''Harpactira pulchripes'', also known as the golden blue-legged baboon spider, is a bright yellow bodied and metallic blue legged

tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

found in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It was first described by

Reginald Innes Pocock Reginald Innes Pocock F.R.S. (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist. Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edward ...

in 1901. It is a very highly desired

in the European and American tarantula keeping hobby. Its

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''pulchripes'' is derived from Latin "''pulchri''" meaning beautiful, and "''pes''" meaning feet, forming the name beautiful feet.

Description

''Harpactira pulchripes'' has metallic blue legs. This blue color follows from the tarsus all the way to the trochanter, where it changes to a vivid orange or yellow. Its

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...

is orange or yellow with some black patterning which is the same with the

opisthosoma The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma (cephalothorax). It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs and others). Although it is similar in most respects to a ...

. There exist

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, as the males have longer legs and females have duller colors, females reaching a maximum diagonal leg span of 14 cm while males reach 10 cm. Females live to around 12 years, while males only live to 2 to 3. This

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

has medically significant

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

, though there is not much information about the strength of the

Habitat

This tarantula is found in

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

, now known as Makhanda, where its mainly

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

with average temperatures of 25 °C, an average yearly rain fall of 628 mm, and an average

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

of 77%, with the average

height above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The com ...

being 580m.

Behavior

This

is a

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

old world The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

, with medically significant

. Though being part of the ''

Harpactirinae The Harpactirinae (commonly called baboon spiders) are a subfamily of tarantulas which are native to the continent of Africa. Like many Old World tarantulas, they have a relatively strong venom, and can inflict a painful bite. Description Harp ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

, known for being aggressive, and overall mean, though this

is the exception, they have a noticeably more relaxed temper than other in its

. They are incredibly fast, though this

would be skittish rather than defensive, which is odd considering their medically significantly

. Going in favor of their calm demeanor, is how they display pretty commonly in their

web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

, making them great for a first

References

Endemic fauna of South Africa Theraphosidae Spiders of South Africa Spiders described in 1901 {{Theraphosidae-stub