Genus Poecilotheria

[UrbanJungles]

That male rufilata is about to start a nationwide stud tour...you might have to get in line for him.

Talk about performance pressure!

 

[Fince]

1.0 Poecilotheria subfusca sub adult

closer

 

[syndicate]

That male rufilata is about to start a nationwide stud tour...you might have to get in line for him.

Talk about performance pressure!

haha nice man.well if hes still round after all that let me know.i have a male rufi here aswell just not mature yet.hopefully next couple molts tho

 

[Mr.K]

Some of mine
P.Fasciata

P.Ornata

P.Miranda

P.Regalis

P.Rufilata

P.Metallica

Regards

 

[GoTerps]

Young female P. subfusca.

Eric

 

[massmorels]

Young female P. subfusca.

Eric

Great looking female Eric! She looks well fed and loved..

 

[Morkelsker]

Manjula. My female juvenile P. Regalis

 

[budruC]

My new female, P. regalis:

 

[Talkenlate04]

Hey budruC can you get a ventral shot of your Regalis.
She must need a molt because something looks off to me.

 

[phormingochilus]

Interesting ;-) My oldest "highland form" (wc - I know the collector) has entirely black bums and are now close to the 20 cm. legspan. She occasionally dries out as well ... would that make her a "lowland form"? Even though she was collected at the highest "highland"? David - they say it's the same spider because it's the same species. And since subfusca is found on the entire central highland in Sri Lanka noone is doubting for a second that there are regional varieties (I have two entirely jet black specimens from the highland as well, and also some rather pale ones - but still subfusca, I can say the same for my wc metallica and formosa - they are all varying in colour) but the terms "highland" or "lowland" are meaningless as there are many places that could be termed "highland" as the central highland is just that - the central highland ... So what "lowland" are we talking about? Coastal plain lowland? Or foothills lowland - are we talking the northern, western, eastern or southern form? You see the term is entirely artificial. What are we going to do when another variety is found in another "lowland" area? Nice subfusca variety though ;-)

Regards
Søren

the highland have a tiger pattern on there bums where lowland go nearly all black and much larger than the highland form even the lowland males get big our largest was over 7 inch smallest 6.5 inch ,the one in the picture is 7 inch , mine and Davros p subfusca are from the same sacs , the female in the picture is over 7 inch for all the people who say these 2 forms are the same all i can say is your BLIND get some glasses LOL another thing do highland p subfusca produce sacs in warm temps at around 25-27 degrees i dont think so plus lowland form dont like the cold they thrive in warm conditions and even dont mind a dry spell i dont know why people are saying they are the same spider when they clearly dont look the same in colour & size & or behave the same ?

 

[butch4skin]

Interesting ;-) My oldest "highland form" (wc - I know the collector) has entirely black bums and are now close to the 20 cm. legspan. She occasionally dries out as well ... would that make her a "lowland form"? Even though she was collected at the highest "highland"? David - they say it's the same spider because it's the same species. And since subfusca is found on the entire central highland in Sri Lanka noone is doubting for a second that there are regional varieties (I have two entirely jet black specimens from the highland as well, and also some rather pale ones - but still subfusca, I can say the same for my wc metallica and formosa - they are all varying in colour) but the terms "highland" or "lowland" are meaningless as there are many places that could be termed "highland" as the central highland is just that - the central highland ... So what "lowland" are we talking about? Coastal plain lowland? Or foothills lowland - are we talking the northern, western, eastern or southern form? You see the term is entirely artificial. What are we going to do when another variety is found in another "lowland" area? Nice subfusca variety though ;-)

Regards
Søren

Phormingochilus, Do you believe that these all black spiders from the higher elevations will prove to be the same as P. uniformis? Do they attain larger sizes than typical subfusca from the higher elevations? Also, what areas(local names or general relative locations) consistantly produce the largest subfusca? Aside from nearly all black specimens, do you find that other subfusca from different regions retain the same color and patterns, or are there regional differences aside from size? Do regional size differences hold true in captivity under indentical growth conditions?

 

[davros]

Interesting ;-) My oldest "highland form" (wc - I know the collector) has entirely black bums and are now close to the 20 cm. legspan. She occasionally dries out as well ... would that make her a "lowland form"? Even though she was collected at the highest "highland"? David - they say it's the same spider because it's the same species. And since subfusca is found on the entire central highland in Sri Lanka noone is doubting for a second that there are regional varieties (I have two entirely jet black specimens from the highland as well, and also some rather pale ones - but still subfusca, I can say the same for my wc metallica and formosa - they are all varying in colour) but the terms "highland" or "lowland" are meaningless as there are many places that could be termed "highland" as the central highland is just that - the central highland ... So what "lowland" are we talking about? Coastal plain lowland? Or foothills lowland - are we talking the northern, western, eastern or southern form? You see the term is entirely artificial. What are we going to do when another variety is found in another "lowland" area? Nice subfusca variety though ;-)

Regards
Søren

Hi Soren,

There was never any question that these spiders are all subfusca, and like you state I have also seen wide varieties of colour within the different species of Poecilotheria. However, with these subfusca there needs to be some distinction made for the good of the actual spiders because of their husbandry requirements. Whether they are termed lowland/highland or dark/light whatever their requirements are different.

When I got my first communal batch of 10 of these "lowland" subfusca I kept them in conditions like those described by Michael Jacobi/Smith ie. cool with very high humidity, as you would with the typical "highland" form. However these subfusca simply burried under the peat and huddled together presumably for warmth? David Goldsborough got a similar batch at the same time but kept his much warmer and dryer than mine. His however, were thriving and out moulting mine by about three moults to one.

I now have three communal groups of these "lowland" subfusca that I now keep at about 78'F or above and they are also thriving as opposed to when I kept them at 70'F or below as described by Jacobi.

I also have a small number of the more typical "highland" form that I still keep cool and wet and they are growing and thriving at a similar rate to those I now keep warmer.

So from my experiences above I see a need to distinguish between the two groups for the sake of the spiders - because I am sure that single specimens of the lowland form would perish if kept under the cooler conditions.

Also speaking to Paul Towler and David who have bred these subfusca - the pre-breeding conditioning cooling period that Jacobi talks about in Arachnoculture is also totally wrong and possibly detrimental for this group of subfusca.

Best wishes Mal.

 

[david goldsboro]

Interesting ;-) My oldest "highland form" (wc - I know the collector) has entirely black bums and are now close to the 20 cm. legspan. She occasionally dries out as well ... would that make her a "lowland form"? Even though she was collected at the highest "highland"? David - they say it's the same spider because it's the same species. And since subfusca is found on the entire central highland in Sri Lanka noone is doubting for a second that there are regional varieties (I have two entirely jet black specimens from the highland as well, and also some rather pale ones - but still subfusca, I can say the same for my wc metallica and formosa - they are all varying in colour) but the terms "highland" or "lowland" are meaningless as there are many places that could be termed "highland" as the central highland is just that - the central highland ... So what "lowland" are we talking about? Coastal plain lowland? Or foothills lowland - are we talking the northern, western, eastern or southern form? You see the term is entirely artificial. What are we going to do when another variety is found in another "lowland" area? Nice subfusca variety though ;-)

Regards
Søren

hi soren

you say oldest female well all mine are young my oldest female is 3.6 years old my sub adults are 7 inch and about 14months old due to moult soon ? (i know collectors too )i did not say they are not subfusca i am trying to say they need to be kept apart so they dont get cross bred we already have hybrid pokies going around we dont want any more , i also have wc metallica they do differ in colour , i dont care what you call this form of subfusca as long as they are labled differant that is why peter pastor just added the lowland part to let people know they are a differant form if he had not done that they would have been cross bred to the common highland form , if its just the name thats bugging you well change it simple problem solved , do you agree they should not be crossed bred ?

 

[phormingochilus]

I agree that we should try to keep varieties apart. But I do not agree that if you cross them you will create hybrids - as this term is only used when crossing two species or genera ... ;-)

Regards
Søren

hi soren

you say oldest female well all mine are young my oldest female is 3.6 years old my sub adults are 7 inch and about 14months old due to moult soon ? (i know collectors too )i did not say they are not subfusca i am trying to say they need to be kept apart so they dont get cross bred we already have hybrid pokies going around we dont want any more , i also have wc metallica they do differ in colour , i dont care what you call this form of subfusca as long as they are labled differant that is why peter pastor just added the lowland part to let people know they are a differant form if he had not done that they would have been cross bred to the common highland form , if its just the name thats bugging you well change it simple problem solved , do you agree they should not be crossed bred ?

 

[Tunedbeat]

P.regalis

P.met #1

P.met #2

 

[Robert Seliger]

Poecilotheria rufilata - big female

Poecilotheria regalis - pregnant female

Poecilotheria fasciata - female with eggsac

Regards.
Robert

 

[johnjallorina]

here is my subfusca female she had eaten 2 blac criks and gained a tiny weight. now i see why some people prefers this than metalica. at good lighting you can see great purple highlights with those pretty dark shades of patterns! at what size are these breedable? she is 5.5-6 at the mo.

 

[massmorels]

6" P. formosa female

 

[Maikardaaion]

Poecilotheria metallica, female

 

[CFNSmok.PL]

Hello Szymon,

Pictures of your Metallica are excellent. How popular are they in Poland?
It looks like possible female. Pozdrowienia Swiateczne.

Smok.