Phormictopus genus

[MassExodus]

One of my recent obsessions is the Phormictopus genus, after buying a few atrichomatus slings I started looking hard at the different sp, and there are some stunners..the cautus, (spelling?) is purple, really beautiful, the sp green is the champ in my book though, I've never seen a black tarantula with hints of dark mettalic green on the carapace and front four femurs. Really great looking, and as another member said in a recent thread, they're like Pamphos, MM are stunning, genus wide. So I ordered 3 from petcenter, and got a campbridgei freebie( that will make 3 campbridgei freebies, I couldn't be happier about that) they should be shipped Monday, but if they are like the atrichomatus I bought, I may not get pics for awhile. I know there are at least a few Phormictopus lovers on this forum, so any comments on the species, genus, your experience with or opinions on Phormictopus would be appreciated.

 

[kormath]

One of my recent obsessions is the Phormictopus genus, after buying a few atrichomatus slings I started looking hard at the different sp, and there are some stunners..the cautus, (spelling?) is purple, really beautiful, the sp green is the champ in my book though, I've never seen a black tarantula with hints of dark mettalic green on the carapace and front four femurs. Really great looking, and as another member said in a recent thread, they're like Pamphos, MM are stunning, genus wide. So I ordered 3 from petcenter, and got a campbridgei freebie( that will make 3 campbridgei freebies, I couldn't be happier about that) they should be shipped Monday, but if they are like the atrichomatus I bought, I may not get pics for awhile. I know there are at least a few Phormictopus lovers on this forum, so any comments on the species, genus, your experience with or opinions on Phormictopus would be appreciated.

I was looking at the P. cautus when i ordered mine today, but i hadn't done any research on them yet so i passed them up. Now that i just looked them up on and read @Tomoran blog about them, i'm kicking myself. A terrestrial purple T and I passed it up Looks like i'll be using part of my tax return to make another order if it ever gets here. Wonder if i can find an sp. purple to go with it.

 

[MassExodus]

I was looking at the P. cautus when i ordered mine today, but i hadn't done any research on them yet so i passed them up. Now that i just looked them up on and read @Tomoran blog about them, i'm kicking myself. A terrestrial purple T and I passed it up Looks like i'll be using part of my tax return to make another order if it ever gets here. Wonder if i can find an sp. purple to go with it.

That's another one I like, I think Tom has a few of those. Hell I even found a pic of a stunning looking cancerides, the males are just fantastic looking. I can't be collecting this genus without afew of those, either

 

[Tomoran]

Did someone say Phormictopus?

Mass, I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that you're getting into them. I picked up my first P. cancerides about 2 years ago after reading that they weren't just a "big brown spider" (and I can attest to that). It quickly became one of my favorite species. Since then, many other species and colorations have become available. and I've been trying to grab them all up. I currently have P. cancerides, P. atrichomatus, P. cautus "violet", P. sp. south hispaniola, P. species green, P. species purple, and P. species blue. I'm guessing that some of these "sp" will someday end up being just color variants of other species (like cancerides), as I've already seen a lot of color differentiation even from same sex sac mates. Not sure if I care, though, as they are are all so pretty.

I've found that they all eat like machines, grow like weeds, and put on some impressive size between molts. Even more cool, in my opinion, are the color changes they display after each molt; grays, maroons, purples, pinks, bronzes, browns. You honestly don't know what you're going to get, even within the same species. They are also MUCH more hardy than some information will lead you to believe.

 

[Tomoran]

One of my recent obsessions is the Phormictopus genus, after buying a few atrichomatus slings I started looking hard at the different sp, and there are some stunners..the cautus, (spelling?) is purple, really beautiful, the sp green is the champ in my book though, I've never seen a black tarantula with hints of dark mettalic green on the carapace and front four femurs. Really great looking, and as another member said in a recent thread, they're like Pamphos, MM are stunning, genus wide. So I ordered 3 from petcenter, and got a campbridgei freebie( that will make 3 campbridgei freebies, I couldn't be happier about that) they should be shipped Monday, but if they are like the atrichomatus I bought, I may not get pics for awhile. I know there are at least a few Phormictopus lovers on this forum, so any comments on the species, genus, your experience with or opinions on Phormictopus would be appreciated.

Those species greens blew me away as well; that carapace...wow. There are so few Ts with green, and combine that with a Phormictopus sp? Hell, yeah.

 

[MassExodus]

Excellent! I knew you had a few species, but that's impressive. I'm already kicking myself for not getting some P cautus with the greens, they were marked down quite a bit..But that adult female green pic gave me tunnel vision..my god.

 

[Tomoran]

Excellent! I knew you had a few species, but that's impressive. I'm already kicking myself for not getting some P cautus with the greens, they were marked down quite a bit..But that adult female green pic gave me tunnel vision..my god.

It's become a bit of a compulsion. It seems like every time I get a newsletter from a vendor, there is a new Phormictopus species available! It's like, "Honey...they come in green now...GREEN!" Anastasia at Net-bug has Phormictopus platus slings for sale, and they've been calling to me for quite some time...

 

[Kymura]

Going to read up on these some. They keep quirking my interest.

 

[Nicolas C]

I love that genus too, as you already know it. I have P platus, and it seems to me it's very close to P auratus (not similar location, but same colors). Mine is really stunning, not only because of the bronze/golden cephalo, but also with dark legs with almost blue glints (at least with a flashlight!). She is always hungry, ready to run after her preys with determination, is always out of the burrow (well, almost, now she's inside preparing her molt), and moves enough to attract interest. I'm currently waiting on three slings sp. green, they should arrive in the very next weeks... A friend of mine has a huge female P cancerides and I was impressed to see she really has purple/reddish marks on the prosoma + femurs, that can be seen even without a light. Subtle, but true. Beautiful look, if I had more room, I'd take one too.

I believe that these Phormictopus (specially the cancerides, which has been in the hobby for a very long time) were a little bit despised because they were very common and hardy. Like: "a plain brown tarantula, well... no..." But, first, they aren't only plain brown: little touches of different colors are also here for the females (males are more colorful, as have been said); as Tom has stated, they change with the different molts, which is very cool; and, they aren't so common nowadays. And anyway who cares about them being common? For instance: I find my G rosea beautiful and don't need to wait until they become rarer and more fashionable to love her.

For me, Phormictopus are truly loved by the gourmet hidden in the hobbyist.

 

[N8tive556]

Wow that Cautus is gorgeous! Time to research temperament.... And just when I thought I was happy with my list.... Thanks Mass lol

 

[MassExodus]

It's become a bit of a compulsion. It seems like every time I get a newsletter from a vendor, there is a new Phormictopus species available! It's like, "Honey...they come in green now...GREEN!" Anastasia at Net-bug has Phormictopus platus slings for sale, and they've been calling to me for quite some time...

Lol, that's too true.. I feel like a kid in a candy store..

 

[MassExodus]

I love that genus too, as you already know it. I have P platus, and it seems to me it's very close to P auratus (not similar location, but same colors). Mine is really stunning, not only because of the bronze/golden cephalo, but also with dark legs with almost blue glints (at least with a flashlight!). She is always hungry, ready to run after her preys with determination, is always out of the burrow (well, almost, now she's inside preparing her molt), and moves enough to attract interest. I'm currently waiting on three slings sp. green, they should arrive in the very next weeks... A friend of mine has a huge female P cancerides and I was impressed to see she really has purple/reddish marks on the prosoma + femurs, that can be seen even without a light. Subtle, but true. Beautiful look, if I had more room, I'd take one too.

I believe that these Phormictopus (specially the cancerides, which has been in the hobby for a very long time) were a little bit despised because they were very common and hardy. Like: "a plain brown tarantula, well... no..." But, first, they aren't only plain brown: little touches of different colors are also here for the females (males are more colorful, as have been said); as Tom has stated, they change with the different molts, which is very cool; and, they aren't so common nowadays. And anyway who cares about them being common? For instance: I find my G rosea beautiful and don't need to wait until they become rarer and more fashionable to love her.

For me, Phormictopus are truly loved by the gourmet hidden in the hobbyist.

Nicolas didn't you say that the sp green is known for being a little bigger than the others? I keep hearing 9 inches is common for most species in the genus, but I know people exaggerate..its no biggy really, any spider 8 inches and up is a big, impressive beast, I'm just curious..

 

[kormath]

I'm with @N8tive556 And here I was happy i was done with my must have list lol Good thing i was able to rearrange the room i have more space for T's. And thank god i have a thriving roach colony now or i dunno how i'd pay to feed all these lol.

 

[MassExodus]

Wait till you have a good amount of large spiders...feeding day will put a good dent in a small colony, like mine. I only have 200 or so various sized dubia at any given time. Between the slings powering through the nymphs and the adults being selectively fed, you can actually control the population fairly easy. I like roaches..ive had to emotionally detach myself from the dubia..

 

[kormath]

i have roughly 350 now. just ordered 200 mixed sizes with adults for a starter colony to add to the 100 or so had and then got 50 pinhead for my smallest slings as the 200 didn't have but a handful of them. Aaron sent a few cleaner bugs with them so I'm all set

 

[MassExodus]

Wow that Cautus is gorgeous! Time to research temperament.... And just when I thought I was happy with my list.... Thanks Mass lol

Ive never had one N8tive, but its a Phormictopus, so its most likely a little cranky I just found P cancerides in San Antonio, i may go get me a few tomorrow..theyre cheap too..maybe ill form a small, angry army, lol

 

[Psyrocke]

My Phormictopus is feisty like the rest..but she's weird with food. She's made little hunting traps, and a cricket burrito. She doesn't eat as voraciously as most others do in the genus. She's a 1" sp South Hispaniola.

 

[MassExodus]

My Phormictopus is feisty like the rest..but she's weird with food. She's made little hunting traps, and a cricket burrito. She doesn't eat as voraciously as most others do in the genus. She's a 1" sp South Hispaniola.

Right now all I have is my two little atrichomatus slings, but they seem to like building,webbing and burrowing, their behavior reminds me of obt slings, they haven't shown themselves since I got them, except a flash of legs to snatch a nymph. Both my mascara slings and my Xenesthis slings just sit under their log or right in the open..they don't really try to hide at all. Strange, the range of behaviors we see,even in slings.

 

[N8tive556]

Ive never had one N8tive, but its a Phormictopus, so its most likely a little cranky I just found P cancerides in San Antonio, i may go get me a few tomorrow..theyre cheap too..maybe ill form a small, angry army, lol

I'm working on mine already lol watching our C. Fimbriatus feeding behavior even gives me the creeps lol

 

[N8tive556]

I'm with @N8tive556 And here I was happy i was done with my must have list lol Good thing i was able to rearrange the room i have more space for T's. And thank god i have a thriving roach colony now or i dunno how i'd pay to feed all these lol.

Roach colonies for the win! Lol