luke_goddard's Identifications

Golden Baboon Spider

A fairly small baboon spider (length from chelicerae to tip of abdomen: approx. 3-4cm) found in a silk lined tunnel under a large stone. Its colour appeared more brown in the shade of its burrow, but under the flash it came out as a rich, shiny gold. I searched for an example with similar colouration, but those species with golden brown bodies always seem to have the same colour on at least the first leg segment as well. Three other baboon spiders were seen on the same day, but none with such uniform and striking colouration of the abdomen and cephalothorax. A tiny juvenile found some distance away did display a golden sheen, but it lacked the dark legs (variation with age?).