Bug card No. 0991 of 1,500

Orange baboon tarantula

Pterinochilus murinus

Eats: Other bugs and small animals SpidersDeserts and dry places8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The orange baboon tarantula is a hairy spider from Africa that can be bright orange, red or brown. It has a star pattern on its front and colourful rings on its legs.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!

Lives in

Central and southern Africa, including Angola and Zanzibar

Top speed

about 1.5 km/h (0.93 mph)

On foot, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Dangerous: look, do not touch

Watch out! Read all about it on Venom Wiki →

What does it eat?

It hunts insects like crickets and grasshoppers, and can even catch small lizards and mice.

Photo of Orange baboon tarantula — Picture by Galak76 10:22, 15 January 2007 (UTC). CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

Orange baboon tarantula about 1.5 km/h (0.93 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Pet keepers call it OBT, which they joke stands for orange bitey thing.

Its colour may depend on the kind of soil where it lives.

The female digs a burrow, or moves into an empty one someone else dug.

you asked

Most asked questions about Orange baboon tarantula

?Why is it called a baboon spider?

African tarantulas like this one are known as baboon spiders. Its orange colour gives it the rest of its name.

?How big is an orange baboon tarantula?

With its legs, a female can be 10 to 15 centimetres across. Males are a bit smaller.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Pterinochilus murinus
Named by: Pocock, 1897
Group: Spiders
Family: Theraphosidae
Classification: Arachnida > Araneae > Theraphosidae
Lives on: Africa
Also known as: OBT, Mombasa golden starburst tarantula

Where the facts come from

Pterinochilus murinus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by Galak76 10:22, 15 January 2007 (UTC). CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.