Hybrid Trouble

[MantisSpider29]

I need some guidance here. About 3 years ago I thought I got a female Poclithera rufialta. I just got back into the hobby back then, so I was just looking for a large arboreal spider and I was not worried about IDing. In the past 7 months I mated her with a male Poclithera rufialta . Yesterday when I should a picture of her to some friends they said that it was not a Poclithera rufialta. It turns out she is actually a Poclithera ornata, and she is very pregnant. Now this mating was a accident, as I did not know the proper ID of the female when mating occurred or up until yesterday.

Now when she lays I know the right thing to do would be to take the sac and freeze it. But, I can not find it in my soul to kill all of those eggs. I can not muster the strength to do it even if it is the right thing to do. If she eats it, then that is just nature correcting itself. Any help on get over this issue or is there another solution here beyond just keeping all of those slings?

 

[lostbrane]

Well, you can hope that she molts before she lays a sac. You can just have all the spiderlings eat each other. You'd have one left and you could keep it as a reminder to not do this again
Ok, that might have been a terrible joke for the last bit there, but that is an option...
Lesson be learnt and such.

 

[MantisSpider29]

Oh yeah, I also have over 150 mantids to feed right now. Free food lol. But, in honesty that would not be a bad idea to let hem eat each other and just keep one or two.

 

[Toddydog]

I would say you could give the slings to people who won't breed them but even then you risk the chance that someone still breeds them creating more mixed hybrids.

 

[Teal]

Free mantid food and/or letting them cannibalize down their numbers would be my options.

I would say you could give the slings to people who won't breed them but even then you risk the chance that someone still breeds them creating more mixed hybrids.

I would friggin LOVE to have some as oddities <3

 

[KezyGLA]

You should always know the ID of a species 100% before attempting to breed.

Do not give the slings away to anyone as there is no guarantees what will happen with them once out of your care. They may give away, sell on or breed.

Do yourself, and the hobby a favour by removing the sac as soon as it is laid and tossing it in the bin. If the eggs arent even developed then you arent killing anything.

 

[JAFUENTES]

Keep one just to observe but the rest have to go where no one else can get them.

 

[Nightstalker47]

Sounds like the perfect excuse to experiment with an enormous pokie communal lol. I would try to raise them, as mentioned, theres no danger of further hybridization unless you sell them or give them away.

Seriously though, nothing to lose either way...would be interesting to see the specimens as they grow and if they take after ornata or rufilata. Might even help some people in the future with identification for those who get hybrids unknowingly. It happens more then you think.

 

[MantisSpider29]

The ideas here offer up very good insights to eather choice. If I destroy the sack then I just start over. If I let her incubate it I can keep them communally and see what happens. Mabye even 20 inch pokies. Anyways I got a pen ultimate P.ornata today. So.in a couple months I can start over again.

 

[Greasylake]

While this is unfortunate we'd much rather have you come here and ask what to do than go off and try to sell the slings as whatever they look like most.

 

[MantisSpider29]

I have been digging in my past sells and the male might actually be a p.ornata. Some time in the past I got a P.rufilata when I had the p.ornata female with the male. Somewhere along the line in the mess of school finals, mantis breeding, and other life stuff i started calling the p.ornatas p.rufialtas. Will keep digging for the truth.

 

[Liquifin]

I have been digging in my past sells and the male might actually be a p.ornata. Some time in the past I got a P.rufilata when I had the p.ornata female with the male. Somewhere along the line in the mess of school finals, mantis breeding, and other life stuff i started calling the p.ornatas p.rufialtas. Will keep digging for the truth.

Hybrid T.'s are always going to be out there. Even if the male probably is P. ornata, You should at least provide pictures. I still wouldn't sell any of the slings, so you should find a way to deal with that. I remember the "Mexican Fantasy" hybrid years ago, it was a Brachypelma hybrid between the B. verdezi and B. vagans. It was awful, all the slings was given as freebies as no one wanted to buy the slings. The only person that has a "Mexican Fantasy" is Jon3800 on youtube, so you should go check it out.

 

[MetalMan2004]

Sounds like the perfect excuse to experiment with an enormous pokie communal lol. I would try to raise them, as mentioned, theres no danger of further hybridization unless you sell them or give them away.

Seriously though, nothing to lose either way...would be interesting to see the specimens as they grow and if they take after ornata or rufilata. Might even help some people in the future with identification for those who get hybrids unknowingly. It happens more then you think.

I’d be curious to see what happens with a communal. Will they take after rufilata and live peacefully or ornata and savagely eat each other?

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I need some guidance here. About 3 years ago I thought I got a female Poclithera rufialta. I just got back into the hobby back then, so I was just looking for a large arboreal spider and I was not worried about IDing. In the past 7 months I mated her with a male Poclithera rufialta . Yesterday when I should a picture of her to some friends they said that it was not a Poclithera rufialta. It turns out she is actually a Poclithera ornata, and she is very pregnant. Now this mating was a accident, as I did not know the proper ID of the female when mating occurred or up until yesterday.

Now when she lays I know the right thing to do would be to take the sac and freeze it. But, I can not find it in my soul to kill all of those eggs. I can not muster the strength to do it even if it is the right thing to do. If she eats it, then that is just nature correcting itself. Any help on get over this issue or is there another solution here beyond just keeping all of those slings?

Man just keep em all , they should live a while . Maybe you can keep em going another generation have your own Frankenstein’s tarantula.
What’s a few 100 pokies other then awsomeness???
Don’t hurt those poor fellows or give them away sure somebody will try breeding them with another species . They will keep the roach numbers down

 

[advan]

Do you have pictures (ventral and dorsal) of both the male and female?

 

[Teal]

Do you have pictures (ventral and dorsal) of both the male and female?

The female is absolutely *not* a rufilata. The male... well that's harder to tell. He really looks rufi to me, but *could* be ornata...

 

[advan]

The female is absolutely *not* a rufilata. The male... well that's harder to tell. He really looks rufi to me, but *could* be ornata...

Hence why I asked for pictures, ventral especially.

 

[Teal]

Hence why I asked for pictures, ventral especially.

I know... I'll let the OP share them as I don't have permission to do so, but I was sharing my observations since I have seen photos of the spiders in question.

 

[Nightstalker47]

If you can get those pics in this thread they would be useful.

P.rufilata MM

P.ornata MM

 

[advan]

You can see why a ventral picture of the male is needed.

Any picture of the female will work.