Please ID a mysterious Grammostola sp.

JohnxII · Jan 19, 2005

A local ex-keeper is calling it quits and selling all his T's in a reptile/invert shop. I noticed a not so attractive but somewhat rarer T and took it home. I've narrowed it down to 2 spp. But what do you guys think? I will reveal what the label says later. Thanks!

P.S. note the shape of the mirror patch
P.S.S. I'm aware of the soaking substrate, but that's only how it came when I took the shot

David Burns · Jan 20, 2005

Bachypelma albopilosum

FryLock · Jan 20, 2005

Maybe G.mollicoma (or what ever that one is now) but many be a few others too.

Fenris · Jan 20, 2005

David Burns said:
Bachypelma albopilosum

It's "hairs" do look rather curly to me too...

Letsgochopping · Jan 20, 2005

g aureostriata??

cdxrd · Jan 20, 2005

Letsgochopping said:
g aureostriata??

Doesnt have the right coloring or markings..

pitbulllady · Jan 20, 2005

Looks like a Brachypelma albopilosum to me. I'm not aware of any Grammostolas with curly hair.

pitbulllady

Greaper · Jan 20, 2005

ok. so there are curley hairs on it. But what you have forgotten is that Brachypelma dont have a mirror patch on the abdomen. Grammostola do, and the spider pictured resembles my G.grossa female. And yes, G.grossa has lots of curley hairs.

-Jamz

Greaper · Jan 20, 2005

also could be G.chalcothrix-pampas golden

WYSIWYG · Jan 20, 2005

I know it's impossible to tell from a photo, but I wandered over to Rick West's site and found a Grammastola that looks like it (though it's a male an the photo is further away, so you can't see how "furry" it is like you can with the photo in the thread).

http://birdspiders.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=photo.detail&imageid=15B04840KD0B7KAEC2K14163FA91350A2A7

Of course, it could be some other species that Rick just doesn't have on his site.
As for the mirror patch, I can think of at least 1 other genus that has that.

Either way, it's a pretty spider.

Wysi

Tangled WWWeb · Jan 20, 2005

pitbulllady said:
Looks like a Brachypelma albopilosum to me. I'm not aware of any Grammostolas with curly hair.

pitbulllady

*Let me first preface this by reiterating what has been said on this forum a thousand times over- It is basically impossible to positively ID a tarantula using a photo alone.

The important thing to look at is the mirror patch on the abdomen. That is not a feature usually associated with B. albopilosum, so I doubt it is that species.

There are Grammostolas with hair such as the one pictured. G. grossa looks similar as well as some specimens that I have seen labeled as G. mollicoma. I say this because in the past I have seen both in pics and in person, 2 distinctly different- looking spiders commonly labeled or mislabeled (whichever the case may be) as G. mollicoma. One of them looks similar to the photo above while the other appears IMHO to be of the G. actaeon/G. iheringi mold. I can't say whether these are actually 2 different forms of G. mollicoma or if they are 2 different species all together. I wish you luck in finding out the identity of your new pet.

John

JohnxII · Jan 21, 2005

From your opinions, I'm fairly certain that this one is indeed a G. grossa. It does resemble an adult female B. albopilosum in coloration, even the golden carapace hairs. Yet the leg hairs aren't as curly and the legs seems longer in proportion. Also the heart-shaped mirror patch is a strong indicator IMHO.

Therefore, I think I have good grounds to believe what the label says:

"<G.G> Brazilian Brown-red spider" (common name translated from Chinese)

Brown-red > Tawny red perhaps? And part of the Pampa does lie within Brazilian borders.

I know you can't really ID from a pic, but in my book it shall be known as a grossa for now. The 4.5-5" youngster is sitting on dryer peat at the moment, and will be transferred to its permanent enclosure shortly. Thank you guys!

Fince · Jan 21, 2005

JohnxII said:
A local ex-keeper is calling it quits and selling all his T's in a reptile/invert shop. I noticed a not so attractive but somewhat rarer T and took it home. I've narrowed it down to 2 spp. But what do you guys think? I will reveal what the label says later. Thanks!

P.S. note the shape of the mirror patch
P.S.S. I'm aware of the soaking substrate, but that's only how it came when I took the shot

The european dealers call this species to grossa and mollicoma (or an older name: pulchripes).

Fernando Perez Miles call this species as a Grammostola iheringi:
http://www.iibce.edu.uy/tarantulas/ingles/

You can recognize this big species easily from gray-green metallic prosoma and from "heartshaped"or "appleshaped" silver urticating hair patch on the opisthosoma.

http://www.biotropics.com/html/grammostola_grossa.html

http://www.tarantulas.ru/photo/Grammostola_grossa.htm

JohnxII · Jan 24, 2005

Fince said:
The european dealers call this species to grossa and mollicoma (or an older name: pulchripes).

Fernando Perez Miles call this species as a Grammostola iheringi:
http://www.iibce.edu.uy/tarantulas/ingles/

You can recognize this big species easily from gray-green metallic prosoma and from "heartshaped"or "appleshaped" silver urticating hair patch on the opisthosoma.

http://www.biotropics.com/html/grammostola_grossa.html

http://www.tarantulas.ru/photo/Grammostola_grossa.htm

Fince, thanks so much for the links! I know the 1st link but the 2nd and 3rd were really helpful. I'm convinced that the apple/heart shaped mirror patch would make it my potentially biggest Grammo! Yay!

Fince · Jan 24, 2005

JohnxII said:
Fince, thanks so much for the links! I know the 1st link but the 2nd and 3rd were really helpful. I'm convinced that the apple/heart shaped mirror patch would make it my potentially biggest Grammo! Yay!

You're very welcome. I'm happy if I could help for you.

morda · Jan 24, 2005

That's not B. albopilosum for sure. It has the "mirror" - just like all Grammostola sp.
Maybe a G. grossa?

It's a typical "popcorn" situation.

Please ID a mysterious Grammostola sp.

JohnxII

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