B. smithi or B. auratum?

[RedCapTrio]

Guys, please help me, once and for all, rest this dilemma in peace.

Here are the photos:







Your votes are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Fuzzball79]

I think that this is actually an Auratum. To me it looks darker than a B. Smithi. Lucky you!

 

[Thistles]

You generally can't ID to a species level just on the basis of pictures. That said, I think it will take a few more molts for the coloration to develop completely. The brightness of the patella does look like B. auratum, but hybrid is still on the table.

 

[Entity]

didnt think about hybrid. but auratum looks like to me.

 

[kormath]

auratum i think.

 

[MassExodus]

Smithi.

 

[Chubbs]

It could either be a somewhat recently molted smithi or a younger auratum. A mature B.auratum has very distinct red markings on the legs and is pretty easy to tell apart from smithi. If it is auratum it's definitely a younger one that hasn't developed the full colors yet. From the pictures though, it looks like it could be smithi. Then there's always that possibility of it being a hybrid.

 

[micheldied]

The patella markings are different from any B. smithi I've seen. I'm going to have to say an underdeveloped B. auratum, or a hybrid.

 

[Nicolas C]

Could be anything mentionned earlier... Or could be Brachypelma annitha too: the red patellas and the drawing on the cephalo... But really hard to tell...

 

[Wg25]

Smithi i'd say!

 

[MassExodus]

Could be anything mentionned earlier... Or could be Brachypelma annitha too: the red patellas and the drawing on the cephalo... But really hard to tell...

Now that you mention it, I believe you're right..annitha.

 

[kormath]

Now that you mention it, I believe you're right..annitha.

I'm not seeing it as b. annitha. Not that i've ever seen one, but the pics i've looked at all have an orange/black cephalo, and the smithi/auratum have a light brown and black cephalo.

 

[Thistles]

Not seeing Brachypelma annitha. You bought it as a B. smithi, so I guess either he gave you a mutt or he mislabeled something. I would still wait a few more molts to see how things develop before drawing any conclusions though.

 

[RedCapTrio]

Thanks for the response everyone!

@Thistles Your're right, I have just to wait for a couple more molts. Before delving into the hybridization business, I may first venture that this T may just have been mislabeled and one honest mistake if indeed it is an auratum.

Smithi or auratum does not really matter to me since I am a newbie T keeper. I would like to experience them both. It's just that what started this on was when I was staring at it and just noticed that it is somewhat different from smithi pictures that I have seen from the net.