The following list contains genus names legitimate taxonomists have removed for various reasons. Many are found to be synonymous with other genera. Others may be removed due to mislabeling of specimens later placed in museums, mistakes sometimes discovered decades after the fact. Some change for a number of other reasons. If someone tries to sell you a tarantula using one of these names on this first list only, please let the ATS know. We will make every effort to work with these people and help them find out what they really have. The accurate genus name appears in parentheses after the bad name. Some of the common ones include:
Brachypelmides (=Brachypelma)List II: Misspelled or Bad Scientific NamesDelopelma (=Aphonopelma)
Dugesiella (=Aphonopelma)
Eurypelma (=Aphonopelma in part)
Phrixotrichus (This replaced Grammostola a while back, now Grammostola has returned)
Euathlus (This replaced the name Brachypelma for a short period of time. It is a good genus with one or two species in it, but most of the species, and all of the popular species in the pet trade, were returned to Brachypelma)
The next list contains misspelled scientific names, and names that have been switched into a different genus. They are good species, but when you see them, you know the seller is not familiar with taxonomy, or is being sloppy. It could be that they just don't understand the process, or they are using the names they like better, or they are unaware they are using the wrong names, or they simply don't care. Any way you look at it, this should raise a red flag of warning since, if they don't know the correct way to spell the names of their own products, what else might they not know about them? This may be a good way to test the relative knowledge of your tarantula dealer. It may seem trivial, but it can save you money avoiding buying species you already have and don't want any more of.The first scientific name is misspelled or wrong; the second is correct.
Aphonpelma seemanni (=Aphonopelma seemanni)List III: Rare Or Not In The Pet TradeAphonopelma seemaani (=Aphonopelma seemanni)
Avicularia ssp. Avicularia ssp. This indicates a subspecies, and is meaningless after a genus name alone. The term "ssp." after a complete scientific name, including genus and species, indicates they think it's a subspecies, but don't know which one. It is likely there is no legitimate subspecies and they are being creative. If you see Avicularia sp. it means the species has not been identified, but they are referring to a single species. This is fine, if you don't mind not knowing what species you're buying. The term spp. is used to refer to two or more species within a genus.
Avicularia hirsuta (=Iridopelma hirsuta)
Avicularia magdalena(e) (=Avicularia aurantiaca, probably soon Avicularia juruensis)
Avicularia zarodes (=Iridopelma zorodes)
Brachypelma albopilosa (=Brachypelma albopilosum)
Brachypelma boehmi (=Brachypelma boehmei)
Brachypelma pallidum (=Aphonopelma pallidum) This species is a good one, but is not in the pet trade. What is sold as B. pallidum or A. pallidum is in fact either an undescribed species of Brachypelma or a hybrid between two Brachypelma species.
Cromatopelma cyaneopubescens (=Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens)
Grammostola spathulata or variations (=Grammostola rosea)
Haplopelma lividus (=Haplopelma lividum)
Paraphysa manicata (=Paraphysa scrofa)
Poecilotheria bara (=Poecilotheria smithi)
Psuedotheraphosa apophysis (=Pseudotheraphosa apophysis)
Pterinochilus murinus sp. (I've actually seen this used by a dealer. It probably refers to Pterinochilus sp. "Usambara." Usambara is an illegal common name, but it's the only one dealers must figure they can use to get some point or another across about what species they think they are selling. Using sp. after a complete species name means these people are definitely lost in space and need help. The latest news is that all "Usambara reds" or "orange" will probably turn out to all be Pterinochilus murinus, but no one has published yet to our knowledge.)
Theraphosa leblondi (=Theraphosa blondi)
This final list contains mostly good species, but are rare, or non-existent in the pet trade. If a dealer or a pet store attempts to sell you one of these, it is very unlikely that you are really getting one of them.
Because of the extreme difficulty of identifying most tarantulas to species, except by a few highly trained experts, the seller probably knows it will be nearly impossible for you to find out what species they are selling with any confidence if you buy one. Keep in mind that the pet stores, and often the dealers and wholesalers themselves trust the names tagged on the animals by the people they purchased them from. The people they bought them from may (perhaps probably) know even less about the tarantulas than their wholesaler customers. So many retailers are acting in good faith. They could make more of an attempt at finding out what species they are selling by sending specimens to recognized tarantula taxonomists, the most available one being Rick West in Victoria, Canada. However, the lion's share of the blame can be laid on the huge tarantula importers. Most of those importers bring in hundreds, often thousands of individuals. Some of them are unavoidably dead, and could effortlessly be sent to Rick West for identification. This idea apparently does not appeal to them and they don't bother.
The main problem the ATS has with these potentially deceptive sales tactics goes like this. Let's say you already had 40 pinktoes, Avicularia avicularia, and figured you have enough of them. You love Avicularia and want to acquire as many more as you could. You see an ad selling a new, attractive tarantula called Avicularia velutina (or another species name) and you immediately pay a bundle for one. Later (probably through the ATS Forum Magazine if you read it) you find out that the "new" animal is actually a slightly different color morph of a pinktoe. This type of thing happens all the time. Now you have 41 pinktoes, your wallet is a lot lighter, and you may be angry and frustrated all because someone somewhere along the line made up a new name for a well known animal. If this isn't outright fraud, it's very close. The ATS does everything we can to correct or warn tarantula enthusiasts about these problems. You can help by telling us who sold these uncommon species to you.
Here's the list: If you actually have one of them (improbable but not impossible), you're a very lucky person indeed.
Acanthoscurria antillensis PocockAcanthoscurria musculosa Simon
Acanthoscurria suina Pocock
Aphonopelma armada (Chamberlin)
Aphonopelma behlei Chamberlin
Aphonopelma caniceps (Simon)
Aphonopelma crinita (Pocock)
Aphonopelma duplex (Chamberlin)
Aphonopelma heterops (Chamberlin)
Aphonopelma pallidum (F. O. P.-Cambridge)
Aphonopelma steindachneri (Ausserer)
Aphonopelma vorhiesi (Chamberlin & Ivie)
Avicularia caesia (C. L. Koch)
Avicularia fasciculata Strand
Avicularia nigrotaeniata Mello-Leitão
Avicularia pulchra Mello-Leitão
Brachypelma baumgarteni Smith As it turns out, this species is most likely a hybrid of B. smithi and B. boehmei unfortunately, we will probably be seeing a lot more of these in the future as profit seeking individuals attempt to create more and more hybrids in order to sell the offspring as a "new" and oh-so-valuable species.
Brachypelma fossorium Valerio
Brachypelma sabulosum (F.O.P. Cambridge)
Ceratogyrus darlingi Pocock
Chaetopelma olivaceum (C. L. Koch)
Chaetopelma shabati Hassan
Citharacanthus longipes (F.O.P.-Cambridge)
Coremiocnemis validus Pocock
Cyclosternum macropus (Ausserer)
Cyrtopholis portoricae Chamberlin
Ephebopus fossor Pocock
Grammostola actaeon (Pocock)
Grammostola cala (Chamberlin) - (All G. cala seen for sale are almost certainly G. rosea)
Grammostola spatulata (This is no longer a good species and has been incorporates into Grammostola rosea.
Haplopelma albostriatum (Simon)
Harpactira atra (Latreille)
Heterothele villosella Strand
Hysterocrates hercules Pocock
Hysterocrates robustus Pocock
Iridopelma hirsuta Pocock
Ischnocolus hancocki Smith
Lampropelma violaceopedes Abraham
Lasiodora difficilis Mello-Leitão
Lasiodora erthrocithara Mello-Leitão
Lasiodora klugi (C. L. Koch)
Megaphobema peterklaasi Schmidt
Nhandu carapoensis Lucas
Phlogius stirlingi (Hogg)
Phoneyusa rutilata (Simon)
Phormictopus atrichomatus Schmidt
Phormictopus cubensis Chamberlin
Phormictopus nesiotes Chamberlin
Plesiopelma longisternale (Schiapelli & Gerschman)
Poecilotheria metallica Pocock
Poecilotheria miranda Pocock
Poecilotheria striata Pocock
Psalmopoeus pulcher Petrunkevitch
Pterinochilus affinis Tullgren
Pterinochilus constrictus (Gerstäcker) - (senior syn of P. vorax)
Pterinochilus hindei Hirst
Pterinochilus spinifer Pocock
Pterinochilus vorax Pocock
Pterinochilus widenmanni Strand
Selenocosmia honesta Hirst
Selenocosmia javanensis sumatrana Strand
Selenocosmia lyra Strand
Selenocosmia strubelli Strand
Sericopelma generala Valerio
Sericopelma immensa Valerio
Sericopelma melanotarsum Valerio
Sphaerobothria hoffmanni Karsch
Vitalius cesteri (Mello-Leitão)
Vitalius platyomma (Mello-Leitão)
Vitalius roseus (Mello-Leitão)
Vitalius sorocabae (Mello-Leitão)
Xenesthis monstrosa Pocock
Remember, most of these species are real species. Unfortunately, for most, it may not be likely that they exist in the pet trade at this time, or that you have one. This will change in the future, with other names being added and others removed. It is a never ending process.
Should anyone have information that would help correct the list, or more additions, please forward it to the ATS.
