The king baboon spider is rusty brown to orange in color. They live in the shrublands and grasslandsofeast Africa, often using vegetation as a protective cover for their burrows. They are one of the few tarantulas that use stridulation as a major defense mechanism in addition to rearing up and striking. They produce the stridulation-sound-effect by rubbing the femurs of their first and second pairs of legs.
They are a slow-growing species, but can reach a leg span of up to 20 centimeters. They are burrowing-spiders with thick back-legs used for digging. They generally hunt beetles, cockroaches, and other spiders, and they will put silk near the entrance to its burrow to detect vibrations of passing prey.
They are popular among collectors, but they tend to be highly defensive, lacking urticating hairs, and are not suitable for beginners. They have very strong venom, though none are known to be deadly to humans. A bite from a smaller spider will cause sharp pain and localized itchiness for five days.[4]
Adults can be kept in a converted aquarium if given plenty of ventilation and a substrate at least 25 centimeters deep. Younger spiders can be kept in small containers, such as pill- and waxworm-tubs, but will need deeper containers as they grow.[4]
^Gallon, R. C. (2010). "On some southern African Harpactirinae, with notes on the eumenophorines Pelinobius muticus Karsch, 1885 and Monocentropella Strand, 1907 (Araneae, Theraphosidae)". Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society. 15 (2): 43.
^Karsch, F. (1885). "Verzeichniss der von Dr. G. A. Fischer auf der im Auftrage der geographischen Gesellschaft in Hamburg unternommen Reise in das Massai-Land gesammelten Myriopoden und Arachnoiden". Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen Wissenschaftlichen Anstalten. 2: 131–139.
