Tarantulas With Several Common Names

[spookyvibes]

Hello guys, I'm going to do a speech tomorrow about why common names are practically useless, and I was wondering what species come to mind when you think of a species that has a lot of common names. I personally think of Aphonopelma seemanni. I've heard it referred to as Stripe-Leg, Stripe-Knee, Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula, Zebra Tarantula, Zebra-Knee, etc. I was wondering if you guys could think of other examples though. I'd really like to stress the point that common names can vary quite a bit, depending on the individual using it.

 

[lostbrane]

Well, maybe a bit of the opposite end but with rose hair referring to potentially 3 different species, I would imagine that'd qualify.

 

[spookyvibes]

Well, maybe a bit of the opposite end but with rose hair referring to potentially 3 different species, I would imagine that'd qualify.

Yeah, that’s definitely something I’m bringing up

 

[AngelDeVille]

Goliath birdeater, giant birdeater, etc..

 

[Sykomp]

I've seen too many times "Mexican red leg/knee tarantula" used to describe B. hamorii, B. emilia, B. auratum, B. boehmei... pretty much all Brachypelma that have red on their legs. Similarly "pink toe" might often be almost anything from the Avicularia genus.

 

[Theneil]

A Chalcodes has a few.

Arizona blonde
Desert blonde
i think i have heard tuscon blond?
and i feel like there are more.


I would also throw out that many different species have common names so similar that they can be easilly confused if somebody is not familiar with them: Red knee, red leg, flame knee, fireleg, and maybe an orange leg; i think there are at least 2 (fill in the blank) red rump Brachypelmas. Then there are the theraphosa which all have Goluath bird eater somewhere in theirs (not to be confused with the general term of bird eating spider being used to refer to tarantulas in general)

I would also mention that scientific names are GLOBALLY standardized and has no language/translation barriers, where as common names are language/region specific and generally invented on a whim by retailers.

 

[MintyWood826]

Anything with birdeater. That seems to get slapped on a lot on so many species!

Something that has potential to cause some confusion is that one seller says that tarantulas sold as 'birdeater' are generally among the more venomous tarantulas. All those NWs...

 

[Minty]

Poecilotheria metallica has three common names, from what I’ve read.

Edit:

“Gooty sapphire ornamental”, “Metallic blue ornamental” or “Gooty tarantula”,

https://www.theraphosidae.be/en/poecilotheria-metallica/

I’ve also seen it being called the Peacock tarantula.

 

[Greasylake]

This isn't one species with multiple common names but one name with multiple species: every pokie is an "ornamental," and just about every T that gets over 6 inches is a "birdeater."

 

[AngelDeVille]

Pokie

 

[Teal]

Pokie

That is like saying Brachy. I have never seen someone refer to a spider outside the given genus referred to as a Pokie, Brachy, etc.

 

[PidderPeets]

For some reason the "Brazilian red and white" and the "Brazilian whiteknee" really trip me up. On top of that, there's a bunch of species with "Brazilian" in their name. Brazilian whiteknee, Brazilian red and white, Brazilian black, Brazilian blue, Brazilian salmon pink birdeater, etc. And then people try to talk to me about tarantulas and they're like "Oh, I want this one species. I can't remember the name, but it's a Brazilian something" and I just have to look at them like with a poker face as I wait for them to find a picture on Google of the species they're talking about. And of course there's a bunch of "Mexican" something-or-other species too

 

[lostbrane]

I’ve also seen it being called the Peacock tarantula.

Peacock Parachute is what I have seen for these beyond the Gooty stuffs.

 

[KezyGLA]

Red rump
Pink bloom
Blue bloom
Purple bloom
Earth tiger

Yada yada

 

[Crone Returns]

Peruvian flame
baboon

I have gotten totally disliking common names. They're just plain evil.

 

[Theneil]

So on a tangent, i think it is kinda funny how common names TRY to be like scientific names sometimes.

Many genera have a consistant part of their common name throughout the genus and then a 'unique' part for each species. (Note that they are usually backwards)

Avicularia = ___________ Pinktoe
Theraphosa = ________ Goliath bird eater
Chilobrachys? = _________ Earthtiger
Ephebopus = ________ Skeleton

Its like the people making them know that scientific names are better but just don't want to admit it... LOL

 

[SonsofArachne]

B. emilia and B. boehmei - I've seen Fireleg, Flameleg, Redleg, and Bloodleg with emilia having "True" in front of any one of those names.

Baboon spider - every African species despite the fact they are not the same Genus - in fact there are several.

Pinktoes and Birdeaters for Avicularia (Avicularia is Latin meaning birdeater - in case anybody didn't know)

Skeleton leg, Stripeknee, and Zebra for both NW and OW species

 

[miamc12321]

Oooh, like all have said Brachy. The ones I mention are B hamorii and B smithi. One was considered the other until now a days. Other awesome examples were already mentioned. Just my two dollars.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

B. emilia - Mexican Red Leg/Mexican Painted Red Leg/Mexican True Red Leg

Birdeater - Basically any NW that gets over 6"

As a side note, if you want a really good example of why they're useless then "Red Rump" will do the trick, the following species have it in at least one of their common names:

Brachypelma vagans
Brachypelma albiceps
Brachypelma epicureanum
Brachypelma sabulosum
Grammostola iheringi
Grammostola actaeon
Thrixopelma ockerti
Thrixopelma cyaneolum

I'm sure there's more but those are the only ones I can think of right now.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Actually you can even invent those

Just add pink/blue/purple; Goliath; burgundy (rare but always a must); birdeater; striped/tiger etc

For Asians, before 'tiger' add always 'earth'

Please don't forget to mention the Goddess* - altough that's not a common name, we need to spread Her verb

*0.1 Pelinobius muticus PBUH (Peace Be Upon Her)