A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Pelinobius muticus
P. muticus is a large African species of tarantula. Their legspans reach 7" with a defensive attitude to match. An insteresting behavior this species exhibits is stridulation. This is where they will rub the hairs on their legs to create a hissing sound. The King Baboon is a burrowing species that is also very slow-growing, sometimes taking almost seven years to mature.
These spiders are native to East Africa. They prefer drier habitat making burrows near lowlying shrubs.
The individual pictured was a P. muticus I had for a while. It was a pugnacious little spider much more content with standing it's ground rather than fleeing.
Spotted on Jul 19, 2012
Submitted on Jul 19, 2012
1 Comment
great shot!