Davus fasciatus

Davus fasciatus
Juvenile
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Mygalomorphae
Family:	Theraphosidae
Genus:	Davus
Species:	D. fasciatus
Binomial name
Davus fasciatus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1892 [1]
Synonyms [1]
Cyclosternum fasciatusValerio, 1982

Davus fasciatus, commonly known as the Costa Rican tiger rump, is a species of a new-world tarantula endemic to Costa Rica.

This species is a common misnomer of Davus pentaloris, due to mislabelling in the pet trade. ^[2] Davus fasciatus does not currently exist in the pet trade.

Description

The Costa Rican Tiger Rump is a relatively small, terrestrial species of tarantula. It has a black carapace, legs and abdomen. Indicated by its name, its abdomen has distinct orange-red stripes and "saddle" markings, which vary across individuals. The orange markings often form a spade -or arrowlike- pattern down the center.

This species can be differentiated from others in its genus by its black carapace.

Behaviour

Like most tarantulas, this species eats various arthropods, which it kills via envenomation. This species is not known to pose a threat to humans.

Reproduction

Females possess spermathecaes and mature males possess tibial hooks on the front pair of legs. Males use their tibial hooks to position the female in order to inseminate her using his emboli, organs on the pedipalps of mature males. The female creates an egg sac out of her silk, which she lays many eggs inside of.

References

1. "Taxon details Davus fasciatus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1892", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2016-05-23
2. Gabriel, R. (2016). Revised taxonomic placement of the species in the Central American genera Davus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1892, Metriopelma Becker, 1878, and Schizopelma F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897, with comments on species in related genera (Araneae: Theraphosidae). Arachnology 17(2): 61-92.

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