# Lady Bird Spiders



## catfishrod69 (Jan 22, 2012)

I had forgotten all about these beautiful little spiders, and recently someone reminded me. I was curious if these have made it to the US yet? They would be awesome to be able to have and get circulating around. Any thoughts? Thanks


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## Peter_Parker (Jan 24, 2012)

Ken the bug guy had some females of a related species from Africa on his site last time I checked... Dresserus I think?  I thought the ladybird ones were endangered or something?  Or is that just in England?


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## Ciphor (Jan 24, 2012)

Peter_Parker said:


> Ken the bug guy had some females of a related species from Africa on his site last time I checked... Dresserus I think?  I thought the ladybird ones were endangered or something?  Or is that just in England?


The _Eresus_ genus contains 20 species, and most look very similar with striking black and red contrasts.

"_Eresus is a genus of velvet spiders comprising several species, including Eresus cinnaberinus (formerly E. niger) and Eresus sandaliatus, both of which are sometimes known as the "Ladybird spider"._"

_Eresus cinnaberinus_ is protected as "Endangered" by Great Britin & Germany, but not globally. The reason they are endangered in these locations is because in these locations they are. In other European countries they are doing very well.

Wikipedia has some pretty accurate info on the genus and a few species if you want to know more.


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## Peter_Parker (Jan 24, 2012)

Too bad they're all old world, it would be cool if you could just find them here in the states... I'd really like to get my hands on one of the *social* species.. :}


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## Ciphor (Jan 24, 2012)

Peter_Parker said:


> Too bad they're all old world, it would be cool if you could just find them here in the states... I'd really like to get my hands on one of the *social* species.. :}


Tell me about it! So many cool spiders, so little time


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## catfishrod69 (Jan 24, 2012)

yeah they seem like they would be really awesome to have. they look like they are goliath jumpers kinda.


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## Ciphor (Jan 24, 2012)

catfishrod69 said:


> yeah they seem like they would be really awesome to have. they look like they are goliath jumpers kinda.


Funny you say that, I remember hearing about a debate, about giving the genus a common name of False Jumping spider, but it never got far because the spider does not jump lol. Like false widows widow? Science sometimes.


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## Vespula (Jan 24, 2012)

I wish they were in the hobby, too! They're really neat, and I bet they'd be fun to keep.


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## Toogledoo (Jan 25, 2012)

I just googled them, they look pretty cool. I agree, they do look like a jumping spider. How big do they get?


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## Ciphor (Jan 25, 2012)

Toogledoo said:


> I just googled them, they look pretty cool. I agree, they do look like a jumping spider. How big do they get?


Not real big.

A google search has some images of them on peoples fingers if you need a visual http://tinyurl.com/8ab7uzx

A guess, based on what little I do know about the genus, males range 5-12mm, and females 10-20mm. I don't think any get bigger then an inch. (that is not DLS fyi, that's abdomen and thorax)

Also it looks like the males are the ones with the bright red colors, typically females are all black, sometimes have red/white color on the anterior thorax. I don't know a lot about the genus as a whole tho, may be many variations and morphs.


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## Tarantula_Hawk (Jan 25, 2012)

What Ciphor is said is mostly correct.
However, _E. cinnaberinus_ is not a valid name anymore. It has been split in 2 species: _E. kollari_ and _E. moravicus_.
Yes males are brightly colored, while females are mostly black, except in some species (_E. moravicus_) and some subspecies of _E. kollari_ where females have brightly coloured hairs in the cephalic region.
The size range is correct for the species I mentioned, with _E. sandaliatus_ being the smallest (rarely over 15-16mm) and _E. moravicus_ (20mm or slightly more) the largest.
However, in southern Europe, where the genus is not threatened, some species are extremely large. Above all is _E. walckenaeri_: males are generally the same size as the rest (8-11mm) but females reach the impressive size of 40mm in bodylenght. Quite a big spider. 

They are very nice spiders, fun to keep but have nothing to do with jumping spider behavior. They are very bulky, defensive, cribellate spiders that live (in the wild) in silk lined tunnels that terminate on the outside with a dome of cribellate silk. In captivity, if given an appropriate environment, you may not see them that much.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## catfishrod69 (Jan 25, 2012)

very cool. i looked on Ken's site, and he doesnt have any right now. i remember a for sale ad a year or so ago though from someone. would be great to get any of those over here to the US.  





Tarantula_Hawk said:


> What Ciphor is said is mostly correct.
> However, _E. cinnaberinus_ is not a valid name anymore. It has been split in 2 species: _E. kollari_ and _E. moravicus_.
> Yes males are brightly colored, while females are mostly black, except in some species (_E. moravicus_) and some subspecies of _E. kollari_ where females have brightly coloured hairs in the cephalic region.
> The size range is correct for the species I mentioned, with _E. sandaliatus_ being the smallest (rarely over 15-16mm) and _E. moravicus_ (20mm or slightly more) the largest.
> ...


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## terancheped42 (Jan 25, 2012)

when you said ladybird spider i thought you meant these http://pix.bay.to/albums/macro-2011-06-10-sunset-way/DSC_8866.jpg these are so cool i wounder if there in the hobby at all


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## JOE P (Jan 26, 2012)

ive been lucky enough to keep 2 species of lady birds!


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## catfishrod69 (Jan 26, 2012)

well crap man...hook me up with some. or someone that has some. 





JOE P said:


> ive been lucky enough to keep 2 species of lady birds!


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## bluefrogtat2 (Jan 26, 2012)

i also got lucky and found two species fo these at a local swap(i bought all he had at the time)
very cool spiders,although secretive in captivity,i even had a nice yellow and black male,which i tried to breed with the two females.
not sure on captive care as none of mine lived very long.
wish i could have gotten them to breed,very neat spiders,and alot larger than i had expected.
andy


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## catfishrod69 (Jan 26, 2012)

awesome man. sucks they all died though. maybe there is something to their care that we dont know about. 





bluefrogtat2 said:


> i also got lucky and found two species fo these at a local swap(i bought all he had at the time)
> very cool spiders,although secretive in captivity,i even had a nice yellow and black male,which i tried to breed with the two females.
> not sure on captive care as none of mine lived very long.
> wish i could have gotten them to breed,very neat spiders,and alot larger than i had expected.
> andy


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## JOE P (Jan 27, 2012)

bluefrogtat2 said:


> i also got lucky and found two species fo these at a local swap(i bought all he had at the time)
> very cool spiders,although secretive in captivity,i even had a nice yellow and black male,which i tried to breed with the two females.
> not sure on captive care as none of mine lived very long.
> wish i could have gotten them to breed,very neat spiders,and alot larger than i had expected.
> andy


Do you mind if i ask how long ago? Illinois? Local Swap? Did Adam have those by chance?


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## Peter_Parker (Jan 28, 2012)

terancheped42 said:


> when you said ladybird spider i thought you meant these http://pix.bay.to/albums/macro-2011-06-10-sunset-way/DSC_8866.jpg these are so cool i wounder if there in the hobby at all


Wow, now THAT'S a ladybird spider... I wonder how big it gets?


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## Tarantula_Hawk (Jan 28, 2012)

They're small spiders, probably extremely hard to keep. Genus _Paraplectana_ (Araneidae).


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## SebastianH (Jan 29, 2012)

Hi Guys,

if breeded Eresus walckenaerius in 2009 with 4 females (about 1500 sling). They are easy to care if you know how.
The slings was even easy to raise, the live subsocial in a net together.
Best regards,
Sebastian


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## Arachno Dano (Jan 29, 2012)

catfishrod69 said:


> they look like they are goliath jumpers kinda.


You took the words right out of my mouth!

~Dano


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