What happened to Haplopelma minax?

[Case]

Has there been a debate or change with respect to the classification of Haplopelma minax?
I have read in plenty of places that it is a common species in the hobby, but nobody seems to have them for sale, or if they do, they are not listed as such.
However, I've noticed that a lot of sites have things like "Haplopelma spp., Chinese Black Earth Tiger."
Is this the same spider, and they are just no longer sure what to call it because of a debate about taxonomy? Or has H. minax just gotten hard to come by for some reason?

Just curious.

Case

 

[bodisky]

Case,
H. minax is one of my all time favs. If I remember correctly, there was a reclassification a couple of years ago but that went back to H. minax. I believe the dealers had them classified as H.aureopilosum at that time of confusion. Dont quote me though. I just remember that because I was searching for some H. minax couldnt find it then read somewhere (I cant remember where) that they were reclassified. At any rate I understand them to still be H. minax. Common name Thailand black. Common names are confusing to me as Thailand black is sometimes just called Haplopelma spp. by dealers. As for where to purchase them I had seen some at John Hokes site and on Swiftys site I think. As for the earth tiger I heard it was changed from Selenocosmia huwena to Ornithoctonus huwena. Hummm....
Kerry
P.S. I am sure some H. minax will show up at the ATS conference!

 

[conipto]

I think part of the reason you don't see them on lists anymore, is that dealers have become more educated on just what a Haplopelma minax is. It is a solid black tarantula, with no other real coloration other than a slight green tint fresh after a molt. For some time, Haplopelma sp. "aureopilosum" and Haplopelma sp. "longipedum", as well as some forms of Haplopelma Schmidti were mislabeled as being Haplopelma minax. The real H. minax has become less common in the pet-trade, and a good number of people are finding out that what they thought was their H. minax were in fact Haplopelma sp. "aureopilosum". If you do a search on this board for aureopilosum or longipedum you should be able to easily find a few threads explaining the differences between them.

Bill