Pterinochilus sp. lapalala

Pterinochilus sp. lapalala comes from the Waterberg mountains in South Africa's Limpopo Province and is the southernmost known member of its genus. It was formally described in 2011 as Pterinochilus lapalala, the name honouring the Lapalala Wilderness School for its work protecting the region's wild places. Its colouring is understated but refined: a greyish beige body, a golden tint on the upper surfaces of the legs and chelicerae, faint pale radiating lines on the carapace and an irregular pattern of dark spots and bars on the abdomen.

In the wild it is a specialist of life beneath stones. It settles under loose rocks on bushveld slopes and fills the cavity below with a dense, untidy sheet web in which it lives. Its flattened build is an adaptation to exactly these crevices. When a rock is lifted, the spiders scatter at great speed and disappear into hollows in the ground. The same character shows in the enclosure: eager webbing of the décor, silk tunnels and a turn of speed that impresses even seasoned keepers. Like the rest of the genus it is defensive and quick to adopt a threat posture when disturbed.

We offer L3 spiderlings. An enclosure wider than it is tall works best, with 5-7 cm of coconut fibre and a flat piece of cork bark laid on the substrate for the spider to build its retreat beneath. The Waterberg is a dry region with cool winters and hot summers, so keep the substrate mostly dry but never entirely so: regularly mist part of the enclosure and the spiderlings will drink droplets from the walls. A water dish only makes sense for larger specimens. Room temperature is perfectly adequate. Appropriately sized prey tends to disappear quickly. Over time the webbed-over bark becomes the centre of the spider's life and the best spot to watch.

This is a display species for advanced keepers. Medically significant venom, great speed and a defensive temperament call for calm, deliberate maintenance and the habit of anticipating the spider rather than reacting to it. In return you get a rarely kept member of the African Harpactirinae with a narrow, well-documented range, whose life under stones you can watch unfold in your own enclosure.