These are extremely rare tarantulas in our hobby. Very little is known about them. P. manicata was first discovered and described by the arachnologist Simon in 1907 on a little island off the coast of Central Africa. Since then, they have never been studied or collected until March 98, when they were imported for the commercial trade. The adults were collected in one to three foot burrows in tropical forest areas of the island. The overall body color is an olive-black. The femurs are velvety black. The carapace color is an olive-grey. Mature males are of a different look than female adults with an overall lighter body color of tan-olive.
Other common names (not official): none.
Described by: Simon in 1907.
Distribution: Tropical rainforests on the African island of Principe.
Size: Spiderlings emerge as 1/3" 1st instar. Adults may reach 6 +" in leg span and weigh 1.5+ ounces or more.
Growth rate: Nothing is known about their growth rates, but like other Phoneyusa spp. , they are probably like Hysterocrates spp., and so would be considered in the mid-range of growth amongst other tarantulas. They will molt (shed their exoskeleton) 4-6 times the first year, and then molt once a year after that.
Temperature: Keep 80-95F. They can take drops to 70F for short periods of time as long as they have a deep burrow. Keep your tarantula's enclosure away from windows, sunlight, heateršs and air conditioning.
Humidity: 80%. Keep substrate slightly moist. Provide a shallow water dish. Spray spiderling pill bottles once a week lightly. The substrate should NOT be "swampy" nor should it be so dry that if you were to blow on it particles would go up in the air.
Habitat type/enclosure/substrate needed: This is a deep-burrowing species found in forest areas . Keep adults in 5-10 gallon tanks with 4-6" peat moss/vermiculite mix with cork bark shelter to hide under. Spiderlings will need to be keep in pill bottles with peat moss/vermiculite mix for 1st four months, then moved to 8 and 16 ounce deli cups as they get bigger. Make sure your adults can not "climb" up the sides of the glass tank as a drop will kill or injury them. Make sure your lid on top is secure. A good tank for adult tarantulas are "Critter Cages" with sliding and locking lids.
Food: Feed prey that is smaller than the length of the tarantulas body. Spiderlings less than 1" leg span will need to be fed mini-meal worms (obtained from companies like Nature's Way and Grubco for cheap) and termites. You can use "pin-head" crickets, but these must be 1 week old crickets and very small as they will eat your spiderling when it tries to molt. Adults can be fed large crickets, super worms, anole lizards,and pinkie & fuzzy mice. Make sure all insects come from non-pesticide areas. Feed spiderlings twice a week a couple of prey items. Feed adults once a week with a couple of large prey. Adults can go off-fed for 3 months or more.
Cleaning: To keep your tarantulašs tank clean and keep your animal healthy, get in the routine of feeding your tarantula one day, and then coming behind the next day and taking long tweezers and picking out any left-over prey remains. Keep the water dish (it must be shallow and wide) clean at all times. If you follow this advice, you will need to only change out your substrate (vermiculite, peat moss, sand mixture) once every six months or so.
Longevity: Phoneysua species are in the mid-range of longevity amongst tarantulas. Males will probably only live to be 3-5 years old while females will live over 12 years old.
Handling/Disposition/Venom: These are very fast and aggressive tarantulas. Best advice: Donšt handle! Tarantulas are not "pets", but "display animals" much like keeping fish. They donšt understand nor have a need to be handled. They are venomous like many spiders, but their venom is not dangerous unless your allergic to their venom. Donšt find out! Transfer your tarantula using "cup-to-tank" method. NOTE: These Old World tarantulas are super aggressive and nothing is known about their venom. We can only assume from other species of Phoneyusa (i.e. P. celerieri ) that their bite is painful and you would experience local effects of the bite.
Captive breeding: Medium ease of breeding. It helps to have healthy adults of recent molts to work with. A large tank is required and it is best to let the female accilimate to it for a few weeks before introducing the male.
Record keeping: Keep good notes such as the stock #, if any , that it was sold as, when born, molt dates, etc.
To find out more about this animal and the Tarantula Keeping hobby, I recommend the following:
Read these books: "Tarantulas and Other Arachnids" by Sam Marshall, "Keeping and Breeding
Tarantulas in Captivity" by Ronald Baxter, Andreas Tinteršs "Tarantulas Today" and Stanley and
Marguerite Schultzšs "The Tarantula Keeperšs Guide".
Subscribe to: WEBBINGS Invertebrate Magazine (contact Todd Gearheart at: (941) 275-9757, or
email Todd)
Join the Southwest Florida Tarantula Society (SWFTS) (contact Todd Gearheart at: (941) 275-9757, or
email Todd); and the British Tarantula Society (BTS) to obtain the bimonthly
newsletter, The Journal.
Join the Arachnid Mailing List on the internet.
Copyright Š 1998 by Todd Gearheart