Please ID This Champion

[LordKabar]

I've been waiting for this species to turn up again, haven't seen any since late April when the spiders wake up around here. This is the boldest, fastest running hunter I've ever seen. If I can find out more info on them (after my very unsuccessful Google search) I'll try giving it it's own enclosure with some running room and get some videos up.

I've seen these little champs take out spiders easily twice their size with no problem. This one is only the size of a dime and I'm afraid to even put it in my D. Scriptus terrarium, for the Dolomedes sake.

Sorry about the picture quality, my main camera is out of order so I'm falling back to my cheapy.

 

[What]

Herpyllus sp.

 

[jsloan]

This is the "parson spider," Herpyllus ecclesiasticus (Gnaphosidae):

http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/27400

Google the latin name for more info.

 

[LordKabar]

Thanks again guys, I appreciate it! This species is growing on me.

Found this picture on a search... now I know the last thing it's prey sees before it's swiftly dispatched- this is the stuff of nightmares.

 

[pavel]

A truly remarkable pic!

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

I'm proud to say my basment is home to these guys. I saw a pair breeding earlier this month. Can't wait to see 'em more often.

 

[Venom]

H. ecclesiasticus is mildly toxic, btw.

 

[Widowman10]

H. ecclesiasticus is mildly toxic, btw.

yep! parson's spider for sure, good looking one at that.

 

[jynxxxedangel]

I recently reared an egg sac from this species. The little ones are just as fast as the adults!

This is one of the few spiders I'm not too keen on handling, as they are unpredictable, and FAST.

 

[ZergFront]

Lol!

I think I had one of these (female), but it had red and yellow... :?
It was really fast, too. One time it got out on my desk and there's a crack by the window sill big enough for her and I was like "uh-oh.." but she darted about half a foot, stopped and put her face down on the desk, bobbing her abdomen.

Threw me off a bit until I notice what she was doing. I had dripped honey from my PB and honey sandwich earlier and she was eatting it! I kept poking her with a straw to get her back in the salsa tub container, but after scooting away, she'd go right back to it.

I always get the weirdos..

This is her..

 

[Widowman10]

yours does not really look like a parson's to me...

 

[LordKabar]

I've noticed something strange about a full adult Parson's, a sort of dance.

The one I have now still has a while to go but I'll observe it and try to get a quick webvid if it busts a move. It's kind of hard to describe... sort of puts her head down to stick her abdomen straight up in the air, so far that her back legs almost come off the ground, and does little figure-8 twirls with it. She'll then walk backwards doing this strange dance for a few seconds, take a breather, and start over again.

I didn't notice any webbing spraying from the spinneret tubes which should've been easy to spot with this breed. But I also didn't mist that one's enclosure, as they seem to get enough fluid from food, so perhaps it was just too fine to see...

Has anyone else witnessed this? It had us cracking up over here! Pretty odd, almost cute, behavior for such a slick lethal spider. It was like watching Batman do the Hokey Pokey.

 

[What]

I had dripped honey from my PB and honey sandwich earlier and she was eatting it!

I highly doubt that... the spider might have gotten stuck in it, or tried to extract water from it, but it is highly unlikely that it was ingesting the honey.

Not a parson spider... rather that is a Castianeira sp. probably C. descripta

 

[ZergFront]

I highly doubt that... the spider might have gotten stuck in it, or tried to extract water from it, but it is highly unlikely that it was ingesting the honey.


Not a parson spider... rather that is a Castianeira sp. probably C. descripta

Thank you for clearing that one up. Someone ID'd it as a Parson's on another thread or board.

If it got stuck, that's very weird. She kept going back to the same spot.

 

[loxoscelesfear]

cool spiders indeed, but fast, very fast. :3: