Remember these guys?

I wrote a month or two ago about the local tarantulas.

At the time I said there were two varieties indigenous to this area. Don’t ask me to be all that specific about the phylum, species, and all that. It’s been way too long since I had to even think about it. 

The nail in my Phylum, Species information came when an Asian coworker pointed out that many birds are called different species when only their plumage was a different color and perhaps beaks were slightly different.

My co worker went on to point out that the birds could in some cases cross mate and their diets were identical. This coworker made the same points about fish.

Then came the coup de gras. 

Why, my co worker asked, don’t we apply the same rules to people?

TILT! “Danger Will Robinson!, Danger!”, “Illogical, Illogical, Norman, please coordinate”

All That hard work, from Mrs Vincent, Mrs Sharp… Undone in a moment!

---

Anyhow… I managed to get a photo of the Blond Tarantula. So here is my matching set for your enjoyment.

The first little beastie, the Black Tarantula (Aphonopelma reversum) I photographed in late August.

The second beastie, the Blond Tarantula (Aphonopelma chalcodes). I photographed a couple of days ago.

As you can see they really do look quite a bit different.

My next door neighbor came and got me when they saw blondie hiking across the street. I took several pictures of the spider as he crossed my driveway. This one was also a lot more timid than the black tarantula.

I don’t think this guy was quite sexually mature, since he doesn’t have the “hooks” on his front legs. He’s also significantly smaller than the black tarantula in the photo to the left. You can’t really tell because there is no scale in the photos. Just take my word for it. That may have accounted for the timidness.

20 years here and I’d only seen one indigenous tarantula here. Now in one year I’ve seen both types. How cool is that?