BL –> body length – a less common way of measuring a T, from chelicerae to spinnerets.

KL –> Kropslængde

BS –> Benspænd

CB –> captive bred — Although some people use CB to mean captive born which could include sacs from WC mothers.

CBB –> captive bred & born, to distinguish spiders mated in captivity.

CH –> captive hatched, usually means from wild caught mothers 

CR –> captive raised 

Crix –> crickets 

DCF –> dark color form

Death curl –> A dying T, upright with legs curled like a clenching fist 

Dessicated –> dehydrated, dried up 

DKS –> Dyskineticsyndrom – A normally fatal disease that affects tarantulas, extremely rare. Symptoms include jerky, spastic, or wobbly movements. 

DLS –> Diagonal Leg Span. = messured from the toe on first leg, diagonally to the toe on last leg on other side.

DIY –> do it yourself (building your own tanks, enclosures, hides, backdrops, etc.) 

EWL –> Eggs With Legs = new slings, still not able to move or eat.

FS/T –> for sale or trade 

Genera –> plural form of genus.

Gravid –> a female with eggs, pregnant.

Hide –> an artificial burrow or place for your tarantula to hide (wood, bark, flower pot, coconut shell etc.) 

ICU –> intensive care unit, a place to keep an ailing T (usually a sterile delicup with a moist paper towel) 

ISO –> In search of 

Juvie –> juvenile tarantula 

KK –> kritter keeper 

LPS –> local pet store 

LS/DLS –> leg span/diagonal leg span – the common way of measuring a T (leg I on one side to leg IV on the other side) 

LTC –> long term captive, but originally wild caught 

Nematode –> A worm-like parasite that can infect tarantulas, either wild caught or fed wild caught prey. Very rare. 

NW –> new world (from North, Central, and South America) 

OW –> old world (from Africa, Asia, Australia)

Pet hole –> an obligate burrowing species, once they dig their burrow, the “hole” is about all you see of them 

Pinhead –> very small crickets, used to feed very small spiders 

Post-molt –> Right after molting when the exoskeleton is hardening (darkening) 

Pre-molt –> The timeframe (1 week to 2 months) prior to molting. Signs: fasting, darkened abdomen, sluggish behavior, etc. 

RCF –> red color form

RH –> relative humidity 

SADS –> Sudden Avic Death Syndrome – sometimes avic slings just die suddenly for no apparent reason 

Sexual dimorphism –> when one gender has a characteristic difference from the other (color, size, etc.) 

Sling (or s’ling) –>baby tarantula 

Spiderling –> baby tarantula

Substrate –> the material that is the bottom enclosure (coconut coir, peat moss, potting soil, etc.) 

T –> tarantula 

TCF –> typical color form

Temp –> temperature 

Threat display –> when a T rears its front legs up (and sometimes bears
fangs) in defense 

Theraphosid –> short for Theraphosidae – The scientific family that tarantulas belong to. 

Ventral sexing –> Determining the sex of a T by examining the area between the booklungs. 

WC –> wild caught 

WTB –> want to buy 

Anatomy/Biology – Just a few of the more common terms. 
Boxing gloves – embolus/emboli – Enlarged, bulbous ends of the pedipalps on a mature male 
Exuvia/exuviae or exuvium/exuvia – The cast skin of a tarantula after a molt 
Palps – pedipalps – the two short leg-like appendages at the front of the tarantula. Tarantulas use them to hold prey. When a male has his ultimate molt, his sexual organs (emboli) appear at the ends of the palps. 
Setae – Commonly called hair, due to its appearance, seta is actually a bristle. 
Spermathecae – term for a female tarantulas reproductive organs. They are internal and are visible on the inside of the exuvium. Finding the spermathecae in the molt is the most reliable method for sexing a tarantula as a female. 
Sperm web – Special web made by mature males to aid in filling the spermophores on their palps. 
Stridulate – Some tarantulas have stridulatory setae which make a ‘hissing’ sound when rubbed together to deter predators. Sounds like velcro. 
Urticating hair or (U-hairs) – urticating setae (proper term) – The barbed setae that NW tarantulas can dislodge as a defensive mechanism. It can penetrate the skin cause itching. 
Ventral – underside or belly of the tarantula 

Tarantula Species
When writing out tarantula names, scientific names should always be italicized, but on message boards we are often too lazy to do so. 

The genus name is always capitalized and the species name is always lower case (ex: Aphonopelma chalcodes) 

You can abbreviate the genus name of a species using just the first letter with a period (ex: A. chalcodes) 

You can talk about an unknown or undescribed species of a genus by using sp. (species) (ex: Aphonopelma sp. or Aphonopelma sp. New River) 

In common names, country or location names are capitalized, all other names are lower case (ex: Texas tan tarantula, Costa Rican zebra tarantula, pinktoe tarantula, desert blond tarantula) 

Apho/Aphos – Tarantula of the genus Aphonopelma

Avic – Tarantula of the genus Avicularia

Avic avic – Avicularia avicularia (pinktoe tarantula) 

Baboon spider – Tarantula species from Africa 

Blondi – GBE – Goliath – Theraphosa blondi (goliath birdeater tarantula) 

Brachy – Tarantula of the genus Brachypelma 

CRZ –  Aphonopelma seemanni (Costa Rican zebra tarantula) 

Curly – Brachypelma albopilosum (curlyhair tarantula) 

GBB – Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (green bottleblue tarantula) 

Genic – Acanthoscurria geniculata (whitebanded tarantula) 

Grammy – Tarantula of the genus Grammostola 

KB – Citharischius crawshayi (king baboon tarantula) 

Lassies – Tarantulas of the genus Lasiodora 

LBJ = little brown jobby – any of the plain looking brown tarantulas 

OBT – Pterinochilus murinus (Mombasa golden starburst) – also called orange baboon tarantula or orange bitey thing 

Ornamental Spider – Tarantula of the genus Poecilotheria

Pokie – Tarantula of the genus Poecilotheria

Psalmo – Tarantula of the genus Psalmopoeus

PZB – Eupalaestrus campestratus (pink zebra beauty tarantula) 

Rosie – Grammostola rosea (Chilean rose tarantula) 

Taps – Tarantula of the genus Tapinauchenius

Versi – Avicularia versicolor (Antilles pinktoe tarantula)

BCF – blue color form 
DCF – dark color form 
LCF – light color form 
NCF – normal color form 
RCF – red color form 
TCF – typical color form