Brachypelma emilia

The Mexican redleg or red-legged tarantula (Brachypelma emilia) is a species of terrestrial tarantula closely related to the famous Mexican redknee tarantula. Like the redknee it is a docile tarantula and popular in the pet trade. It is slow growing and, like many tarantulas, females can live for decades.

Brachypelma emilia
Mexican redleg tarantula
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Theraphosidae
Genus: Brachypelma
Species:
B. emilia
Binomial name
Brachypelma emilia
White, 1856[1]
Distribution of B. emilia.
Synonyms[1]
  • Mygale emilia White, 1856
  • Brachypelma aemilia (White, 1856), orth. var.
  • Eurypelma emilia (White, 1856)
  • Euathlus emilia (White, 1856)

Description

The Mexican redleg also known as the red-legged tarantula has a dark-colored body with the second joint of its legs being pink, red or orange. Its carapace is light colored with a distinctive black triangle at the front. Following moulting, the colors are more pronounced.

An adult female has a body roughly 65 mm long, with a legspan of 12.5 cm, and a weight of approximately 15 to 16 grams.

Conservation

All species of Brachypelma were placed on CITES Appendix II in 1994, thus restricting trade.[2] Nevertheless, large numbers of tarantulas caught in the wild continue to be smuggled out of Mexico, including species of Brachypelma.[3]

In captivity

The Mexican redleg is a mostly docile species, perhaps more so even than the redknee. That, coupled with its coloration, and impressive size, makes it a very popular pet species. As such it is considered to be threatened by capture for sale to the pet trade.[4]

It is very reluctant to bite when distressed, but possesses urticating hair and will flick these if it feels threatened.

References
  1. "Taxon details Brachypelma emilia (White, 1856)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
  2. "Brachypelma smithi (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897): Documents". Species+. UNEP-WCMC & CITES Secretariat. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  3. Mendoza, J. & Francke, O. (2017). "Systematic revision of Brachypelma red-kneed tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae), and the use of DNA barcodes to assist in the identification and conservation of CITES-listed species". Invertebrate Systematics. 31 (2): 157–179. doi:10.1071/IS16023.
  4. "Mexican redleg tarantula (Brachypelma emilia)". Wildscreen Arkive. Wildscreen. Archived from the original on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  • Hijmensen, Eddy (2011). "Brachypelma emilia". mantid.nl. Retrieved 2017-10-05. (Photographs taken in the wild.)
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