NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE BREEDING OF WHATEVER IT IS IN THE PET TRADE CALLED BRACHYPELMAALBOPILOSUMVALERIO, 1980, (ARANEAE: THERAPHOSIDAE), WITH FURTHER NOTES ON ITS IDENTIFICATION

摘要

Brachypelma albopilosum Valerio, 1980 whatever it is we have in the hobby as "B. albopilosum" is common in captivity and has been bred numerous times. However, for myself (Ray) and Jason this was the first time. We had tried to mate female 1 (Fig.7) a few times before, but she always killed the male or got fat and did nothing. After a moult in early 2013 (we cannot say for certain when the female moulted as we found the old skin destroyed and buried during some routine maintenance), we started to search for a male. One was located through the RFUK website and loaned to us by Isabella Brey. The male was introduced into a breeding cabinet where the female's container had previously been located (Fig.1) on 29 April 2013. After initial courtship consisting of the male drumming outside on the floor of the breeding cabinet and then on the female's container, the male climbed into the container (Fig.2) to continue courtship and mating (Fig.3). This, plus another female we had, were housed on a coir substrate in a medium "pet pal" with half a flowerpot as a hide and an old coffee jar lid as a water bowl. They were both housed in a heated cabinet with a minimum temperature of 76°F rising during the summer and early autumn to around 82°F during the day and around 78°F during the late autumn to early spring. The single shelved cabinet was heated with a heatmat on a thermostat and a strip light on 12/12(12 hours on, 12 off) throughout the year. Before and after breeding, the females were fattened up on a diet of cockroaches of various species (e.g., Blaberus cranifer, Blaptica dubia, Gromphadorhina sp.）.