Gorgeous!
Just something about spiders I love.
- Thread starter FreddieP318ti
- Start date
Gorgeous!
My little shaving buddy today!
KJ:
He's also just watching and wondering which AS / Cologne you'll be using for the day!
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I've been absolutely fascinated by spiders and other arachnids since I was a little kid; started keeping tarantulas and scorpions at the age of eight. I'd amassed a pretty large collection but eventually sold them all when my financial situation took a dump.
Thanks for this thread, I've actually considered getting back into it. This time, though, my focus will more likely on true spiders and non-theraphosid mygalamorphs. For those of you unfamiliar, that means primitive spiders with downward pointing fangs that are not considered tarantulas: trapdoor spiders, pursewebs, folding door spiders, funnel webs, etc. IMO, they're even more fascinating than theraphosids.
I'll likely be on the lookout for these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liphistiidae
http://carnivoraforum.com/topic/9696997/1/
Some of the coolest spiders around, IMO. These spiders have stayed practically the same for over three hundred million years. Probably the most peculiar thing about the genus is that while they do possess venom glands, they're not thought to actually be capable of injecting it.
Thanks for this thread, I've actually considered getting back into it. This time, though, my focus will more likely on true spiders and non-theraphosid mygalamorphs. For those of you unfamiliar, that means primitive spiders with downward pointing fangs that are not considered tarantulas: trapdoor spiders, pursewebs, folding door spiders, funnel webs, etc. IMO, they're even more fascinating than theraphosids.
I'll likely be on the lookout for these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liphistiidae
http://carnivoraforum.com/topic/9696997/1/
Some of the coolest spiders around, IMO. These spiders have stayed practically the same for over three hundred million years. Probably the most peculiar thing about the genus is that while they do possess venom glands, they're not thought to actually be capable of injecting it.
LOL, Me too. I have 60 individual tanks, and one communal tank with about 50 H. incei in it. Not counting my scorpions and millipedes.
That's awesome. I'm a big fan of Ctenizidae Trapdoor Spiders, especially the genus Cyclocosmia. I don't have any yet, but someday I will.
Very neat. We had a "pet" spider in college. It took up residence on our back porch. We caught flies and other insects to feed it. It was so awesome to throw a fly into its web, then watch it pounce. Sometimes when we were feeling mean/bored, we'd throw a small twig in to trick it. it would still pounce the twig, but then it would throw the twig from its web once it found out it wasn't food. It was there for a few months until a particularly violent storm blew through. The next morning, the spider and web were gone.
Oh trust me, Cyclocosmia are certainly on my short list! Some of the neatest trapdoors around.
Also on my list is the genus Macrothele: Japanese and Chinese Funnel Webs. They're actually fairly common in the trade now, but for some reason, no one really seems to know how potent their venom really is. Not that I mind - one of my favorite genera to keep is Latrodectus when it comes to true spiders - but it's the combination of unknown toxicity, speed, size and defensiveness that has me a little iffy. There are some absolutely stunning funnel webs from South America that are on my list, as well.
I like Latrodectus as well. Easy to keep and neat to watch. I had one that I caught in Florida.
They're all over the place here, especially at work where it's probably the most common genus. Used to be mactans and some variolus here and there, but now geometricus has all but completely taken over.
Wish I could find them here. I'm sure they are around, but not abundant. I sure wish the brown recluse weren't as abundant here as they are though.
The Brown Widows are a very recent thing, then they suddenly became very abundant in certain areas.
Funny you should mention recluses. I'm in South Carolina and we don't have them here. My great aunt lives in Southern Missouri, dad and I went to visit her when I was fourteen or so. She knew I loved spiders, so she told me that there were a ton in the wine cellar. I'm not easily creeped out by spiders, of course, but I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my life. The place was literally filled with recluses. If you moved anything, they'd just scatter from underneath. I didn't know the males could get that big, either!
She was mid eighties at the time, legally blind and had never been bitten in her life despite them being all over the place. Guess what happened to me the very first night? Woke up on the couch and right underneath my hand was a dead recluse. I'd been bitten. Nothing really came of it, though; no ill effects or anything. It did scab over and I still have a very small scar on my finger from it.
That time in Missouri is also the first time I've ever collected scorpions and my very first tarantula in the wild before. What a memorable moment for a guy like me...LOL. The "glades" are absolutely filled with C. vittatus, then found an absolutely gorgeous female A. hentzi under a very large boulder. Also the first time I've ever experienced a scorpion sting, a fairly small one was hiding in the hole in the boulder I put my fingers in to get leverage! What an odd feeling that was, almost like an electrical shock.
Sorry for rambling
I have yet to make it down to the glades. Been wanting to try to find MO tarantulas and scorpions for a long time.
Wow, you've never been to the glades? Figured it'd be a normal weekend getaway for you
C. vittatus are absolutely everywhere, you'll have no trouble finding them at all. A. hentzi tends to be a little more elusive; downright difficult to find, sometimes. They tend to prefer more wooded areas and open fields. Much of the time they're under large rocks or fallen trees in make-shift burrows or "scrapes" they've dug.
C. vittatus are absolutely everywhere, you'll have no trouble finding them at all. A. hentzi tends to be a little more elusive; downright difficult to find, sometimes. They tend to prefer more wooded areas and open fields. Much of the time they're under large rocks or fallen trees in make-shift burrows or "scrapes" they've dug.
There used to be a group of tarantula enthusiasts that went down every year for the MO Bug Hunt, but I never was free on the weekends that they went. I need to just go camping down there myself some weekend. Next year, lol, too cold now.
You must be from Arachnoboards? Brian S organizes it all, I believe. He's a hell of a guy, also.
I was just on that site looking up more info on Macrothele. They've been on the hobby for a good while now, but apparently any information about their venom is still scarce. Guess no one's been bitten yet; guess that's a good thing! About the only advice you can find is, "don't get bitten". Gee, thanks
Do you keep any true spiders at all?
I was just on that site looking up more info on Macrothele. They've been on the hobby for a good while now, but apparently any information about their venom is still scarce. Guess no one's been bitten yet; guess that's a good thing! About the only advice you can find is, "don't get bitten". Gee, thanks
Do you keep any true spiders at all?
Black and Yellow Argiope, beautiful spiders. Down in Florida, you also have the Golden Silk Orb Weavers, which are far larger and make even more awesome webs.
Man, you guys are outta yer mind. Spiders creep me out. Here in Fla Banana Spiders are everywhere with their super-duper sticky, thick webbing. Before mowing, I'd go out with a broom and knock them down so I didn't end up mowing my leg/foot off with the self-propelled mower as I did the kung-foo moves that one does when walking thruma web(Yes- there was an incident when the mower got away from me and almost went into the pond.) I let the pmes outside stay, but come inside, or worse, get into my car- and you're toast. Just not a fan at all. Snakes, scorpions, bugs, lizards, whatever- doesn't bother me. But spiders are not good for me. But you guys do have so,e interesting and beautiful pics.
OSY, I'm on AB, but not a fan. I'm more of an ATS kinda guy.
Great pictures guys! Some of those webs are incredible. I remember when vacationing in Key West there was a spider that would create a web starting on a roof overhang and extending downwards to the patio hand railing. It was probably a distance of 5+ feet. It amazed me to see what some of them were capable of. We left it alone and would sit on the porch drinking while countless flies (and mosquitoes!) met their demise.
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