# Breeding Parasteatoda tepidariorum (The American House Spider)???



## TomM (Dec 18, 2009)

Well... don't ask me why, (because I don't know:?) but when I found a female House Spider in my roommates room I decided to watch it build a web so I set up a 50 dram vial and with in minutes she was webbing up the twigs I provided.  With some crazy luck, I was feeding Bert (my Snapping Turtle, read more here), and in the same corner of the room as his tank was a tiny male House Spider in a little tangled web.  So I collected him and introduced him to the female.  I have no idea if they actually successfully mated, but after keeping them for 2 days I woke up to the female devouring the male:wall:, but at least I know they were introduced.  Maybe he was fast enough to get the job done first.  Here's a pic (sorry for the quality, only had my cellphone):


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## TomM (Feb 23, 2010)

Well, I didn't think that anything came from this, but yesterday she actually laid a sac!  I guess you could say that was my first successful arachnid breeding.  I'll snap a few shots, this time with an actual camera.  Just thought I'd share.


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## TomM (Feb 23, 2010)

Still blurry from taking the picture through the vial, but you get the idea.

Egg sac in top left corner.
Female American House Spider in bottom center.
Mealworm to the left of spider.


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## Widowman10 (Feb 23, 2010)

TomM said:


> I guess you could say that was my first successful arachnid breeding


 don't count your slings before they hatch! hahaha 

it's always fun. would've been cool for you to see the actual breeding occur, assuming she wasn't already mated when you caught her. are there holes in the top of that container? if so, pull the sac in a few... also, she'll prob drop a few more as well.


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## TomM (Feb 23, 2010)

Widowman10 said:


> don't count your slings before they hatch! hahaha
> 
> I was thinking the same thing right after I posted that.
> 
> ...


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## Widowman10 (Feb 23, 2010)

TomM said:


> I was thinking the same thing right after I posted that.
> 
> Is there any special requirements for these eggs?  I feel like since it's a house spider, the temp and humidity in the house should be fine.  I actually have it in the closet with my T's where I keep it around 78ºF so that might speed up the process too.  Any opinions?


no special requirements. it prob will speed up the process since that temp is higher. if you want to raise a few, just put the sac in a big jar and let them cannibalize.



TomM said:


> Oh and if they hatch, since this is such a rare and exotic species, I will have them listed in the For Sale section at around $450 for a 1/16" sling. You can never have enough Common....errr...UNcommon House Spiders.


good idea! write me down for 5...


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## TomM (Feb 23, 2010)

Widowman10 said:


> no special requirements. it prob will speed up the process since that temp is higher. if you want to raise a few, just put the sac in a big jar and let them cannibalize.
> 
> good idea! write me down for 5...


I was considering just letting them cannibalize because I don't think I'll have any food items small enough for them, once they get to a decent size, I'll probably separate them and feed or just set them free, weather permitting.

If the sac turns out to be good I can probably let 5 go (maybe even a freebie or two) for a mere $1200 just for you...but thanks again for the help and input.


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## John Apple (Feb 23, 2010)

doesn't really look like P. tepidariorum to me...the sacs of PT should be a brownbag brown or dark tan ...very smooth sacs also.
The abdomen of this spider is also very mottled with a nice swirl pattern on adult females....males of this spider also have red legs a reddish carapace and an abdomen similiar to the female...leg span a lil more than half the adult female....
looks more like a borealis to me


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## Widowman10 (Feb 23, 2010)

while i can't say from the pic that this isn't a P. tep, i can definitely say that it most definitely isn't a S. borealis. legs are way too long...

anyway to get better pics?


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## John Apple (Feb 23, 2010)

yeah...borealis was a shot in the dark kinda like the pic  heh heh...maybe even grossa....if that white thing I see in the pic is an egg sac then it most definately is not a PT


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## Widowman10 (Feb 23, 2010)

hmmm, yeah, after looking at it again, i would say it's not a P tep. you're right, that eggsac is not right, should be brown (although, maybe the flash caught it wrong??), and not quite as spherical.


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## TomM (Feb 23, 2010)

The picture always comes out blurry.  But if i can describe it, it's dark brown with beige markings going down the abdomen in a striping pattern.  I'll try to get some better pics.


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## TomM (Feb 23, 2010)

The spider is a little bit darker than it appears in the picture but you'll get the idea:







closer:


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## Widowman10 (Feb 23, 2010)

looks like you may have a steatoda triangulosa there! :clap:


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## TomM (Feb 23, 2010)

That was my next guess.  After looking at pictures of egg cases from P. tepidariorum, I realized that it definitely couldn't be that. Well now that I know it's a Steatoda triangulosa I might have to bump the price up a bit. hahaha...but anyways....Thanks again for all the input.


http://www.uark.edu/ua/arthmuse//steatoda.html
Egg sacs from S. triangulosa, about the size of the adult spider, are made of loosely woven white silk, and about 30 eggs are visible inside each sac.

^---That's definitely it!


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## Venom (Feb 23, 2010)

Lol, so let's hope your male was also an S. triangulosa!

Just a note..that ventilation hole looks too big to me. It's wider than the carapace of the spider, so it could probably get out.


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## TomM (Feb 23, 2010)

She's lived in that vial for 3 1/2 months now...she's well fed, and has mates/meals brought to her.  I'd be "chillin'" like that for month, too, if i could.

If she escapes, she'd be back out living in the wilds of my home where she came from.  Not to mention she'd leave a nice looking egg sac with me.


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## Widowman10 (Feb 23, 2010)

yeah, just make sure you pull that sac, or you'll have 200 little spiders "living in the wilds of your home"


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## Venom (Feb 24, 2010)

Widowman10 said:


> yeah, just make sure you pull that sac, or you'll have 200 little spiders "living in the wilds of your home"


LOL! Too true


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## TomM (Feb 24, 2010)

Already did.  I put a tissue in a 40 dram vial, pinholes in the lid, and misted one side of the vial the slightest bit just for safe measure.  The first time you mentioned that I moved them out, (during that photo session).


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## John Apple (Feb 24, 2010)

Widowman10 said:


> looks like you may have a steatoda triangulosa there! :clap:


 Exactly...cool lil spiders...all over my basement along with pholcids


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## chris_vegas (Feb 24, 2010)

caught one of these about a month ago by my front door, temp was approx. -10 celsius with 2 feet of snow....I was amazed to see it alive, so I caught her, housed her and fed her...she just laid an egg sac too. I have a tropical Steatoda that's been kicking for over a year, amazing little buggers really.


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## Widowman10 (Feb 24, 2010)

what species? and i think i read somewhere that grossa can live for up to 6 years.


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## TomM (Feb 24, 2010)

WOW SIX YEARS!  It's like the Aphonopelma of the true spiders. I was always interested in true spiders but I never had the urge to care for one, but before I got my OBT sling, I didn't have anything that really webbed.  So when I found this girl in the corner of my roommate's room, I scoop her up and made a little home in a vial.  Within minutes the whole inside of the vial was webbed up completely.  So a few days later a dropped in a micro mealworm, which she thoroughly enjoyed.  She has even taken down dubia nymphs! Just thought I'd share my little story now that I know she might be in the family for a while. Who knows, she might already be 6 years old and this is her last sack.  I better make sure these little guys make it.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Widowman10 (Feb 24, 2010)

and the females will live longer if unmated.


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## TomM (Feb 25, 2010)

...it is better to have loved and lost (time off your life) than not at all.


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## TomM (Mar 15, 2010)

Well, they've molted into 2nd instar... they started leaving the sac about 30 minutes ago.  Success!!! (Crappy) Pics coming! (They are to small for my camera to focus)

Reactions: Like 1


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## TomM (Mar 15, 2010)

They are only around 1/8" DLS fully stretched out:

*Steatoda triangulosa 2i spiderlings:*

Reactions: Like 1


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## Widowman10 (Mar 16, 2010)

cool! good job. and they are tiny... hope you have little fruit flies!!


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## cacoseraph (Mar 16, 2010)

cool thread


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## gromgrom (Mar 16, 2010)

:O now i wanna breed and keep the house spider. I always saw the brown eggsacks, the size of a bead, and never knew what they were. LIKE EVERYWHERE. 

Gonna have to grab some in my dads basement next time i head home, especially if they go for 350 per sling


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## TomM (Mar 16, 2010)

She actually laid another sac about 2 days ago...there looks like a lot less eggs.  Maybe a dud sac.  But all of those tiny 2i slings have webbed up the inside of their vial and are on their way to adulthood.

Reactions: Like 1


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## TomM (Mar 23, 2010)

Well that 2nd sac that I was talking about was a dud... but not to worry, she laid another great looking egg sac yesterday and has been eating like crazy since.  This sac looks a little bigger than the original one.  Maybe I'll have another 20 or so little ones crawling around in a few weeks.  Just thought I'd share (I'm also using this thread to keep a timeline of the laid sacs and when they molt out to 2nd instar, etc.)

Reactions: Like 1


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## TomM (Mar 31, 2010)

Another sac today! Her biggest yet!


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## buthus (Mar 31, 2010)

Try feeding one something with color...
Heres a female eating some greem "worm". ..












Mate attempt gone well...


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## Widowman10 (Apr 1, 2010)

haha, it's like putting white carnations in food coloring water when you were a kid and watching it change color


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## TomM (Apr 1, 2010)

Awesome pics buthus!  That green one is incredible.


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