Biology:Psalmopoeus cambridgei

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Short description: Species of spider

Psalmopoeus cambridgei
Female
Mature Male
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Theraphosidae
Genus: Psalmopoeus
Species:
P. cambridgei
Binomial name
Psalmopoeus cambridgei
Pocock, 1895

Psalmopoeus cambridgei, the Trinidad chevron tarantula, is a species of spider in the family Theraphosidae, endemic to Trinidad.[1]

This species' venom has been the subject of study for potential pharmaceutical uses. Elements of, or the study of Psalmotoxin may be of therapeutic use in developing analgesic medications, management for glioma and breast cancer, and treatments for patients suffering a stroke. It is also of interest for potential benefits in managing cartilage damage in rheumatoid arthritis, alongside venoms of other animals.[2][3]

P. cambridgei is kept as an exotic pet alongside others in its genus, being commonly bred in captivity.

Description

The female has dark, chevron-shaped markings on the abdomen and her color varies through shades of green, tan and brown, with characteristic orange markings on the legs, similar to P. irminia.[4]

The male, upon sexual maturity, is sexually dimorphic, colored a more uniform grey or brown, with long legs in proportion to its body, and gaining copulatory organs on his pedipalps. He retains the orange markings on the latter part of his legs.

As spiderlings, P. cambridgei have a dark carapace and dark legs, each with a pale orange band resembling "leg warmers", the abomen appears black with a thick orange chevron marking, and thin black stripe down the center. The bands fade over time as the animal grows and undergoes ontogenetic color change.[4]

The male has a significantly shorter lifespan and is of smaller size compared to the female. His sexual maturity marks the latter end of his life, typically quite short and dedicated to reproducing.

Behaviour

P. cambridgei has an arboreal lifestyle.[5][6] It lives in crevices, holes, or nooks behind bark, above ground, and constructs sheetlike, tubular webbing to line and structure its retreat. This webbing is not for ensnaring prey; theraphosids hunt primarily by ambush, emerging from their retreats at night to wait for prey, which they rely on vibrations to detect, in the same way they detect potential threats.[7][8]

Like all theraphosid spiders, P. cambridgei is an opportunistic feeder, which will eat whatever prey it can subdue. In captivity it is fed exclusively arthropods, but in the wild may eat a variety of arthropods and small vertebrates that cross its path.[9]

Periodically, it will undergo ecdysis as it grows.

Taxonomy

P. cambridgei is the type species of the genus Psalmopoeus,[10] described by Pocock in 1895.[1] It is distinguished from other genera by the presence of stridulatory setae (lyra) on its maxillae, a trait formerly only seen in Asian and African species.[11][12]

Etymology

The specific name cambridgei is in honour of the arachnologist F. O. Pickard-Cambridge.[13]

  • subadult
    subadult
  • P. cambridgei sling,
    sling
  • P. cambridgei exuvia, showing iridescent underside of feet
    exuvia, showing iridescent undersides of the tarsi and metatarsi

In captivity

P. cambridgei is easily bred in captivity and is not an uncommon species within the Western exotic pet trade today.

They are typically kept in tall, vertical enclosures with a piece of bark (as a piece or intact tube) to use as a retreat, and fed on various arthropods depending on tarantula size, owner preference, and commercial availability. Prey items given in captivity include: insect larvae (eg.Tenebrio molitor, Zophobas atratus, waxworms), cricket species (eg. Acheta domestica, Gryllus bimaculatus), cockroach species (eg. Blaptica dubia, Periplaneta lateralis), and fruit fly species (for small spiderlings).

Despite being a popular pet species, it is difficult to predict the lifespan of, especially in males, whose longevity varies depending on how fast it sexually matures, after which it may live only a matter of months, to over a year. Males in captivity have been seen reaching sexual maturity within a year or two, with females living around 10 years.[14]

  • As pets
  • a large female P. cambridgei climbing a vertically placed branch in her enclosure, simulating the trunk of a tree. The enclosure is a clear plastic container with soil and dried leaves in the bottom, along with two large limbs of a tree for her to climb.
    A pet on birch trunks in its enclosure
  • P. cambrigei partly emerged from a vertical cork bark tube in its enclosure, presumably stood in wait of prey.
    Pet with cork bark tube
  • A subadult P. cambridgei perched in wait of prey on a piece of cork bark mimicing the trunk of a tree. Its legs are spread out in an alert position. It is facing downwards, ready if something small were to climb up towards it.
  • pet P. cambridgei resting facing downwards on a piece of cork bark, in an acrylic enclosure. The back wall of the enclosure is covered by a cork bark panel
    Pet in its enclosure featuring a cork bark background and climbing piece
  • side-by-side images showing the sexual dimorphism of this species, a large female with an olivey green carapace and plump tan and grey abdomen (left) alongside a smaller, longer-legged, fluffy grey-brown male with a small abdomen (right)
    Sexual dimorphism as shown by two captive raised individuals
  • Mature male P. cambridgei pictured on the ground at night, he is uniform grey with long, plumose legs and a small abdomen.
    Mature male
  • tarantula with a pale, dusty-green carapace and pale greyish and grey-green legs. Its pedipalps are covering its chelicerae. The abdomen is tan, leading into grey, with a row of 4 dark spots down the center.
    A pet
  • P. cambridgei photographed at night, in the entrance of an old elevated manmade pipe, it has lined the inside with tubular webbing.
    Having made a retreat inside a man-made structure

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Psalmopoeus cambridgei Pocock, 1895" (in en). https://wsc.nmbe.ch/spec-data/44463/species. 
  2. ↑ Oldrati, Vera; Bianchi, Estelle; Stöcklin, Reto (2013), Nentwig, Wolfgang, ed., "Spider Venom Components as Drug Candidates" (in en), Spider Ecophysiology (Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer): pp. 491–503, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-33989-9_37, ISBN 978-3-642-33989-9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33989-9_37, retrieved 2026-03-13 
  3. ↑ Freuville, Lou; Matthys, Chloé; Quinton, Loïc; Gillet, Jean-Pierre (2024-09-26). "Venom-derived peptides for breaking through the glass ceiling of drug development" (in English). Frontiers in Chemistry 12. doi:10.3389/fchem.2024.1465459. ISSN 2296-2646. PMID 39398192. PMC 11468230. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2024.1465459/full. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cifuentes, Yeimy; Bertani, Rogerio (2022-02-23). "Taxonomic revision and cladistic analysis of the tarantula genera Tapinauchenius Ausserer, 1871, Psalmopoeus Pocock, 1985, and Amazonius n. gen. (Theraphosidae, Psalmopoeinae)" (in en). Zootaxa 5101 (1): 1–123. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5101.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334. https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5101.1.1. 
  5. ↑ Peñaherrera-R, Pedro; León-E., Roberto J.; Guerrero-Campoverde, Ariel; Falcón-Reibán, José Manuel; Fajardo-Torres, Jaime Daniel; Picón-Rentería, Patricio; Gabriel, Ray; Sherwood, Danniella et al. (2025-11-14). "Novel insights on Psalmopoeinae Samm & Schmidt, 2010 (Araneae: Theraphosidae): new species, taxonomic restorations, and reversal of four erroneous synonymies". Arachnology 20 (3). doi:10.13156/arac.2024.20.3.18. ISSN 2050-9928. https://bioone.org/journals/arachnology/volume-20/issue-3/arac.2024.20.3.18/Novel-insights-on-Psalmopoeinae-Samm--Schmidt-2010-Araneae/10.13156/arac.2024.20.3.18.full. 
  6. ↑ Peñaherrera-R, Pedro; León-E, Roberto J. (2023-12-13). "On Psalmopoeus Pocock, 1895 (Araneae, Theraphosidae) species and tarantula conservation in Ecuador" (in en). ZooKeys 1186: 185–205. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1186.108991. ISSN 1313-2970. https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/108991/. 
  7. ↑ Bennie, Mikaela (2011-12-01). "Laboratory husbandry of arboreal tarantulas (Theraphosidae) and evaluation of environmental enrichment". Animal Technology and Welfare. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222089254_Laboratory_husbandry_of_arboreal_tarantulas_Theraphosidae_and_evaluation_of_environmental_enrichment. 
  8. ↑ Somerville, Sally; Baker, Stuart; Baines, Frances; Trim, Steven A.; Trim, Carol (2021-04-03). "Full Spectrum Lighting Induces Behavioral Changes and Increases Cortisol Immunoreactivity in Captive Arachnids" (in en). Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 24 (2): 132–148. doi:10.1080/10888705.2021.1872027. ISSN 1088-8705. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10888705.2021.1872027. 
  9. ↑ Punzo, Fred (1999-01-01). "Aspects of the natural history and behavioural ecology of the tarantula spider Aphonopelma hentzi (Girard, 1854) (Orthognatha, Theraphosidae)". Natural history of Aphonopelma hentzi: 1. https://britishspiders.org.uk/system/files/library/110403.pdf. 
  10. ↑ "Psalmopoeus Pocock, 1895" (in en). https://wsc.nmbe.ch/genus-catalog/3594/Psalmopoeus. 
  11. ↑ Pickard Cambridge, Frederick O. (1898-11-01). "On new Species of Spiders from Trinidad, West Indies" (in en). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 66 (4): 890–900. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1898.tb03191.x. ISSN 0370-2774. https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1898.tb03191.x. 
  12. ↑ IvánMendoza-Marroquín, Jorge (2014-09-01). "Psalmopoeus victori, the first arboreal theraphosid spider described for Mexico (Araneae: Theraphosidae: Aviculariinae)". Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 85 (3): 728–735. doi:10.7550/rmb.44597. ISSN 1870-3453. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1870345314701770. 
  13. ↑ Pocock, R.I. (1895-02-01). "XIX.— On a new and natural grouping of some of the Oriental genera of Mygalomorphæ, with descriptions of new genera and species" (in en). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 15 (86): 165–184. doi:10.1080/00222939508677863. ISSN 0374-5481. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00222939508677863. 
  14. ↑ "Arachnoboards" (in en-US). 2026-03-08. https://arachnoboards.com/. 

Wikidata ☰ Q1039211 entry



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