12/31/2025
Last photos of 2025! Happy New Year!
Freshly rehoused Theraphosinae sp. “Magma”, commonly called the Peruvian Magma tarantula.
This is an undescribed species from Peru that's still in that gray area between the hobby and formal science. “Theraphosinae sp.” is basically a placeholder name. It means this spider has not been officially described or assigned to a confirmed genus yet, and there is surprisingly little solid info out there. Most of what we know comes from limited trade history (like who imported from where) and keeper observations rather than published research.
Visually they tend to come out of a molt darker and then slowly light up with richer oranges as time goes on, which is probably where the whole “magma” name comes from.
There are hints that this spider is genetically distinct from similar Peruvian forms, but until someone actually publishes the work, it’s still one of those educated guesses we all love to argue about.
Honestly, this tarantula looks like a Brachypelma boehmei and a Megaphonema accidentally stepped into the teleportation pod thing from The Fly and came out as whatever this is. (Who doesn't like Jeff Goldblum?)
Absolutely gorgeous species, and a great reminder that there’s still a lot in this hobby that hasn’t been fully figured out yet!
