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Taxonomy
Aphonopelma seemanni (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897)
EOL Text
Distribucion en Costa Rica: La especie es muy frecuente en la zona del Pacífico seco del país.
Distribucion General: Centroamérica
Los especímenes adultos presentan dos lineas longitudinales de pelos blancuzcos en todas las patelas y tibias de las patas. Además, la forma del bulbo copulador y la presencia de numerosos dentículos en la porción distal del mismo permiten confirmar la identificación.
Localidad del tipo: Puerto Culebra, Costa Rica
Depositario del tipo: British Museum Natural History
Recolector del tipo:
Las hembras frecuentan agujeros en el suelo, en potreros o en zonas abiertas cerca de las casas.
Esta araña mantiene patrones de actividad diaria, aunque es un organismo principalmente nocturno. Se mantiene activa durante todo el año y no presenta ninguna etapa inactiva bajo tierra. (Herrero, 1983)
Los machos deambulan una vez al año, alrededor de julio y agosto.
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The Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula, also known as the Striped-knee Tarantula (Aphonopelma seemanni), inhabits most of western Costa Rica, as well as other parts of Central America, such as Honduras and Nicaragua, and possibly Guatemala. It is usually black with white stripes near the joint, however a brown color formation also exists for the spider.
Zebra tarantulas are deep-burrowing spiders. They live in open semi-arid scrublands, and are often found in large aggregations. The deep burrows keep the temperature below the highest daytime temperatures, and retain humidity. Conversely as temperatures drop at night, the burrows buffer away from the lowest temperatures.
Zebra tarantulas can grow to about 10–13 cm including legspan. Females can live up to 20 years. Males however, tend to live a much shorter life of up to five years, with approximately a single year of maturity. Diet consists of many insects. In the wild, they will eat a wide variety of insects such as grasshoppers and cockroaches. In captivity they will eat crickets.
References[edit]
- Platnick, Norman I. (2008): The world spider catalog, version 8.5. American Museum of Natural History.
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Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aphonopelma_seemanni&oldid=636517953 |