| King baboon spider | |
|---|---|
| adult female P. muticus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Suborder: | Mygalomorphae |
| Family: | Theraphosidae |
| Genus: | Pelinobius |
| Species: | P. muticus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pelinobius muticus Karsch, 1885 |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Citharischius crawshayi Pocock, 1900 Citharischius crawshagi (lapsus) |
|
The King baboon spider (Pelinobius muticus) is a tarantula species native to East Africa. The King baboon spider can grow up to 20 cm in leg span. It is a slow growing species. The spider is often rusty brown or orange in colour. As a burrowing species, the back legs are very thick and used for digging burrows. It is popular among tarantula collectors but is highly aggressive and not suitable for beginners. They also have very strong venom (although none of the tarantulas is known to have a bite that is deadly to humans); a bite from a baby (1 cm body length) of this species caused sharp pain and strong hallucinations and the place of the bite remained itchy for five days.[1]
Adult Pelinobius muticus can be kept in converted aquarium and provided with plenty of ventilation and a very deep substrate (at least 25 cm deep). Spiderlings can be kept in small containers such as pill tubs and waxworm tubs slightly larger species can be kept in livefood tubs.