T blondi or T sp burgundy

Does any one have any explaination for the 2 species or are they the same? I know this has been talked about before, but I have bought both and cant tell the difference just by looking????? Are the collection areas the same, or doesnt any one really know ???? Are the colors different as adults I have bought young females so none are big enough. All help is appreciated. Plus there are alot of adults coming into the states at this time, is anyone take note of where they are coming from ????????? Thanks Bryon Thornton

The problem is that the rumored third species of Theraphosa has been imported for a few years now and most did not see the difference. I didn't even notice until a few comments were made a number of months ago. After that I took a closer look at the specimens in my collection and talked with other collectors and researchers. The picture below shows the three species side by side. The easiest way to tell is by looking at the knees. The T. sp. (from Guyana) is on the left and lacks the "hairy" knees. There are a few other morphological differences, but I'm going to keep those to myself until the paper is released. All that follows is now a summary of what you can find elsewhere. T. blondi is in the middle and T. apophysis is on the right. The confusion comes in the form of our names for these species. The Guyana spiders have been referred to as T. blondi, but a few years ago some were "hatched" and the pink tarsi were seen. Males lack spurs, slings have pink tarsi, suddenly we have a new name. The pink tarsi are not taxonomically significant, so many, including myself at one point, were skeptical about this "new" species. Most the goliaths in collections are the T. sp. More confusion/problems come with the new name and the slings looking like another spider. Most people have T. sp labeled as T. blondi in their collections. If I sell my pink tarsi T. blondi as T. sp., then people will want the "new" spider and of course not breed it with their T. blondi. The whole while not realizing they are the same species from Guyana. Now if I sell it as T. blondi, I may be in error as well since some of us still have the "real" T. blondi which is a very different looking spider. More confusion comes from the slings. I have acquired a number of Theraphosa over the last 8 months. Many were purchased as T. blondi and T. apophysis only to arrive as overpriced T. sp. Oops. I am under the impression that most of these mistakes were honest mistakes due to the confusion in this genus. So in short, T. sp. "burgundy" appears to be the most common Theraphosa sp. in the hobby (based on pictures and imports that I've seen). Perhaps some of the difficulties identifying Theraphosa apophysis, and some of the difficulties in breeding T. blondi come from this mistaken identity.

There is rumored to be a paper in the works that will clarify this issue. It appears that the general mindset is changing and many see three Theraphosa species. There are definitely three different looking spiders pictured below. Hope this helps.

Jmugleston said:

The problem is that the rumored third species of Theraphosa has been imported for a few years now and most did not see the difference. I didn't even notice until a few comments were made a number of months ago. After that I took a closer look at the specimens in my collection and talked with other collectors and researchers. The picture below shows the three species side by side. The easiest way to tell is by looking at the knees. The T. sp. (from Guyana) is on the left and lacks the "hairy" knees. There are a few other morphological differences, but I'm going to keep those to myself until the paper is released. All that follows is now a summary of what you can find elsewhere. T. blondi is in the middle and T. apophysis is on the right. The confusion comes in the form of our names for these species. The Guyana spiders have been referred to as T. blondi, but a few years ago some were "hatched" and the pink tarsi were seen. Males lack spurs, slings have pink tarsi, suddenly we have a new name. The pink tarsi are not taxonomically significant, so many, including myself at one point, were skeptical about this "new" species. Most the goliaths in collections are the T. sp. More confusion/problems come with the new name and the slings looking like another spider. Most people have T. sp labeled as T. blondi in their collections. If I sell my pink tarsi T. blondi as T. sp., then people will want the "new" spider and of course not breed it with their T. blondi. The whole while not realizing they are the same species from Guyana. Now if I sell it as T. blondi, I may be in error as well since some of us still have the "real" T. blondi which is a very different looking spider. More confusion comes from the slings. I have acquired a number of Theraphosa over the last 8 months. Many were purchased as T. blondi and T. apophysis only to arrive as overpriced T. sp. Oops. I am under the impression that most of these mistakes were honest mistakes due to the confusion in this genus. So in short, T. sp. "burgundy" appears to be the most common Theraphosa sp. in the hobby (based on pictures and imports that I've seen). Perhaps some of the difficulties identifying Theraphosa apophysis, and some of the difficulties in breeding T. blondi come from this mistaken identity.

Click to expand...

Amen!
Later,Tom

This is one of the reasons the world of tarantulas amaze so much! I can't wait to see this paper, gonna be some good reading!