"Toilet Spider" id?

Stan Schultz

Stan Schultz

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 16, 2004
Messages
1,677
lizardminion said:
What species of huntsman is in the pic?
http://www.free-pet-wallpapers.com/free-pet-wallpapers/free-pet-desktop-backgrounds/490228988.jpg
Click to expand...
Hint: Next time try PhotoBucket, or (my favorite) ImageShack. Much fewer problems.

The genus is Heteropoda. Family Sparassidae. In Texas, the common species is Heteropoda venatoria. There are dozens and dozens of other species worldwide. I've never seen a male, but the females are very impressive. Large, common, relatively harmless spiders. Their impressive size makes one wonder what they eat in the wild? Stray dogs?

They make fairly good pets, but seldom live really long in captivity. The females often produce a flat, coin-shaped eggsac that they carry around under their prosoma. Shortly after the babies emerge the mother dies. But, then you have several hundred babies to replace her. Feed them copious numbers of baby, later larger, crickets. They're cannibals, so you can leave them together for a while to reduce their numbers, then you need to separate each one into its own container. They grow fast and eat a surprising amount. Care for them very much like arboreal tarantulas. VERY FAST RUNNERS!

These are often imported with produce from tropical countries, even to Canada, and I got them frequently from local grocery stores in Calgary, Alberta (a.k.a., "North Texas" It's a joke! It's a joke!).

WARNING: If you see one with a reddish or orangish "face" (chelicerae), DON'T TOUCH IT! It's probably a species of Phoneutria, family Ctenidae, that resembles Heteropoda at first glance. A lot of Phoneutria have serious bites, and have been blamed for human deaths. Phoneutria fera is the famous (or notorious!) species. These too can be kept as pets, but you have to be careful not to make physical contact with them.


Another little 8-legged treasure!
 
John Apple

John Apple

Just a guy
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 26, 2003
Messages
1,148
looks more like a holconia than a heterapoda.......also they will lay multiple sacs....I have a venetoria that is holding her fourth sac
 
Ciphor

Ciphor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Messages
1,640
I agree with John, looks more like Holconia sp.

Tough to be certain with that image tho.
 
Stan Schultz

Stan Schultz

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 16, 2004
Messages
1,677
John Apple said:
looks more like a holconia than a heterapoda.......also they will lay multiple sacs....I have a venetoria that is holding her fourth sac
Click to expand...
No argument. My specialty is tarantulas, and I'm not even that good at THEIR taxonomy! (For any number of reasons.)

An additional observation: The OP called it a "Toilet Spider." As accustomed to big spiders as I am, if I didn't have to "go" when I first walked into the bathroom, I surely would have had to "as-soon-as!"

:laugh:

Enjoy your huge, 8-legged OMG-did-you-see-the-size-of-that-thing?
 
The Snark

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
11,076
Could you give us an idea of the natural leg orientation? Are the first three pairs normally reaching forward? If the third pair orients in that way I'd go for Huntsman. Positively oriented to the rear sort of rules this out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top