pattern, and females will have obviously reddish setae on the palps and are bigger. Males can actually be sexed pretty early on. At around 3-4”. Males will exhibit little to no carapace pattern and will be green. But female ornata begin showin their white/black adult colors by this stage. Along with some other easy dorsal differences any relatively experienced Pokie lover could spot immediately. Also worth mentioning some keepers can confuse rufilata and ornata when looking at some specimens dorsally. At a certain size, rufilata and male ornata exhibit much of the same colors and since the patterning is not set in clearly yet, they will appear to be one another. A simple trick for this is obviously checking the underside, and more importantly looking for blue. Rufilata will have blue on the pedipalps and leg pair I. its more obvious in younger specimens. Which thankfully are the only ones able to be confused with the other species. Metallica is blue. With older females turning a equally beautiful grey/black with only faint tinges of blue. There are reports from hobbyists who claim to have young females who darken early on and exhibit no color change with age. If true, this is quite rare and interesting, but unfortunately not a massive price changer. As all females look the same eventually. You wont find any “P. metallica black form” slings for sale except from the occasional scammer. This is a gorgeous species regardless of age. Subfusca Highland and Lowland are a unique case. and definitely the most difficult to tell apart from one another. Its best to have collection location info, but since most are captive bred, its best to just go along with the seller. First off, how to tell them from other Poecilotheria. Look at the carapace. Subfusca has a unique starburst pattern that no other species have. Some have a very dark carapace but usually have a lighter outline near the edges. They are very distinct spiders and once you’ve seen a couple youll be able to tell them from other species at a glance. Even at small sizes. (2”)
This concludes my quick rundown on identifying your Poecilotheria. Its certainly worth noting that these tricks are best for adult females, and the smaller the pokie, the harder it is to id properly. Of course, a easy way to do it most of the time is to look up a chart of all the species ventral sides and simply compare, this is just meant to help spread some knowledge. You might realize a lot of these tips are completely useless and ambiguous without pictures, and I agree, however you are not meant to use this guide as your only tool in Poecilotheria identification. This is merely a collection of random tips and facts about the genus ive collected over the last 6 years or so. I would love to revisit this thread one day and add picture examples to all these little facts and tips, but unfortunately my camera quality is not the best and I don’t own every species in the genus. I will try to add pics of some adult and subadult females from my collection. Happy keeping.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mygale/26473424326/in/album-72157667172201195/
Poecilotheria can be a very confusing genus to properly identify to the new Pokie keeper. There are several species that will look very similar to others in the genus. Pictured above is all the species we have in the hobby. Missing is P rajaei. As we do not have the species and likely never will. Nor do we need it, however, with how poorly India treats its nature, some captive breeding would only help the species in the long run. Regardless, this is meant to be a quick guide to iding that random pokie you grabbed at the expo, better hope its immature or female, as mature males can be much harder. Although not impossible so long it’s pure and not a hybrid. This genus has many hybrids in the hobby, mostly due to its visually similar species and its popularity. Even worse, since many don’t know how to tell the genus apart, the problem only gets worse with time.
Hobby Poecilotheria can be separated into three distinct groups. I call them the regalis lookalikes, miranda lookalikes, and the outliers. The regalis lookalikes are composed of; regalis, fasiciata, smithi, hanumavilasumica, striata, vittata. Simply put, these are the species that will make even experienced pokie keepers look twice dorsally. Ventrally, they are pretty simple to tell apart from the others. Some are what we call sister species, basically meaning they look very similar to each other, and iding will be a little harder. The sister species in this group are fasciata and hanumavilasumica, and regalis and striata. For the former, a simple check of the first band on leg pair i will tell you quickly what youre looking at. Hanuma has a thick band while fasciata has a thin black band. Both have the characteristic yellow banding on the first two pairs of legs, and both share another unique visual characteristic. Both species have an orange tinge to most of their ventral side. Making separating the two from the other 12 even easier. Striata and regalis on the other hand, have very similar ventral banding, however, regalis has an obvious cream stripe across the first pair of book lungs and over the epigrastric furrow. Striata does not. Making this by far the easiest sister species in the genus to tell apart. Its worth mentioning rajaei also has this ventral band, but seeing its not in the hobby, it’s a nonissue. That’s four of the six in this group down. Vittata is another easy tell, it has no yellow on the ventral side yet retains much of the dorsal patterning of regalis. Last is smithi. Smithi is probably closest to vittata out of the bunch but has some pale yellow ventrally. It also has unique patterning on leg iv. Specifically, the femur, or first segment of the leg attached to the trochanter and coxa.. The patterning is very dark and the black banding, both in size and placement is unique among this group. Checking any ventral pic of an adult female will explain it better than I can.
The miranda lookalikes. This is a small group comprised of three species. Miranda, tigrinawesseli, and formosa. Miranda has a obvious difference from the other two on the dorsal patterning on leg i. known in the hobby as simply “white knees”. There is a long stretch of white on the femur leading onto the tibia that tigrinawesseli and formosa don’t have. This makes dorsal iding a joke for those who are aware of this trick. Ventrally, miranda is also very different from the other two by having nearly completely black femurs on all four leg pairs. Tigrinawesseli and formosa are a little harder, having to look at leg banding alone as age plays a large difference in the carapace for both species. Aged females of both species exhibit a nearly completely black carapace. So, we must look to the ventral. Fortunately, these have a few easy differences. Tigrinawesseli have many differences from formosa. Leg pair iii and iv are the most obvious. I always id from the femur going out to the tarsus, as there are easy differences early on with this method. tigrina have black patterning ventrally where formosa do not on leg pair iv, and obviously thicker banding on leg iii. Also ventrally.
The third group I like to call the outliers, these are the species that are unique even among Poecilotheria, a genus highly praised for fascinating patterns and markings. They are rufilata, ornata, metallica, and subfusca Highland and Lowland. More on that last species later. Much more. Rufilata are my personal favorite tarantula species, they are extremely unique from the genus due to their giant size and green/brown color. They exhibit stunning patterns as well. Sizes of 10” are confirmed in captivity. Truly one of the largest spiders in our world. P. ornata is in a similar position. They are also very large, exceeding 8” pretty easily and likely maxing out around 8.5-9’. They have a similar dorsal look to the regalis lookalike group. And females will have a predominantly white and black pattern dorsally. But have a few key differences. Males are a dull green and have little to no carapace pattern, and females will have obviously reddish setae on the palps and are bigger. Males can actually be sexed pretty early on. At around 3-4”. Males will exhibit little to no carapace pattern and will be green. But female ornata begin showin their white/black adult colors by this stage. Along with some other easy dorsal differences any relatively experienced Pokie lover could spot immediately. Also worth mentioning some keepers can confuse rufilata and ornata when looking at some specimens dorsally. At a certain size, rufilata and male ornata exhibit much of the same colors and since the patterning is not set in clearly yet, they will appear to be one another. A simple trick for this is obviously checking the underside, and more importantly looking for blue. Rufilata will have blue on the pedipalps and leg pair I. its more obvious in younger specimens. Which thankfully are the only ones able to be confused with the other species. Metallica is blue. With older females turning a equally beautiful grey/black with only faint tinges of blue. There are reports from hobbyists who claim to have young females who darken early on and exhibit no color change with age. If true, this is quite rare and interesting, but unfortunately not a massive price changer. As all females look the same eventually. You wont find any “P. metallica black form” slings for sale except from the occasional scammer. This is a gorgeous species regardless of age. Subfusca Highland and Lowland are a unique case. and definitely the most difficult to tell apart from one another. Its best to have collection location info, but since most are captive bred, its best to just go along with the seller. First off, how to tell them from other Poecilotheria. Look at the carapace. Subfusca has a unique starburst pattern that no other species have. Some have a very dark carapace but usually have a lighter outline near the edges. They are very distinct spiders and once you’ve seen a couple youll be able to tell them from other species at a glance. Even at small sizes. (2”)
This concludes my quick rundown on identifying your Poecilotheria. Its certainly worth noting that these tricks are best for adult females, and the smaller the pokie, the harder it is to id properly. Of course, a easy way to do it most of the time is to look up a chart of all the species ventral sides and simply compare, this is just meant to help spread some knowledge. You might realize a lot of these tips are completely useless and ambiguous without pictures, and I agree, however you are not meant to use this guide as your only tool in Poecilotheria identification. This is merely a collection of random tips and facts about the genus ive collected over the last 6 years or so. I would love to revisit this thread one day and add picture examples to all these little facts and tips, but unfortunately my camera quality is not the best and I don’t own every species in the genus. I will try to add pics of some adult and subadult females from my collection. Happy keeping.
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Good luck .
