Where to Find Ogre-Faced Spiders (Deinopidae) in the U.S.?

[JoP]

Hi all,

Just curious if anyone has ever seen ogre-faced spiders available in the hobby in the United States. I've always been fascinated by their behaviors, and would love to keep one, but I can't ever seem to find them available in the hobby. Are there people who keep or breed these, or are they just entirely unavailable?

 

[WildSpider]

Found this thread from a couple years ago:
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/how-hard-is-it-to-find-a-deinopidae.271449/

From that thread, looks like wild Deinopis spinosa can be found from South Carolina through Florida.

Ah, it looks like @Philth has kept Deinopis sp. Cameroon. Here are a couple of his pics:

• http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ph...ider-photo-thread-part-2.304440/#post-2756531

• http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ph...ider-photo-thread.268455/page-10#post-2483286

Also, found posts by @John Apple where he has mentioned catching Deinopis spinosa before. Not sure if he sells them or not.

Here's the thread that led me to those members. It mentions a couple more keepers but I couldn't find them on AB (different usernames maybe):
https://tarantulaforum.com/threads/deinopidae.7560/

Part way through it was discovered that the OP meant the redback spider, not the ogre-faced spider, but thankfully these guys were mentioned beforehand .

 

[JoP]

Found this thread from a couple years ago:
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/how-hard-is-it-to-find-a-deinopidae.271449/

From that thread, looks like wild Deinopis spinosa can be found from South Carolina through Florida.

Ah, it looks like @Philth has kept Deinopis sp. Cameroon. Here are a couple of his pics:

• http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ph...ider-photo-thread-part-2.304440/#post-2756531

• http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ph...ider-photo-thread.268455/page-10#post-2483286

Also, found posts by @John Apple where he has mentioned catching Deinopis spinosa before. Not sure if he sells them or not.

Here's the thread that led me to those members. It mentions a couple more keepers but I couldn't find them on AB (different usernames maybe):
https://tarantulaforum.com/threads/deinopidae.7560/

Part way through it was discovered that the OP meant the redback spider, not the ogre-faced spider, but thankfully these guys were mentioned beforehand .

Thanks for this; this is really helpful info! I live in TX, so theoretically I might be able to find one in the wild, but in all my years of keeping/catching inverts, I've never actually seen one here that I can recall.

 

[WildSpider]

Thanks for this; this is really helpful info! I live in TX, so theoretically I might be able to find one in the wild, but in all my years of keeping/catching inverts, I've never actually seen one here that I can recall.

Good luck finding one! I've got a few species where I'm living that I've been looking for too. The delay will probably make the success all the more sweet if we find them. Researching habitat and time to collect might help.

In the first link, it says the best time to collect your guy is in late summer .

 

[basin79]

My adult female hangs eyes down during the day in a "X" pose under her fake plants. I'd imagine in the wild they'd be really hard to spot. I'd imagine even when they're active at night they'd still be very easy to miss amongst the vegetation.

 

[JoP]

My adult female hangs eyes down during the day in a "X" pose under her fake plants. I'd imagine in the wild they'd be really hard to spot. I'd imagine even when they're active at night they'd still be very easy to miss amongst the vegetation.

Yep, I've heard that this is what they do during the day, which is what makes finding them in the wild so difficult. Looks like I'll be out looking under foliage in the near future!

 

[pannaking22]

I found a couple while doing fieldwork in Florida. Only noticed them when they were on me or my gear. I doubt I would have seen them on the vegetation during the day. While breeding is possible, deinopids are a pain. I don't know if anyone has successfully bred the US species, but I know after a lot of trial and error a couple have bred the Cameroonian species.

 

[phillipthephiddipus]

Hi all,

Just curious if anyone has ever seen ogre-faced spiders available in the hobby in the United States. I've always been fascinated by their behaviors, and would love to keep one, but I can't ever seem to find them available in the hobby. Are there people who keep or breed these, or are they just entirely unavailable?

I remember picking some up at NARBC a while ago, all locally collected. Little buggers are difficult to take care of.