Haplocosmia

Dominik Alexander
Nov 19
5 min read

Haplocosmia is a small genus of Old World tarantulas in the subfamily Selenocosmiinae, first described by Schmidt & von Wirth in 1996. These spiders are native to the southern slopes of the Himalayas and surrounding regions, where they inhabit cool, montane forests in Nepal, northern India, and Tibet.

The genus currently contains three recognized species:

Haplocosmia himalayana – from the Indian Himalayas
Haplocosmia nepalensis – the type species from Nepal
Haplocosmia sherwoodae – described in 2022 from Tibet, China

Haplocosmia are fossorial “earth tigers”, spending most of their lives in silk-lined burrows at elevations around 1,000–2,000+ meters. They are medium-sized tarantulas with a stocky build, dark legs, and lighter patellae and femora that give many specimens a subtle banded look. In common with other Selenocosmiinae, they are fast, defensive when disturbed, and capable of producing an audible stridulating “hiss.”

Haplocosmia himalayana

Common name: Himalayan Earth Tiger (Himalayan banded / purple-banded earthtiger)

Origin: Mountainous foothills on the southern edge of the Himalayas – northern India (Dehradun region) and southern Nepal (e.g., Chitwan).

Lifestyle: Old World obligate fossorial tarantula that lives in silk-lined burrows in moist soil, often in shaded forest edges and banks.

Adult size: Females up to about 13 cm / ~5–6" diagonal leg span (many hobby sources list ~4–6"), males smaller (around 6 cm body length / ~3–4" DLS).

Growth rate: Medium – not as explosive as some Asian terrestrials but noticeably faster than many New World species according to hobby reports and vendor notes.

Temperament: Typical defensive Old World fossorial – fast, secretive, prone to threat postures and a strong feeding response; best suited to intermediate or advanced keepers.

Color & appearance:

Overall earthy brown to grey carapace and abdomen
Legs mostly dark brown to black with contrasting tan/light patellae, giving a subtle “banded” look
When freshly molted, many specimens show a slightly purple or bronze sheen on the legs under strong light.

Species history

Haplocosmia himalayana was first described in 1899 by British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock from material collected around Dehra Dun in the Himalayan foothills of northern India. At that time it was placed in the genus Selenocosmia and known as Selenocosmia himalayana, a name that persisted in the literature for most of the 20th century.

In the 1990s, Schmidt & von Wirth created the genus Haplocosmia for H. nepalensis, recognising a distinct group of Himalayan burrowing tarantulas. A few years later, Günter Schmidt formally transferred Pocock’s species into this genus, giving it the current combination Haplocosmia himalayana and illustrating both male and female under the new

placement.

More recently, field work in Uttarakhand, India has re-documented the species from Rajpur at the base of the Mussoorie Hills and summarised its synonymy, distribution and natural history, even highlighting it as a potential biological pest controller thanks to its appetite for agricultural insect pests. Today, major taxonomic databases list Haplocosmia himalayana (Pocock, 1899) as a valid species of Asian tarantula restricted to the southern Himalayan foothills of India and southern Nepal.

Natural Habitat

Haplocosmia himalayana is native to the southern foothills of the Himalayas, recorded from northern India (Dehradun district, Rajpur, Kasauli, Dalhousie) and the southern foothills of Nepal such as Chitwan. It occurs in montane and submontane forest at a range of elevations, from low foothill valleys (~450 m / 1500 ft) up to around 1,800–2,000+ m in cooler hill stations.

The species lives in silk-lined burrows in moist soil, often along shaded slopes, banks and forest edges where leaf litter and roots provide cover. The local climate is temperate with cool winters: warm, humid summers with average temperatures around 23 °C and relatively high ambient humidity, followed by significantly cooler, drier periods. In this environment H. himalayana behaves as a nocturnal ambush predator, waiting at the burrow entrance or just inside its webbed retreat to seize passing invertebrates, and has even been noted as a natural controller of agricultural insect pests in the Dehradun region.

Our Specimen:

Given name: Bhat

Sex: TBD

Life stage: Juvenile

New addition to our collection.
Absolutely beautiful specimen.
Took down a roach immediately after we housed her.

Haplocosmia sp. Black Femur

Common name: Nepalese Black Femur (Earth Tiger / Tarantula)

Origin: Foothills of the Himalayas, primarily Nepal (with some vendors also listing nearby Tibet/Nepal border localities).

Lifestyle: Old World fossorial / terrestrial burrower that constructs silk-lined burrows in compact soil; sold and kept as a ground-dwelling, burrowing species rather than arboreal.

Adult size: A medium-sized tarantula, typically around 4–5" diagonal leg span at maturity, with a relatively compact build compared to H. himalayana.

Growth rate: Generally medium to fairly quick, in line with other Asian Old World fossorials; reaches adult size in a reasonable timeframe under good feeding and husbandry (based on hobby/vendor reports rather than formal studies).

Temperament: Typical defensive Old World species – fast, reclusive, with a strong feeding response.

Color & appearance:

Distinctive velvety/satiny black femurs on the legs (the trait behind the common name)
Lighter tan to grey patellae and tibiae, giving a sharp dark-on-light banded contrast
Carapace often shows a subtle metallic sheen, with a darker, fuzzy abdomen.

Species History

Haplocosmia sp. “Black Femur” – often sold as the Nepalese Black Femur (Earth Tiger) – is an undescribed Haplocosmia species from Nepal that has not yet been given an official scientific name or description in the taxonomic literature. Current checklists still recognize only three described species in the genus (H. himalayana, H. nepalensis, H. sherwoodae), and “Black Femur” does not appear among them.

The form started appearing in the international hobby in the early 2020s, with dealers advertising it as a wild-caught Old World fossorial tarantula from Nepal and noting it as “new to the hobby.” Since then, it has become more widely available and is now offered both as imported stock and captive-bred spiderlings under the trade name Haplocosmia sp. “Black Femur.”

Hobby observations suggest that “Black Femur” is a smaller, dark-legged Haplocosmia with characteristic velvety black femurs and a 4–5" adult leg span, often compared to but noticeably more compact than H. himalayana. Until a formal taxonomic study is published, Luxe Tarantulas (and most of the hobby) treat it conservatively as Haplocosmia sp. “Black Femur”—a distinctive Nepalese locality/undescribed species within the genus rather than a formally named species.

Natural Habitat

Haplocosmia sp. “Black Femur” – commonly sold as the Nepalese Black Femur Earth Tiger – is reported from Nepal, where it occurs in the foothills and lower slopes of the Himalayan region. Like its close relatives, it is an Old World fossorial tarantula, living in self-dug, silk-lined burrows in compact soil. Dealers and keepers consistently describe it as a terrestrial, burrowing species rather than arboreal, reflecting its ground-dwelling lifestyle in the wild.

The natural environment in this part of Nepal features a seasonal, montane climate: warm, humid summers during the monsoon period and cooler, drier winters, with plenty of leaf litter, roots, and stones that provide cover and anchor points for burrows—very similar to the habitat documented for Haplocosmia himalayana along the southern Himalayan foothills. In this setting, “Black Femur” likely behaves as a nocturnal ambush predator, waiting at or just inside the burrow entrance to seize passing invertebrate prey.

Our Specimen:

Given name: TBD

Sex: TBD

Life stage: Juvenile