Giant Chicken Eater!

si_sleaf · Jul 2, 2003

nemesis6sic6 · Jul 2, 2003

hey

Yeah that was cool. I didn't know that they hunted together(the chicken Ts) That was really good info that I had no I dea about
any ways that was good and umm have a nice day
geo

Gillian · Jul 2, 2003

Oh..
There's a link to this post?! For a moment there, I thought someone was exposing me...
*lol*
Peace,
Gillian

SpiderFood · Jul 2, 2003

Chicken Spider. Wonder what that omlet would taste like?
lol

dale

Mojo Jojo · Jul 3, 2003

That is one handsome spider! Anyone know of the scientific name?

Jon

xBurntBytheSunx · Jul 3, 2003

50 T's in one burrow! thats pretty amazing

danread · Jul 3, 2003

hmmm, I'm pretty dubious about most of the information in there. Cooperative hunting in a tarantula? I'll need to see a bit more hard evidence before i believe that one. It all seems a bit vauge and far fetched if you ask me.

Dan.

si_sleaf · Jul 3, 2003

Well I don't suppose it actually proves anything because there are no pictures BUT thee is a link at the bottom of the page to the radio show that was broadcast on Radio 4. Pretty interesting listening I thought.

Lopez · Jul 3, 2003

Originally posted by danread
hmmm, I'm pretty dubious about most of the information in there. Cooperative hunting in a tarantula? I'll need to see a bit more hard evidence before i believe that one. It all seems a bit vauge and far fetched if you ask me.

Dan.

Rick West doesn't seem to think so

You might be interested to read this article:

--->>>Download Here<<<---

abstract · Jul 3, 2003

I know this might not be PC - but the question is - will I be able to get one in the pet trade after they have been further researched? I'd like to have another potential communal spider to choose other than the A. Avic.

Get a few, throw a chick in there, and watch them simultaneously feed on it? That's got to be pretty neat....

danread · Jul 3, 2003

Didn't see any mention of cooperative hunting in that article, or group living. Is there any more information about this spider on the net?

MizM · Jul 3, 2003

I'll believe it when I SEE it!

Bob the thief · Jul 3, 2003

If this shows up in the journal of arachnology ill have a heart attack and die. "new species of therphosid discovered" who knows some scientists speculate spiders may one day become like ants and turn into communal animals with complex social behaviors.

Code Monkey · Jul 3, 2003

We had a long, heated thread about this before but it was on the old boards and is now lost. The general consensus is that the picture with all the Ts in it is a photoshopped fake which gives the rest of the guy's claims a very dubious air.

When the guy actually publishes something in a respectable journal about their communal hunting, I'll believe it, but until then I remain very, very skeptical since in spite of what some people in this thread obviously believe, there is no such thing as a communal tarantula (at least in the trade).

There are some rather tolerant species of tarantulas, but none that even come close to the definition of communal, and none approaching social which is what that old BBC article would have us believe.

Crotalus · Jul 3, 2003

Wheather the picture with the spiderlings are a fake or not I dont know, but its not uncommon to find ts surrounded by spiderlings.
There are a few species that lives in the same burrow as frogs so again - who knows.
Besides, the article is published in BTS Journal, quite a respectable paper.
I hope he goes there again and do some further studies.

/Lelle

Bob the thief · Jul 3, 2003

That article never said those pictures where of that animal I mean if the guy is looking for it he cant already have pictures...

arcane · Jul 3, 2003

Yeah it seemed implied that this is what they "might" be like... although they should have made it clearer.

Imagine something like an ant colony composed of blondis? Cows would start disappearing!

NightCrawler · Jul 4, 2003

According to what I've just read he actually have found chicken spiders

http://www.livingrainforest.org/pages/39.html?item=23

Steve Nunn · Jul 5, 2003

Originally posted by NightCrawler
According to what I've just read he actually have found chicken spiders

If you go over to the BTS site and have a look at the chat transcripts, you'll find the transcript for the interview with Martin. These spiders are apparently Pamphobeteus sp., also it's known that Xenesthis spp. young grow to quite a size while still in the mothers burrow, so this wouldn't surprise me at all (if it's true).

Cheers,
Steve

MizM · Jul 7, 2003

I found it curious that their main objective was to

"1.__ Find, identify and collect arboreal and terrestrial theraphosid spiders of the Tambopata rainforest."
(Note: They say COLLECT.)

Then, later in the story:

"The question I have been asked most often since my return is “Did you bring any back?” The sad answer is no. A Chicken Spider, I’m sure, would form the centrepiece of anyone’s collection and would cause many a captive breeder to drool. The truth is that to take one of these spectacular spiders away from the reserve would be to touch a previously untouched and truly beautiful place, to take a little link out of a complex and delicate food chain."

Wouldn't it be imperative to bring one back to get a type specimen and/or identify the true species? If it is such a mystery, wouldn't it be in the best interest of the species to identify it, find another specimen of the opposite sex and begin a captive breeding program (or breed and release?) to preserve it? And, with all the sightings they had of the alleged "Chicken Spider" why did they take no pictures? You CAN'T tell me they forgot their camera!!:?

Giant Chicken Eater!

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