Haplopelma
| Haplopelma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Haplopelma lividum, Cobalt blue tarantula | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Suborder: | Mygalomorphae |
| Family: | Theraphosidae |
| Subfamily: | Ornithoctoninae |
| Genus: | Haplopelma Simon, 1892 |
| Species | |
|
H. albostriatum | |
| Diversity | |
| 11 species | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Melopoeus Pocock, 1895 | |
Haplopelma is a genus of old-world tarantula found in Southeast Asia. The range of this genus includes Myanmar, southeastern China, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Borneo.
Description
Haplopelma consists of relatively large specimens, with a typical adult legspan ranging from 4.5" to 6" (15 cm). The spiders all thrive in tropical environments, requiring humidity levels of up to 70% or more. They inhabit the tropical rain forests of southeast Asia, where they build and live in burrows up to several feet deep, emerging to capture food. These spiders prey on numerous small creatures, such as cockroaches, crickets, and mice.
Haplopelma (Simon, 1892) [Senior synonym of Melopoeus {Pocock, 1895}]
Type species: Haplopelma doriae
Transferred to other genera:
Haplopelma chrysothrix (Schmidt & Samm, 2005) → Ornithoctonus aureotibialis
Haplopelma costale → Ornithoctonus costalis
In synonymy:
Haplopelma huwenum (Wang, Peng & Xie, 1993) = Haplopelma schmidti
- Haplopelma albostriatum (Simon, 1886) — Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, the Thai Zebra
- Haplopelma doriae (Thorell, 1890) — Borneo
- Haplopelma hainanum (Liang et al., 1999) — China [Hainan Island], the Chinese, {Hainan Island} Black Earth Tiger
- Haplopelma lividum (Smith, 1996) — Myanmar, Thailand, the [Myanmarian] Cobalt Blue
- Haplopelma longipes (Von Wirth & Striffler, 2005) — Myanmar, the [Myanmarian] Vietnamese Earth Tiger
- Haplopelma minax (Thorell, 1897) — Myanmar, Thailand, the Thai Black
- Haplopelma robustum (Strand, 1907) — Singapore, the Singaporean Gold Ring Black And Gray Earth Tiger
- Haplopelma salangense (Strand, 1907) — Malaysia
- Haplopelma schmidti (Von Wirth, 1991) — Vietnam, China, the [Vietnamese], Chinese Gold Earth Tiger
- Haplopelma vonwirthi (Schmidt, 2005) — Vietnam
Medical significance
Like all old-world tarantulas, the spiders in Haploplema lack the urticating hairs found in their new world counterparts, and use biting as a primary means of defense. Those common in the pet trade are known as temperamental, difficult to care for, and likely to bite. While the venom of many of these species has not been studied, old world tarantulas are known for strong venom.