Davus pentaloris

Davus pentaloris is a tarantula that is long misidentified in the hobby as Cyclosternum fasciatus. In reality this tarantula can be easily distinguished by the dorso-medial abdominal pattern and orange carapace. Native to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico it inhabits lowland forests where it lives at the ground level under logs and rocks. It is fairly humid and temperatures vary between 20 and 27 degrees celcius.

This tarantula is attractively coloured with a black and orange striped abdomen, orange carapace and black legs. The abdomen also sometimes has a spot in the dorso-medial area but this can vary. Spiderlings and adults have the same colouration and there is not colour sexual dimorphism. A fast growing species, well fed specimens can be mature within a few years. Whilst not defensive, this species is skittish and moves fast. They are good feeders and care should be taken not to overfeed them. They are the perfect intermediate species of tarantula.

Davus pentaloris has been in the hobby since at least the 1980s and possibly earlier and is very easily bred. A small enclosure with a couple of inches of coir and a plant pot hide are all that is needed for this tarantula. If kept at temperatures between 23-25 celcius they do very well.