09/13/2025
The top photo is what has been sold as Grammostola pulchra for decades. When a 2016 paper came out describing Grammostola quirogai some started to question the identity of the that hobby spider. Later in 2023 a new paper came out with actual photos of Grammostola pulchra, that shows a black spider with white tipped hairs. Similar to the bottom photo seen here. Which is a spider that was sold years ago in the hobby as Grammostola sp. formosa.
I’m now suspicious if what was sold Grammostola sp. formosa is actually the real Grammostola pulchra.
Grammostola pulchra is described as, “brownish black coloration; body thickly covered by long hairs of the same color but with yellowish or greyish tips, more abundant in the ventral region”
While Grammostola quirogai is described as,
“dark coloration with some white-grey hairs.”
I’m fairly confident at the very least that everything being sold and bred in the hobby as Grammostola pulchra is Grammostola quirogai.
And I’m only speculating about Grammostola sp. formosa being the real Grammostola pulchra. Im not a taxonomist and I’m well aware that comparing photos isn’t a way to properly ID a spider. But…..
References
Montes de Oca, L., D'Elía, G. & Pérez-Miles, F. (2016). An integrative approach for species delimitation in the spider genus Grammostola (Theraphosidae, Mygalomorphae). Zoologica Scripta 45(3): 322-333. doi:10.1111/zsc.12152
Pittella, R. S., Bassa, P. G., Zefa, E. & Bianchi, F. P. (2023). Using the integrative approach to update a gap of one century: redescription and new distribution records of the South American tarantulas Grammostola pulchra (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae). Zoological Studies 62(5): 1-15. doi:10.6620/ZS.2023.62-05
