Description
Scientific Name: Orphnaecus philippinus
Common names: Philippine Tangerine
What’s large, orange and doesn’t like to be messed with? Yes the OBT, Pterinochilus murinus – Orange Baboon Tarantula. But it doesn’t hold that description on it’s own. Orphnaecus philippinus – The Philippine Tangerine is also a large orange old world tarantula, but with a few differences in both appearance and temperament. The Philippine Tangerine is a very slender, sleek and velvety looking bird spider with very little to no markings over it’s entire body and is definitely not as chunky as most baboon spider species. Even the carapace and abdomen are slender and oval shaped as though stretched out a little, some hobbyists refer to the abdomen as being pill shaped.
As far as temperament, Orphnaecus philippinus is an old world species and is very capable of defending itself, but generally chooses to bolt for cover as it’s first line of defense. If it finds itself cornered with no way out, more effective means of defense might be used. Very few bites have been reported from this species but their venom should be considered medically significant and will most likely be very painful.
The Philippine Tangerine lives a fossorial life for the most part, taking shelter and hiding in it’s burrows for much of it’s life. They produce a fair amount of webbing so you could either provide them with an enclosure which only has deep substrate for a burrow to be constructed, or you can provide them with a hybrid setup consisting of both deep substrate (but not as deep) and lots of structure in the hope that your tarantula will use both to create a beautiful looking shelter in your enclosure.
These are currently quite rare in South Africa, but slings have recently been released and can be found for sale here and there (Nov 2020).