Philippine Local Tarantulas

PHILIPPINE LOCAL TARANTULAS

If I'm not mistaken Kuya Kim / Kim Atienza once said that there is no tarantulas here at Philippines, Well I guess I would make you guys believe after reading this one!

There are two types of tarantulas in general, arboreal which stay of trees and terrestrial which dwells at ground.
Tarantula can be also classified as old world, they are biters as their self defense and the other one is the new world tarantula which are known to be flicker, they flick hairs on their abdomen causing itchiness in contact.

Philippines species are considered as Old world tarantulas they would bite if they feel threatened. Sad to say, tarantula hobbyist are confused on identifying our local species because they are really look alike.

Anyway, let's make this fast, here are the Phil species that I knew. Please forgive me if I can't provide pictures for all the species.

1. Phlogiellus baeri
2. Phlogiellus insularis
3. Phlogiellus mutus
4. Orphnaecus pillitus
5.  Selenobrachys philipinus
6. Selenobrachys samarae

Phlogiellus baeri or the P. baeri (Philippine Dwarf Tarantula) are found in Luzon area and can reach up to 2.5inches.

image taken from
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?188658-shandman-s-Tarantulas

 Phlogiellus mutus and Phlogiellus insularis are look alike of a P.baeri but this is found in Visayas and Mindanao area and a bit more bigger than a P. baeri. Thiese two specie are more brownish than the P.baeri too.

Possible a P. mutus or P. insularis. sorry I can't really ID this correctly.

Selenobrachys samarae or the samar cave tarantula are found on the cave of samar. this specie tends to be a semi arboreal tarantula, sometimes it dwells in ground sometimes on trees.

credits to Mr. arachboy for this photo

Selenobrachys philipinus or the Philippine Orange Tarantula, this specie is only found on Panay and Negros Island. IMO, this is the most beautiful tarantula that can be found at Philippines, this specie is known to be a burrower and a webber. This specie cost fairly expensive in abroad because this specie is hard to breed. I guess I've seen an ads selling a 1cm sling(spiderling) of this specie for 45USD.

image taken from:
http://scorpionforum.darkbb.com/t3575-selenobrachys-philippinus

Orphnaecus pillitus