08/24/2025
Haven't seen this wee monster out and about for a good 4 months. I was starting to worry that she had escaped or kicked the bucket! But nope. She is still loud and proud!
Harpactira pulchripes - The Golden Blue-Legged Baboon Tarantula. Its specific name, "pulchripes", is derived from Latin meaning, "the most beautiful", which is definitely a fitting name for these gorgeous wee beasties.
They are found only in and around the town of Makhanda in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
They're generally not as defensive or as downright mean as other old-world baboon species, instead being quite skittish and resorting to the old Monty Python and the Holy Grail method of, "Run-away" when faced with anything that they consider to be a Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog. Or a slight breeze. Or flashlight.
Venom though, is still quite potent and medically significant. Envenomations are rare given their bitch-ass behaviour. It is a complex neurotoxin that affects ion channels in the nervous system, so... painful. But not dangerous.
Always hard to get a photo. And this one is s**t. But ain't she a cutie though?
