''Pamphobeteus vespertinus'' also known as the Ecuadorian red bloom tarantula is a
tarantula first described in 1889 in
Eugène Simon
Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history, describing over 4, ...
. They are found in the
arid areas of
Ecuador, and they are
terrestrial tarantulas.
Description
Females live a bit over 15 years, while males only live to 4.
Their body is mainly black, their
opisthosoma being covered in reddish hairs, and the
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 ...
having some red stripping. The legs are also black, under certain lighting conditions looking somewhat pink or purple.
Habitat
They are found in the
arid areas of
Ecuador, including the
Sangay National Park, where I will be referring to in this section. The temperatures of this area range from 6 to 24 °C with average yearly rainfall ranging from 500mm to 4000mm. The altitude of this area also owns a broad range, from 1000m, to 5000m
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 comb ...
. It is a natural refuge for many animals and plants, being home 3000 plant species, and around 500 species of vertebrates.
Behavior
This
tarantula is
terrestrial, and are highly irritable species. They are shy, thought they are also quite aggressive compared to other
New World tarantulas. They are slow
tarantulas, which would rather run than to fight, but if pressured they will throw
urticating hairs towards the attacker.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2580111
Theraphosidae
Spiders described in 1889
Spiders of South America