Ischnothele caudata

Philth

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Ischnothele caudata are a small spider in the Dipluridae family. They range from Mexico to Brazil, and groups live in close quarters of each other. I recently hatched some and will try to raise them communally.

Female


Ultimate male


A young female feeding.


Mating



Eggsac


Eggsac hatched


Spiderlings communally feeding on some crickets that the mother killed for them.




I'll use this thread to update how they do.

Later, Tom
 

AbraxasComplex

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I kept this species in a large group for a few generations. Sadly my last batch had no males reach maturity and I now have only 3 old females left. Great species and crazy webbers.
 

Tomek

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Nice spiders and this community is a great concept. Will surely keep my eye on this thread!
 

Oski121

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Awesome

I keep these and had two what I thought adult pairs, one male died and the Female shed again so will probably wont be fertile,
But the other Female has got really swollen and the Male is now missing:( so hopefully she Mated,
Great pics
Could I ask how you are keeping yours?
thanks
 

dactylus

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Congratulations Tom! Good luck with the communal project! Thanks for the excellent photographs of a very attractive species.

David
 

UrbanTarantulas

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Thanks for the pics..... I recently got one of these... Awesome webbers, and very fast and active. How long do they normally live? How long to reach maturity?
 

Spepper

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How big are the adults? You said they're small but how small? They look really cool by the way. Beautiful spiders.
 

Philth

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My adult females are no bigger than a U.S. quarter. I raised slings to maturity in just over 6 months. I don't know how long they live yet, but usually things that grow fast, breed fast, also die fast.

Later, Tom
 

josh_r

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Super cool TOM!!!!!!!!!!!! Nice to see someone working with a diplurid for once :)
 

Philth

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Super cool TOM!!!!!!!!!!!! Nice to see someone working with a diplurid for once :)
Thanks man, been doing tarantulas long enough, it is refreshing to experiment with something new.

Later, Tom
 

Philth

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Another example of a female that collected food for her young.


Later, Tom
 
Last edited:

Curious jay

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Very curious to see how the communal goes, as currently have some available over here I'm considering picking a couple up, if any other UK users are interested in these drop me a PM I'll link you to the seller.
 

Philth

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I've been meaning to get back to this. I've gathered many notes about these and hope to but a article together about them when I have time. In short, despite hearing of success from some others keeping them communal, I found they do eventually eat each other. Once the spiderlings reached about a half inch, they started to turn on each other. The mothers that hatched them and once took care of them, starting eating them too. ( females would eventually eat mature males if left in with them as well) Although some lived together for a few months with out a problem, I think it was more to do with extensive hiding places I provided for them. They probably just never bummed into each other. So if anybody keeps them communally for a long enough, expect losses.

I'm also finding that they are a short lived spider, 1-1.5 years, even for the females. Although I've only raised a handful to adult females, it doesn't seem to be a coincidence that they are dying around the 1-1.5 year mark. I'd like to hear from anyone if they have had them live longer though. I always say, things that move fast, grow fast, breed fast, hatch fast, tend to die fast, and that seems to be the case.

Here's one of the mothers eating her own offspring that was being raised communally with her. They are great moms, until a certain point.


Later, Tom
 

pannaking22

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Thanks for the reply, Tom. What size container did you end up using for these when you tried keeping them communally? I have a 2 1/2 gallon sitting around collecting dust that I was thinking of using, provided I give them tons of hiding spots, though that would likely be after I breed them and get a second generation. How are you keeping these? Looks like you have (moist?) moss underneath the mass of webbing, but is there anything else for substrate? I've been wanting to get some of these, but haven't been able to find a ton of info on care. And since the adult females can sit on a quarter, I'm guessing their slings start off at about Cyriocosmus sling size?
 

wormwood____

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Aug 1, 2009
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hello everyone
recently (some time this month) an I. caudata I bought from Tom last year in like..August.
molted

It took me a few days to realize it but upon closer inspection I had a mature male...I decided I'd take some pics to show people how truly small these things are as adults

20150320_012530[1].jpg
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wormwood____

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Aug 1, 2009
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*drum roll*

and the photo we've all been waiting for....was work to get it because this speedy thing would not cooperate, but here it is
a Ischnothele caudata mature male sitting on a US quarter

20150320_013635[1].jpg
 
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