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Texas Brown Tarantula (Aphonopelma hentzi)
Aphonopelma hentzi
The Aphonopelma hentzi, the immortal 'Texas Brown Tarantula'. It is the classic and massive tarantula of the American southwest, of a uniform dark brown or pale chocolate color (5.1-5.9 inches legspan). Indestructible and with a glacial growth rate, it can exceed 30 years of age in captivity. Extremely docile, tolerant to extreme climatic variations and a great digger, it is the perfect, albeit chromatically monotonous, 'Pet Rock' for those looking for a rustic and stainless spider.
Class:Arachnida
Order:Araneae
Family:Theraphosidae
Subfamily:Theraphosinae
Genus:Aphonopelma
Species:Aphonopelma hentzi
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
50 - 65 %
Day temperature
24 - 29 °C
Night temperature
20 - 24 °C
UVB
None
Species description
Geographic Origin and Habitat: The cited field study was conducted in Big Bend Ranch State Park, Brewster County, Texas, in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, where Aphonopelma hentzi occurred throughout the sampled area. This is a study-area record and not a complete range assessment.
Taxonomy and Genetics: The primary study identifies its focal taxon as Aphonopelma hentzi (Girard, 1854) in Theraphosidae. It is a natural-history study and does not offer a genetic analysis or a new taxonomic revision.
Behaviour and Habits: At the study site, adult females excavated their own burrows or occupied abandoned rodent burrows. Adult males were more frequently found in rock crevices or beneath rocks. The spiders were most active between 20:00 and 01:00 in that study.
Morphology and Sexual Dimorphism: Among the measured adults, females were larger than males in body length and mass, with larger pedipalps and fangs. Males had longer legs and a smaller tibial index. These differences are reported from the sampled study population.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium setup: In the Trans-Pecos study area, adult females excavated their own burrows or occupied abandoned rodent burrows; adult males were more often found in rock crevices or beneath rocks. These are field observations, not a prescriptive captive-enclosure design.
Lighting and heating: The study found clearly nocturnal activity, highest between 20:00 and 01:00. On one July field date, deep-burrow temperatures remained 26–29 °C even when ground surface reached 59 °C; this is not presented as a captive temperature set point.
Humidity and hydration: The cited field study does not provide a general captive humidity or hydration regime.
Feeding and supplementation: Field observations recorded a broad prey spectrum including beetles, cockroaches, Orthoptera, Lepidoptera and other arachnids. Vertebrate prey was not found in the study area; observations from more southern sites were expressly unpublished.
Compatibility and cohabitation: Staged encounters carried documented mortality: 17 of 84 females grasped and killed a male, and one male was killed in 8 of 24 staged male–male agonistic encounters. These are study results, not a prediction for every encounter.
Health and common diseases: The cited study reports no disease or treatment protocol; it should not be used to infer one.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
This species originates from: Stati Uniti (Deserti, praterie aride e steppe dal Texas al Missouri).
Origin
North America
Terrestrial invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 12.5 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Venom level
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 12.5 cm. The The Tarantula Collective — Aphonopelma hentzi source reports a maximum adult measurement of 12.5 cm for this species, recorded as diagonal leg span (DLS). The taxonomic record consulted is Aphonopelma hentzi. These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
Related species
Recommendations grouped by close relatives, companion choices, and similar care.
