Hello fellow Brachypelma hobbyists! 

To start, I’ve been wanting to post photos of these two species and give a brief description between them. So I’m writing this for the many people who have a hard time IDing the two species. Obviously DNA would be the best way to tell them apart. However most of us are just miserable hobbyists that sometimes count on trusting and relying vendors and people like myself posting photos and selling the true species between baumgarteni and boehmei. If you wish to know who the current vendors are selling true Brachypelma baumgarteni private message me and I’ll be more than happy to tell you.

 

If you have purchased a tarantula that was sold as B.boehmei but has the appearance of a B.baumgarteni it’s most likely 99% a hybrid. You should be asking yourself the following: Why was it sold as boehmei? Why does it have the appearance of a baumgarteni? What are the years known that Brachypelma baumgarteni were successfully bred? Who were the breeders that successfully bred first and second inbred generations of Brachypelma baumgarteni? What were the known years and who imported Brachypelma baumgarteni? Who recently successfully bred first generation Brachypelma baumgarteni and where were they imported from? Was Brachypelma baumgarteni ever successfully bred in the USA and who bred them? Once you have these answers you’ll know the history of this beautiful species.

 

Pictured below is a Brachypelma baumgarteni immature male specimen of mine that is 4.25″ inches. My only wish is that the baumgarteni male was a bit bigger and had more of an adult appearance but these current photos will do for now. The baumgarteni male was imported out of Europe, it is the second inbreeding generation of this species, mated by Eddy Hijmensen “Metallica”. Also pictured below is a Brachypelma boehmei specimen of mine who was also imported out of Europe.

 

A brief description:

As  B.baumgarteni starts growing the species will have lots of dark/black hair coloration around the lighting bolt pattern on the metatarsal. On all eight legs the lighting bolt pattern on the metatarsal will be equally visually seen vs the boehmei with a black line on the metatarsal on all eight legs. Brachypelma baumgarteni is light beige, peach coloration vs boehmei a fire red color.

On the carapace between B.baumgarteni and B.boehmei and detail appearance between the two species is a huge difference as well. With the hybrids among us I understand that it would be difficult for most of you to determine and whether a specimen you’ve acquired or seen photo of is a hybrid or a true species. Since I have previously owned both hybrids and true species of each, I like to think I’ve done a good job of helping others properly ID some specimens. Plus knowing the history of a successful breeding is a major tool to use as well. Please keep in mind I’m no taxonomists but a miserable hobbyists that can only give you my best expert opinion by my experience of owning these true species as well with the hybrids I’ve also owned in the past.

 

Anyways enjoy these photos of both the Brachypelma baumgarteni vs Brachypelma boehmei.

(click to expand images)
Brachyeplma baumgarteni 1

Brachyeplma baumgarteni

Brachypelma boehmei 1

Brachypelma boehmei

Brachypelma baumgarteni

B.baumgarteni

Bracypelma boehmei

B.boehmei

Brachypelma baumgarteni

B.baumgarteni

Brachypelma boehmei

B.boehmei

Brachypelma baumgarteni

B.baumgarteni

Brachypelma boehmei

B.boehmei

Brachypelma baumgarteni

B.baumgarteni

Brachypelma boehmei

B.boehmei

Brachypelma baumgarteni

B.baumgarteni

Brachypelma boehmei

B.boehmei

Brachypelma baumgarteni

B.baumgarteni

Brachypelma boehmei

B.boehmei

Article by Jose Berrios

Photos by: Jose Berrios/Exoskeleton Invertebrates