B.smithi or B.annitha...................?

[wayne balcombe]

hi all, just wondering if there is any sure way to distinguish visually between Brachypelma Smithi and Annitha............................

background:

i'm looking after a spider for a colligue who is working away for a few months and to all intents and purposes it apeared to be an ordinary B.smithi, its been in pre-molt for about 2 months and molted on saturday into a sub-adult male (i sexed the exuvium today and.....nada!) the other thing i noticed was the vivid red flame patern on the patella's and the slightly more dense orange colour around the outside edge of the carapace. i've never seen this in B.smithi, at least not that vividly anyway the red flames are as prominant if not more so than my B.auratum. i done a little research and found it could be B.annitha but is there anyway to confirm this.

wayne

[michaelmckinney]

Hey Wayne,

As far as I have heard now the patella are alot more vivid red than B.smithi and they also lack the peripheral black ring on the carapace. Then again not all individuals stick to the exact colour scheme of their species. If you upload a picture of him it will help determine the identification.

[matthew spooner]

easiest way is by the carapace. with b.annitha you will notice alot more orange than smithi, with a big triangle on it