Acanthoscurria geniculata

This is a popular species due to its large, robust size and attractive colouration. Its is a very attractive species and though it has no “red” or “blue” in its colouration it does have wide prominent white / cream striping on an over black colouration with red hairs on the abdomen to boot. This isn’t a shy species and can be observed in its terrarium during the day and at night as they spend most of the time out in the open.

In the wild this species in habits humid forested areas in Northern Brazil. It is found in burrows and other natural shelters where it webs up the entire area. In captivity it doesn’t require any special conditions or care, just an ample sized terrarium with a deep substrate and water bowl. You can add a retreat but will probably find the spider will not use it – they species is a good display Tarantula. This species is a voracious eater and powerful enough to cope with larger prey.

This Tarantula can be easily mixed up with a very similar looking related species from Brazil – Acanthoscurria brocklehursti. Though this species is not a large as A.geniculata and the legs bands are not as wide and prominent. This is an easy to keep and fast growing species. Not so long ago this was a very expensive Tarantula but with recent breeding’s it is now available at a very reasonable price. So overall this is a good display species that is big a bulky, however it can be a little defensive so you need to be careful when maintaining it