Mexican Red Knee, Brachypelma smithi

From Exotic Pet Wiki Pedia

Common Names:

Mexican red knee, Red knee tarantula.

Scientific Name:

Brachypelma smithi (F.O.P - Cambridge, 1897)

Native to:

The central pacific coast of Mexico.

Habitat:

This spider's habitat is the scrub land of Mexico and the southern American states. It lives in burrows situated on dry plains.

Captive Care:

Link TBA

Protected Status:

This spider is covered by CITES (Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna) and appears on appendix II (2). Added in 1985 it is illegal to remove this species from the wild. This means that nearly all specimens are captive bred.

Description and other information:

A large and fairly docile species this spider is a popular pet. Not many of us could have avoided seeing this species, because of its prominence in the media. Black, and with bright dorsal orange/red bandings next to the intersegmental membrane of each leg, The colour is more prominant on the patella of the legs where it darkens to a deeper red in colour. The cephalothorax is beige/light brown colour, whilst the thorax is Black with long contrasting beige hairs. They do possess urticating hair types I - IV They defend themselves by releasing urticating hair into the air when disturbed.