Mexican redknee tarantula

Brachypelma smithi · The Mexican redknee tarantula is a large, burrowing spider that lives in the hilly tropical forests of Guerrero, on Mexico's Pacific coast.

Also called Mexican red-knee tarantula, Red-kneed Tarantula.

Mexican redknee tarantula
Photo: George Chernilevsky, Public domain
Mexican redknee tarantula
Photo: George Chernilevsky, Public domain
Mexican redknee tarantula
Photo: Patrick Edwin Moran, CC BY-SA 3.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassArachnida
OrderAraneae
FamilyTheraphosidae
GenusBrachypelma
SpeciesBrachypelma smithi

Where it lives

Dry deciduous forests on the Pacific slope of Guerrero state.

Fun facts

  • Although male redknee tarantulas have slightly shorter bodies than females, they have longer legs.
  • This tarantula's bluish-black legs wear colorful rings, including dark reddish orange, pale yellowish pink and pinkish white.
  • Deep burrows protect these spiders from predators like the white-nosed coati and let them ambush passing prey such as large insects, frogs and mice.
  • Females spend most of their lives inside their burrows.

Play it

The Mexican redknee tarantula was the creature in a regional daily on October 9, 2026. Can you identify tomorrow's from its photos? Every day brings a new creature to place from kingdom to genus, map and name.

Play today's creature or replay a past daily

Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).