# My Australian non-T primitives



## RezonantVoid (Sep 18, 2019)

I've been asked to make this thread a few times, but the sheer quantity and shyness of my specimens has made me procrastinate on it for a while. But hey, Ive got a 4 hour car trip and a bunch of elusive specimens Ive finally photographed, so let's get down to it today.

I will try and rattle off certain groups in seperate responses, starting with my trapdoors and finishing with my medically significant species. 

The following spiders are only a pinch out of the salt bowl so to speak. There are literally hundreds of mygalomorph species here i'd love a shot at keeping, but realistically that's not possible. However, through a lot of effort and just under 2 years, I think I'm pretty happy with the variety Ive got so far. From regular open hole dwellers and tube builders to carefully concealed trapdoors and species that just gave up being neat and make huge web messes, there's something for every spider enthusiast to enjoy (hopefully).

So, now that the grand speech is over, lets begin!

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## Arthroverts (Sep 18, 2019)

"I'm just waiting, just waiting..."

Seriously now, can't wait to see what you got! Thanks for undertaking this!

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 18, 2019)

First up as mentioned, I'll start with my trapdoors. It's appropriate as it was trapdoors that really made me decide to begin getting involved in this hobby in the first place. Some of these are bought, caught, rescued and donated, and will prove to be anything but "those dull brown spiders you never see once they setup a hole".

I'll start off with my concealed lid makers; Cataxia, Euoplos, Idiommata and Seqocrypta.

Cataxia are, in my opinion, probably the blandest of our trapdoor species. Not any particularly impressive colours, but they do have very well concealed lids and a ferocity with feeding that is unmatched.

Both my species are unidentified, and both make the same paper thin trapdoor lids.





Sp. 1^





Sp. 2, a bit larger^

My Euoplos are very large, probably the largest and most solid built of my collection. 60-70mm DLS adult length. These are native to higher moisture zones like rainforests and creek beds. They build very thick plug lids that are often around 3-4mm thick, and are completely waterproof. The lid is decorated with debris for camoflauge.

Both of mine are Euoplos Variabilis.






Specimen 1^






Specimen 2^, recent addition.






A feeding gif

My Seqocrypta are only slings right now so I don't have many good photos, but here's one.






Lastly for me lid makers, is probably my rarest and most prized species, Idiommata Sp. Silverback. Native to northern Queensland, this girl boasts some of most stunning iridescence Ive seen on spiders before. It's normal for T's to have colourful reflective feet that might be one or 2 colours, but this beautiful trapdoor reflects the entire spectrum extremely vibrantly. She is so shy that photographing this has been extremely difficult, but I've successfully done so a few times recently.

Here's the gorgeous girl out in the open, she looks more like a T and is one of few non-T primitives that can climb glass






Here is some very dull chromatic hair reflection, but I chose this one because she's showing blue and pink at the same time. Normally alot brighter and more vivid






Moving on, we have my tube builders and open burrow Genus, Arbanitis. Now it's no secret on here that I could endlessly proclaim my love for this genus. I have quite a few and several are more than likely undescribed. Idiopidae (family Arbanitis belongs to) is expected to double in the number of species, and I'm more than happy to add some to the list from Arbanitis.
I have quite a lot so I won't be going into great detail with the behaviour of my individuals, but I'll give a rough info block:

Probably the most widespread and adaptable genus in our country, Arbanitis inhabit anywhere from dry scrubland, tree trunks, creek beds, rainforest mud slopes to literally vertical cliffs and the salty environment of the beach, which few other similar spiders tolerate. They tolerate high disturbance and can adapt well to urban settings if residential development occurs. The are medium to large spiders with beautiful metallic shines on the carapace, the colours and vibrancy varying per species. None have dangerous venom and make great additions to any collection here.

To begin, I'll start with a few pics of my first ever spider, a local species 15 minutes away. Unfortunately, the amount of residential development has proven too much for even this species to endure, but I have rescued and bred a handful of individuals and will be releasing slings when we get some more rain. Unnamed species, dubbed by me as Arbanitis sp. Gold.





Wild burrow^





My adult female^












Breeding^

The rest, apart from a few significant species, won't have lengthy extra info, just pictures and brief descriptions.






Arbanitis sp. Black^






Same species in a threat pose^






Dorsal view.

Okay, this one is special. Arbanitis sp. Wooli, one I'm 99% sure is undocumented as it lives on the beach, which is a big deal for primitive spiders. The entire colony is located along about 50m of vertical mossy cliffs right on the beach that are spring fed.





Juvi I unearthed.






The wild colony.






My largest female. To match their habitat, this species requires alot of sand in the substrate.


Arbanitis Longipes/Brisbane Long-Legged trapdoor below.





As seen, extremely "high gold" species with yellow so vibrant it's highly visible even without a flashlight.

It also decided to build a spagnum moss tube all the way to the lid of its enclosure.






Arbanitis sp. Tambourine 1 below, she is without a doubt my largest species from this genus.











A feeding gif, she seals off her burrow and erupts from the ground to catch food.
"You thought this was regular ground, BUT IT WAS REALLY ME, ARBANITIS SP. TAMBOURINE 1!"


Arbanitis sp. Kempsey "Brown". Just look at this floofy little one.






Arbanitis sp. Kempsey "Black", a less fluffy one with dark colouration from an adjacent hill to the species above.






Arbanitis sp. Glenreagh, rescued from certain dehydration in a habitat that was already losing alot of spiders for the same reason. A low gold species on the smaller side.






Now, here's a little lesson in trickery, for I said that the lid builders were finished, but I have one more 
This is an Arbanitis sp. I have never seen anything like before. Not only does it make a lid which is unusual, but hinges the lid from the bottom like a drawbridge. In place of triplines, it uses a ring of silk around the hidden entry, about 3mm from the edge of the lid, as a more accurate strike zone indicator. She is only a sling right now, but I can already discern she is a low gold species with strong mottling on her legs to blend in with forest floor leaf litter.





Additional observations:
She webs EVERYWHERE which is completely unlike every other species Ive seen.
She does what I call "prey stashing". I always give her 5 pinheads at a time, and she grabs one, bites it, retreats, then reappears a few seconds later ready for more. This leads me to believe they have stronger venom that other Arbanitis and that they catch as much as possible during the night, and then gorge themselves during the day on the previous nights catch.
Unlike her wild siblings, she chooses to leave the lid opened all day and waits at the entry.

Lastly, my favourite from this genus, my Golden Tube Spider, Arbanitis sp. Coramba. This species has given me more pain to photograph than all others, extremely flighty at even the slightest tap of her enclosure. Lately though, after a year of owning her, she has finally become more bold about leaving her tube entry. Species makes 40cm high vertical tubes on the sides of plant stems/tree trunks and covers it with dirt and chewed up leaves.





First ever photo I got of her with the container lid off ^





This is her completely natural colour, no colour filters added and just under a regular phone flashlight ^





And of course, just for all of you, I made a gif of her feeding! 

I believe that's all of my Arbanitis, but knowing my luck Ive probably missed some and will need to add them later. Hope you are enjoying them so far!

Reactions: Like 10 | Thanks 1 | Informative 1 | Love 9


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## Arthroverts (Sep 18, 2019)

Ooooohhhhh man. This is single-handedly the best collection of non-tarantula primitive spiders outside of the US, if not one of the best in the world. If I didn't want to go to Australia before, this has only tripled my enthusiasm to go! I am literally in awe of just these few species that you have shown us, and I can't believe you have even more.

Please keep this up! You have a loyal fan here to watch; @lostbrane, do ya see this?

Thanks for sharing,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 18, 2019)

Arthroverts said:


> Ooooohhhhh man. This is single-handedly the best collection of non-tarantula primitive spiders outside of the US, if not one of the best in the world. If I didn't want to go to Australia before, this has only tripled my enthusiasm to go! I am literally in awe of just these few species that you have shown us, and I can't believe you have even more.
> 
> Please keep this up! You have a loyal fan here to watch; @lostbrane, do ya see this?
> 
> ...


Dear me, I'm only halfway finished too! 
Glad you're enjoying them so far


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## Arthroverts (Sep 18, 2019)

You have no idea...

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 19, 2019)

Next are 2 smaller groups combined into one response, my Dipluridae and Nemesiidae. In terms of shenanigans, these 2 groups probably make me laugh the most.
Nemesiidae includes some of the country's rarest species, particularly bearded wishbone spiders. I've had the honour of caring for a mature male from a locale near me, and these spiders are huge. Like, around 5" DLS.
Dipluridae will always have a place in my heart, and is a family I'm highly guilty of not owning enough species from. Look at all the species above, how they make intricate, neat, well designed lids, or perfectly round burrows. Australothele Nambucca took one look at these and said to itself,
"You know what? Screw this. I'm making the biggest, messiest web you blokes have ever seen. In fact, it will be so big I can't even work out where the entry is after i catch food."

So to begin with these, let's have a look at my Wishbones. I have less slings than adults currently, and at least 5 species I'm in search of.
I'll begin with my Stanwellia sp. slings, each is unidentified. These are also called Spotted/Poka dot trapdoors, as they are very... spotty! Some of them can have striped legs and pinkish abdomens as adults.





This was my first Stanwellia. My only pink CF and is growing alarmingly fast. Already put on 6mm DLS since I got it, which wasn't that long ago.

Next to are 2 recent additions from northern NSW, both different species and ferocious eaters.





Last one from Stanwellia below.






Moving on to my larger specimens, a recent addition that was technically a surprise freeby after being sent the wrong species, Namea sp. Mallee. Unfortunately I've been having a tough time getting her to put on any weight, as she runs out of digestive fluid quick and can only be fed a small cricket every 2 days.





Her abdomen is now marginally bigger than in this picture.

Next, my rather striking, cool tempered Namea Salanitri, also called a red headed wishbone spider or false funnelweb. She is currently my largest specimen by only a few mil.





She used to be probably the angriest species in my entire collection aside from Selenotholus Kotzman, but since her last molt she's become quite the sweetheart. If need be, I wouldn't even mind having her on my hand in the event of a rehouse or escape.





Also her ^

Next another new addition, and a huge one too. Namea sp. Tambourine "Black",
She's put on quite alot of size in the abdomen since arrival.






Her inside the new enclosure below.






Finally for Nemesiidae, is one I believe many of you have seen and come to love, my Aname sp. Gold, Yukinoshita. She is quite timid and fast, but her favourite thing to do is pose on her prized piece of cork bark. In fact, she's my only spider that has not buried cork bark, and actually appreciates the foreign wood.





Just after molting ^






Yukinoshita and her bark, as usual.





And again.


Now, time for my favourite messy web builders, Australothele Nambucca. I've had a few curtain web species, but unfortunately they have left the collection and my only current species is A.Nambucca, my Giant Black Curtain Webs. They are fast, frightened, and black. Thank the heavens they cannot climb plastic. These race out to catch food so quickly they forget where they even came from and take a decent amount of time to relocate the entry to their own burrows. They don't really dig too deep, but prefer to use pre-existing nooks, cracks and holes to base their burrows in. I won't flood with pictures, but here's a few of my favourites.





My largest female ^






Another of my large but unfortunately deceased females ^






Feeding gif showing off the impressively messy web





Mature male ^

They are also insane break dancers






Hope you enjoyed these as well, I'll put up my medically significant species shortly

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 19, 2019)

A little disclaimer I feel I should add for the last category:

In not even the slightest way do I keep these species simply for the sake of a bragging right, or a deadly obsession. I have been fascinated by the intricate burrows and hunting methods of these spiders since I was very little, and hold utmost respect for their awesomely potent venom. I feel almost privileged to be able to work with and study such spiders up close, and use maximum caution when dealing with them. In sticking with the relaxed theme of this thread, I will probably come off as taking these too lightly, but do not take it that way.

Now, the medically significants. The terrifying ones that stop 90% of uninformed tourists from visiting the country. I haven't even added one image yet and already have a reason to love them. Hopefully by the end of this, you will too.

Australia has a handful of nasty species, but they are rarely encountered and consequently pose little risk to civilians. I will not make a huge info block on Atracids, because I already have. You can read it here if you want to waste even more of your time after reading all these posts.
https://arachnoboards.com/threads/rezonants-guide-to-funnelwebs-care-venom-and-other-info.318990/

So yea. The 2 nasty families are Actinopodidae (mouse spiders) and Atracidae (funnelwebs). The former is probably the lowest risk of all, as they are the most concealed and absolutely hate wasting venom. They also have the most impressive fang to body size ratio of any spider group I know. Some other curiosities about them is sideward facing fangs and ballooning slings. Atracidae have 3 genus; Illawarra, Atrax and Hadronyche. The former 2 are small genus (Illawarra Wishharti is the only species in its genus and Atrax only has Robustus, Yorkmainum and Sutherlandi) while Hadronyche has over 30, which are divided into 4 groups:
Lamingtonensis
Adelaidensis
Infensa
Cerberea

Infensa and Cerberea are my favourites behaviour wise, but also the worst 2 for potency.


I'll start with my mouse spiders, Missulena Bradleyi. There are a handful of species including one outside Australia, but Bradleyi is (while still extremely difficult) the easiest to come by. I currently have 3 of these as permanent members and 2 that will be going to a new home soon. My largest can crunch a paddle pop stick in half.

Here was my first little chub, and I was absolutely thrilled when I got her after heavy rain brought her into someone's house.





Not long after, she molted. I believe this is the first ever time this species has been recorded molting which is impressive due to how widespread they are across Australia.






And when she finished, she left me with probably my most liked upload in my entire gallery.






So, I bet you want to see those immensely disproportionate fangs in action right? Well, so did I, and it took a little coaxing with some other individuals I bought after the one above, but I eventually got the following photo.





Now I can assure you, you're not gonna find a better nail clipper than this anywhere else on the planet ^





Mature male ^

And finally, tiny juvenile doing his best to chomp.





It's funny how they attack in almost slow motion.


So for the grand finale, let's introduce our infamously toxic friends, the Atracids.

It's a pain to remember which group each species belongs to, but I have all 6 of the confirmed medically significant species plus a few more.

My first ever Atracidae, Hadronyche Valida.





I now have 2 of these, and they are definitely my reccomendation for a beginner deadly species. Least potent venom of known Atracids combined with the second largest size and definitely the biggest webs.

My other one below.






Outside her burrow below.






Hadronyche Lamingtonensis, kindly provided to me by
@Rhino1






Here is another curiosity, Hadronyche Levittgreggae. Found in bone dry bushland with no soil moisture down to 1ft deep






Now, the "Unholy Hexology". The 6 deadly species that have proved more than enough in the past that they aren't messing around. The Atracotoxins in their venom can have you in a casket in 15-45 minutes if not treated properly. These are not spiders I deliberately mess with, and i even drill a large hole in their lids just so I don't have open the lids unnecessarily. No Atracids can climb smooth surfaces, but no harm in going the extra mile. To kick things off, Hadronyche Macquariensis, or H.Macq for short. This is the closest species to me and the one I deal with the most. Fast growing and aggressive, these aren't afraid to take down prey in broad daylight. Here's a few of my personal favourite pictures





Large adult female, she's doubled in size since receiving her ^





She peek ^

Recently rehoused one below, as seen they have a real boxy carapace shape.






Next, the iconic Atrax Robustus, the Sydney Funnelweb. The females aren't particularly nasty, but the males are extremely potent and high risk when wandering for females in Summer.






One of my 2 juveniles







Next are my 2 blue mountains funnelwebs, Hadronyche Versuta. Both are similar size but each drastically different webs.






My other one below.



Below is Hadronyche Cerberea, my Southern Tree Funnelweb. This species has the highest envenomation rate of all funnelwebs at 75%. She's currently my largest.






And below is when she first arrived.






Second last is the second deadliest spider in the world, Hadronyche Infensa. Brand new addition so only a few photos of her so far.








And last, but not least in the slightest, the most venomous species of spider, and probably anything, on the planet. The Northern Tree Funnelweb. Hadronyche Formidabilis. If it's scientific name wasn't metal enough, it's venom definitely is. Maximum caution is used for this little one, but she is absolute favourite Atracid for how photogenic she is, and her determination with hunting prey. She also webbed EXACTLY where and how I wanted her too. So let's meet her. She has inherited the name of one of my previous A.Robustus, Apocalypse.






Here are 2 feeding gifs.










So, that's all! I have multiple individuals of many of these species, but couldn't upload one of each. Hope everyone has enjoyed reading, I will update as I get more!.

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## Rhino1 (Sep 19, 2019)

Wow huge post mate, well done. Nail clipper lol

Will have some more for you soon mate, just flat out with the cattle at the moment after those fires as there's nothing left for them to eat here. Talk soon

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## Tortuga (Sep 19, 2019)

Excellent thread! Educational, inspirational and entertaining! Well done!

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## Arthroverts (Sep 19, 2019)

Do you ever wish you could get exotic species @RezonantVoid? Or are your native species always enough?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 19, 2019)

Rhino1 said:


> Will have some more for you soon mate, just flat out with the cattle at the moment after those fires as there's nothing left for them to eat here. Talk soon


Super stoked to be receiving them, but please no rush! You've had it that close with the fires, please take the time to get everything back under control there first  
Also had a reply from my funnelweb dude down south and he agrees that the webs you saw definitely are more like an Atrax species. He needs photos to confirm, but glad my hunch was correct



Arthroverts said:


> Do you ever wish you could get exotic species @RezonantVoid? Or are your native species always enough?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Arthroverts


There's many times where I say to myself "DAYUM that's pretty, I wish I could have that!", But in general I feel very happy with the variety I can get now


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## aarachnid (Sep 19, 2019)

I love your spiders. Thank you so much for sharing!

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 23, 2019)

As stated, I just about feel guilty for not owning more Dipluridae, so after seeing available a species I never thought I'd ever get my hands on, thats going to change this week. I'll have photos up in a few days once she arrives, but she's gorgeous

Extra note, my planned species which was Cethegus Fugax is only available to WA customers so unfortunately I can't get it  but I have something just as impressive, and probably 50x more aggressive lined up in its place


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## Arthroverts (Sep 24, 2019)

I'm very disappointed with you @RezonantVoid. Your supposed to get _both_ species, no excuses!

  , just kidding; can't wait to see what it is!

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 24, 2019)

Arthroverts said:


> I'm very disappointed with you @RezonantVoid. Your supposed to get _both_ species, no excuses!
> 
> , just kidding; can't wait to see what it is!
> 
> ...


I'm sorry! I tried bargaining to no avail!

Yea lol I'm pretty disappointed too especially since that info wasn't included on the website page. I am getting an additional centipede as well, S.Morsitans, but if this new spider behaves how some of its fellow species do, it will definitely be among my most uniquely behaved. An entirely new family, genus and species to my collection all at once

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## Arthroverts (Sep 26, 2019)

Where are the juicy details about this new _Homogona sp. _? 
"I'm just waiting, just waiting, just waiting for the _Homogona_ to come..."

Thanks,

Arthroverts


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## RezonantVoid (Sep 26, 2019)

So today, there has been quite a bit of activity in The Abyss (don't laugh, I can name my collection room whatever I want thank you). In fact, when 2 spiders adjacent to each other are out simultaneously, you know stuffs going down. Yukinoshita and Flinger (yes she's a T but who cares) were out gossiping to each other about today's new arrival.



The smell of substrate mix filled the air as my latest work of art was completed. Very similar to the setup for my Black wishbone spider, it features a large rock on the top right corner, spagnum moss in the bottom right, open space bottom left and an angled starter burrow in the top left. With of course, a bit of added greenery.



Some more photos from different sides below.





But what about the perculiar assortment of twigs, sticks and bark strewn across the container? I have added these in hope that our newest addition will find them very useful. But what exactly is this new addition?

Let's have a look at her.
I present to you, my new Homogona sp.






She's nothing particularly flashy, but I think she's absolutely gorgeous, despite being covered in mud. It's not particularly visible from above, but her legs are extremely spiny. In fact, these guys share a common name with Cataxia sp.; Spiny trapdoors. Here's a close up of those front legs and pedipalps, just so you can see what I mean.



She really is gorgeous.



So these guys are so closely related to Cataxia that a few species from Cataxia where recently moved over to Homogona. I thought I read that they are actually under Ctenizidae but that was apparently wrong, and they are indeed idiopids. Strongly aggressive, she even flung a cricket she was eating at me because she whipped out a threat posture so quickly.

Various species from this genus are known to construct elaborate burrow entries with sticks, twigs and dried grass. I have no clue if this species is one of them, but I figure I can't pass up the opportunity to test it out, hence the assortment of debris throughout her enclosure.
Let's move her in.


A typical, ungrateful stress curl. I don't know what else I expected.



Well, I hope you enjoyed the read. I was really disappointed I couldn't get the Cethegus Fugax, but maybe next time. Look forward to more in the future!

Fun fact, Homogona and Cataxia are so closely related that they are now synonymous as @Ungoliant has pointed out to me. The world spooder Catalog says so itself. Apologies for the misinformation, this is what happens when my order gets changed last minute

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## Andrea82 (Sep 26, 2019)

I'm not into trapdoors/funnelwebs or medically significant species, but I absolutely love this thread!
Very well done, gonna stay tuned for updates!  

Ps. You might consider compiling a book with the way you describe behaviour and such, it would be a fun and informational read, I think!

Reactions: Like 2


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## Arthroverts (Sep 26, 2019)

Help me! I've fallen into The Abyss! And it's awesome in here, yeah!  

Congrats on the new addition! She looks awesome; can't wait to see what kind of web she builds!

Thanks for sharing,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 26, 2019)

Andrea82 said:


> I'm not into trapdoors/funnelwebs or medically significant species, but I absolutely love this thread!
> Very well done, gonna stay tuned for updates!
> 
> Ps. You might consider compiling a book with the way you describe behaviour and such, it would be a fun and informational read, I think!


What an idea! Maybe I will some day 

I'm glad I've intrigued you with these primitives, if you ever do consider getting into trapdoors then I'd strongly reccomend Barychelidae (family my Idiommata belongs to) because they basically look like a T, and can also climb glass and stridulate like one.


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## The Snark (Sep 26, 2019)

Andrea82 said:


> You might consider compiling a book with the way you describe behaviour and such, it would be a fun and informational read, I think!


Indeed!


RezonantVoid said:


> What an idea! Maybe I will some day


As I perused this thread I imagined some illustrations done in a slightly comical but scientifically accurate vein. The intrepid arachnologist on hands and knees, nose almost in a burrow, perhaps a wallaby or cassowary off to the side, bemused, observing curiously. Your prose would lend itself very well. Just visualize what a crack illustrator could do showcasing 'The Abyss'.

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 26, 2019)

The Snark said:


> Indeed!
> 
> As I perused this thread I imagined some illustrations done in a slightly comical but scientifically accurate vein. The intrepid arachnologist on hands and knees, nose almost in a burrow, perhaps a wallaby or cassowary off to the side, bemused, observing curiously. Your prose would lend itself very well. Just visualize what a crack illustrator could do showcasing 'The Abyss'.


If I had a cassowary behind me I'd never live to publish the book 
I've done alot of art over the years, but im probably not good enough for consistent quality illustrations. However, it might be a funny project for some day in the future...
"The Self-proclaimed Civilian Scientist's guide to Arachnology" 


As a little update to how this new Homogona sp. has settled in, I took a pic earlier this morning.


The starter burrow was completely caved in but the 2 crickets I left for her were both gone. It's interesting that my latest substrate mix doesn't seem to suit both my Cataxia slings or this Homogona. It has a lot of organic matter like crunched leaves added to a few different brands of coco peat and some sand to add a little bit of texture and help it soak up water quicker when it dries out. They are the only 2 idiopids I have that don't want to dig in it. I'll see how she's going in a few days time, but she will be left under my bed in the dark to adjust in the meantime

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## The Snark (Sep 26, 2019)

RezonantVoid said:


> The starter burrow was completely caved in


A lot of burrower keepers could benefit from a rudimentary course in soil science. Examining soil and environment where they thrive in the wild can give a heads up as to their needs.

I've been doing a daily inspection of our 11 T holes. Some remain unchanged day after day, some are kicking dirt every night. I'm trying to differentiate between animal personalities (neurotic dirt kicker?) and soil content. Loose dark loam lends itself well to kicking, clay content lends towards content to just leave things alone. I don't understand the detritus-debris around the holes at all. Some like the urban disaster area look (Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin), others are frantically sweeping their door steps every night (BHOA, Beverly Hills Over Achiever and Steve Martin). ??

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 2


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## tewebag (Sep 26, 2019)

This entire thing is amazing. Please keep posting all your awesome aussie things.

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## EtienneN (Sep 26, 2019)

RezonantVoid said:


> but I have something just as impressive, and probably 50x more aggressive lined up in its place


Spoken like an Aussie! Probably said whilst guzzling a Foster’s! 



The Snark said:


> A lot of burrower keepers could benefit from a rudimentary course in soil science. Examining soil and environment where they thrive in the wild can give a heads up as to their needs.
> 
> I've been doing a daily inspection of our 11 T holes. Some remain unchanged day after day, some are kicking dirt every night. I'm trying to differentiate between animal personalities (neurotic dirt kicker?) and soil content. Loose dark loam lends itself well to kicking, clay content lends towards content to just leave things alone. I don't understand the detritus-debris around the holes at all. Some like the urban disaster area look (Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin), others are frantically sweeping their door steps every night (BHOA, Beverly Hills Over Achiever and Steve Martin). ??


Now I’m going to have weird medical cannabis fueled dreams about Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin C. albostriatus tarantulas! And all the others too! Ha! Maybe I just won’t sleep!

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Arthroverts (Sep 26, 2019)

I have so many ideas for how to make "The Abyss" some awesome comic; now, just to draw it out semi-decently (if that's possible for me, that is)!

Thanks again for sharing @RezonantVoid. I look forward to seeing this collection grow, expand, and eventually become a World Invertebrate Heritage Site (I say that only half-jokingly ).

Thanks,

Arthroverts

Reactions: Funny 1


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## The Snark (Sep 26, 2019)

EtienneN said:


> Probably said whilst guzzling a Foster’s


Aw come on! That's like saying he's breathing air! Ah memories. The swill, drive through liquor stores and cars lined up around the block. BYO!!
The demure bank teller fiirst thing in the morning whose breath would knock a buzzard off a crapwagon. The cops oblivious to all but make a left hand turn after stopping at a red light at 03:00 and they are on you like flies on a manure pile.

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 26, 2019)

@Arthroverts "only HALF jokingly" is not reassuring me much lol

I'm glad everyone is enjoying viewing these critters of mine, but please remember this is not by any means the most grand collection in the world or anything close. My personal motto is "there's always someone better than you at whatever", and while I don't like to view this hobby as a competition for who has the most stuff etc, I'm pretty sure there are hundreds of larger mygalomorph collections than this. Maybe not ones with Aname sp. Gold or H.Formidabilis, but definitely larger ones

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## The Snark (Sep 26, 2019)

RezonantVoid said:


> I'm glad everyone is enjoying viewing these critters of mine, but please remember this is not by any means the most grand collection in the world or anything close.


So which is better, the billionaire in his penthouse who casually drops some small fortune into a fantabulous collection or the dedicated amateur biologist braving the outback during the entire rainy on hands and knees to discover the life cycle of some insignificant bug?

One of the great mysteries of our time: all those Steve Irwin videos and not one person seen doing the Aussie/outback wave.

Reactions: Agree 4


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## EtienneN (Sep 26, 2019)

The Snark said:


> So which is better, the billionaire in his penthouse who casually drops some small fortune into a fantabulous collection or the dedicated amateur biologist braving the outback during the entire rainy on hands and knees to discover the life cycle of some insignificant bug?
> 
> One of the great mysteries of our time: all those Steve Irwin videos and not one person seen doing the Aussie/outback wave.


I think Steve-o charmed the skeeters with his dashing good looks rapier wit. He was so knowledgeable about nature, he WAS Nature!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## The Snark (Sep 26, 2019)

EtienneN said:


> I think Steve-o charmed the skeeters


Just skeeters? Northern T, doing the Daly and Kakadu for a month. Stop to camp. Erect screen tent. Dive in. Spend the rest of the evening chasing out the 550,000 flying and crawlings that managed to sneak in anyway. Hilarious is observing the uninitiated tourists doing the evening boat tour in the Kakadu. No folks, that's not fog.

Giving our on-loan outback vehicle a critical examination. Owner: "Those are Bull or Roo Bars and that's a rock screen. When you do 'the track' they will become self evident. Watch out for bull dust."
Giving a ranch worker a ride from one station to the next: "Just up the track a ways." 80 kilometers later...  How anyone manages to do anything out there beyond basic survival is a mystery.

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## Arthroverts (Sep 26, 2019)

My grandmother recently went to Australia; in this one town she stopped and a sign greeted her: "Welcome to Paradise". A little farther on she saw a sign that said to stay away from the river because of the crocodiles. A little further on at the beach another sign said not to go wading in the water because of sharks. Back on the road a sign warns about cassowaries. All the while mosquitos buzz and swarm...

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## The Snark (Sep 26, 2019)

Arthroverts said:


> My grandmother recently went to Australia; in this one town she stopped and a sign greeted her: "Welcome to Paradise". A little farther on she saw a sign that said to stay away from the river


Love some of their signs:
DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR VEHICLE BEYOND THIS SIGN
We like our lizards frilled, not grilled.
In front of a store: 85 KM TO THE NEXT COLD ONE

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## Arthroverts (Sep 26, 2019)

Or bearded, not filleted.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 27, 2019)

Arthroverts said:


> My grandmother recently went to Australia; in this one town she stopped and a sign greeted her: "Welcome to Paradise". A little farther on she saw a sign that said to stay away from the river because of the crocodiles. A little further on at the beach another sign said not to go wading in the water because of sharks. Back on the road a sign warns about cassowaries. All the while mosquitos buzz and swarm...
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Arthroverts


All of the above literally cower in fear from our magpies

Got home today, she's still in her comfort garden.



Tonight is feeding night for the majority of my collection so I might have some new gifs up later

Here's some gifs from the from the other night!

Stanwellia sp. 1 sling






Stanwellia sp. 2 sling






Australothele Nambucca






Hadronyche Formidabilis






Hadronyche Versuta






And finally Hadronyche Valida

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## EtienneN (Sep 29, 2019)

Your enclosures are so pretty with all the textures and colours, I want to live in one!!!

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 29, 2019)

EtienneN said:


> Your enclosures are so pretty with all the textures and colours, I want to live in one!!!


I can definitely arrange that

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## Arthroverts (Sep 29, 2019)

I don't think they make Sistema containers that big though...

And I have to agree with @The Snark. You may not have the biggest, grandest collection, but your painstaking efforts to make everything you keep survive and thrive, your local conservation efforts (I mean, how many can claim they released native threatened spiders back into the wild?), and the observations you make on species both in the wild and in captivity are truly amazing. I have invertebrate-enthusiast friends over here that I talk with, and whenever primitive spiders come up you are mentioned . No joke.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 30, 2019)

I literally just noticed with the Australothele Nambucca feeding, her spinnerets twitch the moment the cricket lands and the gif has now become a whole lot funnier to me lol

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## Wesley Barnum (Sep 30, 2019)

damn man! this is an impressive collection you have!! I really like your Missulena Bradleyi you have! they look like little goblins demons, and I love them. are most of these wild caught?

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 30, 2019)

Wesley Barnum said:


> damn man! this is an impressive collection you have!! I really like your Missulena Bradleyi you have! they look like little goblins demons, and I love them. are most of these wild caught?


Yes. Not necessarily by me in person, but nearly all of mine, even the ones I've bought, are WC. I'm hoping that I can change that for other people by acquiring some males this summer

So as @The Snark has touched on, it's good to try consider spiders habitats on an individual level, and since our new Homogona STILL hasn't settled in, I figure it's time for action. 

So they are very closely related to Cataxia sp.. Good news for me, I have successful Cataxia setups already. My adult one has straight Coco peat and so did both of my slings in their previous enclosures. One of those slings has been rehoused on my latest substrate mix and hates it. 

I decided I'd rehouse the second sling on just straight Coco peat and sure enough, after 2 days it made this!


A fully finished and lidded burrow! 

I've rehoused the first sling with straight cocopeat, and if it also burrows fine, then I will assume that the Homogona sp, being so closely related, should follow suit and I'll rehouse her to straight Coco peat to in hope she'll finally settle in

Sorry for EVEN MORE updates, expect a heap of new additions tomorrow.

But more importantly, my Cataxia sling that originally hated my substrate mix and was rehoused to straight peat has, in less then 16 hours completed a fully functional burrow and is halfway through making the lid. This was enough for me to rehouse our Homogona, the plant side of her enclosure has my substrate mixture so it can grow better but the clear half is now straight peat with a starter burrow and twigs. Starting tomorrow, we will have a heap more specimens to fuss over and hopefully some progress with the Homogona, as well as an extra special and well deserved thank you to one of our fellow board members

2 of my enclosures in preparation for tomorrow, it's a gifted mystery box so I don't even know what will be living in either;






I'm running so low on decorations I had to hit the reserve pile

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## Dennis Nedry (Oct 2, 2019)

I feel having spiders that hate the substrate you give them. My Arbanitis refused to use coco fibre to dig in or a piece of tree fern to construct a tube in even though they live in tree ferns. Gotta wonder how they get by being so fussy when half the time they’re living in crappy clay

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## RezonantVoid (Oct 2, 2019)

Dennis Nedry said:


> I feel having spiders that hate the substrate you give them. My Arbanitis refused to use coco fibre to dig in or a piece of tree fern to construct a tube in even though they live in tree ferns. Gotta wonder how they get by being so fussy when half the time they’re living in crappy clay


My tube building Arbanitis refused all the natural leaves from her location to make her tube, and instead built it exclusively out of spagnum moss. Spiders are bizarrely fussy in captivity with building materials. This substrate mix is designed to mimic natural conditions in the rainforest with lots of organic matter and crunched leaves (not just chock full of them, but a handful of dried crunched leaves per enclosure). Every other species seems to love it, except for my 2 Cataxia and Homogona sp.

So we have 5 new absolutely gorgeous additions today, all genus I already own but fantastic new species. As will be the continuing custom, we will check on Yukinoshita as an indicator of how exciting any new additions are. Not outside is meh, at the entry is interesting and fully outside is awesome.



I have no idea what such extreme excavation can possibly mean, but I'm sure it's a good sign.

Credit is due where credit is due, and before I unveil our new additions, I, and I'm sure most people viewing, would like to shoutout a massive thank you to @Rhino1 for providing me with some absolutely incredible specimens. He's felt the full force of some of the devastating wildfires we've had down here, and took the time to collect these for me despite the difficult circumstances. I massively appreciate the effort put forward to catch these for me in spite of the above, and make sure to check out his thread on trapdoor communals too.

So to start off, we have a new Cataxian resident, neither of us really know what species it is. What we do know though, is that for Cataxia, this thing is flipping huge. And I'll say, hands down the most aggressive thing I've had in my collection, she chomped straight down on a piece of wood when I opened her lid to check her out after work. I'm guessing 65-75mm DLS? Well, let's check her out!


I can assure you, she's way bigger than she looks.


Way angrier as well. Check out those spiny legs too! who needs a club with nails when your appendages are a direct upgrade already. Now, being a Cataxia time will tell if she'll need a substrate change, but I'm hoping she should be alright.

Next up, we have a new addition from Arbanitis. She's just getting named Chocolate for now because that's honestly the first thing I thought of seeing her colour, she's an extremely low gold species thats drifted away from the yellow metallic colours and more into gunmetal grey. Absolutely whopper of a trapdoor as well, and so feisty she nearly tagged me in my carelessness while trying to climb her plastic.


Just one photo for now, more will come in the near future. These are occupying my 2 enclosures from last night.

Next, another Euoplos Variabilis. I will more than welcome some additional specimens of these anytime, and there's a chance this one is a male too which will be excellent. Still need to get him a proper enclosure, but my temporary tub will suffice for the weekend.



Next, we have yet another addition from Arbanitis, and this one made my jaw drop when I saw her for the first time. She's another tube web from a completely different locale to my initial 2, but wait until you see her patterns. A medium gold species with pretty orange and slender legs, put in front of the prettiest trapdoor abdomen Ive ever seen.



Rehoused into her soon to be revealed enclosure, she looked hilarious in her starter burrow.



And that brings us to the final, and probably most unique specimen for today. It would not be an overstatement to say this is one of a small group of the most bizarre trapdoors in Australia, and potentially the world.
You've seen how well camoflauged Euoplos Variabilis is, but Euoplos Turrificus takes a different approach to stealth...


...it abandons it entirely and constructs ornate above ground tubes. Rhino was kind enough to send me this specimen inside her tube which will make her settle in alot quicker. One last photo of her for tonight, I'm getting tired.



Next week I'll have an update on how they've all settled in, but before I go, somebody else decided to settle in finally!


Moving her to straight cocopeat was the right move afterall.

Thank you for reading and make sure to show your appreciation for Rhino1 and his hard work with collecting these

A quick update on how our newcomers are going.

I'll keep it short and simple, just some pics of each and behavioural updates.

The giant black Cataxia has taken its sweet time settling down, it has only just begun to use the starter burrow I provided and trashed it's spagnum moss. It prefers to be either in the burrow or just outside it, below the small ledge in her enclosure.



Our Homogona sp., which we will now also refer to as Cataxia sp., has not made much progress on her starter burrow but has dragged alot of the debris around the entry.



Chocolate, the Arbanitis sp. Gunmetal Grey, has pretty much just spent the entirety of her short time here underground, which most Arbanitis do when rehoused.


Her burrow was originally in the middle of the wood pieces but has now resurfaced at the dirt pile in the spagnum moss.

The Euoplos Variabilis mastered earth magic and just disappeared overnight.



The Euoplos Turrificus, the one I expected to take the longest to feel at home, has been doing great. I haven't seen any evidence she's come outside at all, and she has eaten the most out of all so far.



And finally the Arbanitis sp. striped tube spider, hasn't really done much at all.


She webbed the starter burrow over, collected some bark and a rock, and brought over a clump of spagnum moss from the other side of the container. She's at least feeling comfortable enough to not seal the entry during the day time which is good.

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## The Snark (Oct 8, 2019)

@RezonantVoid Fascinating. I'm doing a comparison to the dwellers in our yard. Many subtle differences. Most of the feedback I get is dirt kicking and some cursory housecleaning. The Minax are universally very reclusive. Will need to observe yours to ours over the course of a year to get a clearer picture.
One thing of note, our new batch of holes, all youngsters, make oval holes, about twice as wide as they are tall. The adults round the holes out. Do you have similar?


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## RezonantVoid (Oct 8, 2019)

The Snark said:


> @RezonantVoid Fascinating. I'm doing a comparison to the dwellers in our yard. Many subtle differences. Most of the feedback I get is dirt kicking and some cursory housecleaning. The Minax are universally very reclusive. Will need to observe yours to ours over the course of a year to get a clearer picture.
> One thing of note, our new batch of holes, all youngsters, make oval holes, about twice as wide as they are tall. The adults round the holes out. Do you have similar?


Very interesting to hear about the differences in burrows between generations! I haven't been keeping spiders long enough to observe generational behaviour changes in detail, but one curiosity is my Arbanitis sp. Gold slings that have been captive bred seem to make 1-3mm high raised entries while the adults all have the burrow flush with the substrate. Not sure if it will change over time, but 2 older slings from my first sac have now got 12mm holes and also have them raised above ground unlike the mother


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## The Snark (Oct 9, 2019)

RezonantVoid said:


> Gold slings that have been captive bred seem to make 1-3mm high raised entries while the adults all have the burrow flush with the substrate. Not sure if it will change over time, but 2 older slings from my first sac have now got 12mm holes and also have them raised above ground unlike the mother


Curiouser and curiouser. If the raised area remains constant it would indicate some subtle signal found in situ that isn't present in your environments, or visa versa.
Seems that little variations like this could add up and lead to a better understanding of how to keep and maintain artificial environments.


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## RezonantVoid (Oct 9, 2019)

The Snark said:


> Curiouser and curiouser. If the raised area remains constant it would indicate some subtle signal found in situ that isn't present in your environments, or visa versa.
> Seems that little variations like this could add up and lead to a better understanding of how to keep and maintain artificial environments.


I am particularly interested in monitoring my wild tube building species that take this trait to a new level. It seems to me that the instinct to go vertical is burried in the back instincts of most Arbanitis, and it just takes a certain environment to trigger it. Like my Arbanitis Longipes, it was terrestrial in the wild yet deliberately made a spagnum moss tube all the way to the lid for no apparent reason after arrival in its enclosure


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## The Snark (Oct 9, 2019)

RezonantVoid said:


> I am particularly interested in monitoring my wild tube building species that take this trait to a new level. It seems to me that the instinct to go vertical is burried in the back instincts of most Arbanitis, and it just takes a certain environment to trigger it. Like my Arbanitis Longipes, it was terrestrial in the wild yet deliberately made a spagnum moss tube all the way to the lid for no apparent reason after arrival in its enclosure


This is pretty much identical to a systems control - multi-path process clearing error. It's exactly like it sounds. A series of processes, call them machines, are all switched on at once. Machine A executes _a_ processes 1 through 6 then halt, Machine B executes processes _b_ processes 1 through 4 and so on. So machine A gets instructions but a setting is incorrect. It never progresses past _a_ process 4 and keeps repeating that process since the completion code must follow process 6.
So your complex multi-function spider has the wrong X and never progresses past executing A _a_ 4 until that process is halted, the setting, moss instead of some other material, is reprogrammed into Machine A subset processes.

I simplified a great deal but it seems to be the same. The spider must run each process programmed into it's DNA code routine. It doesn't have a debug error level built into the code which is standard on system controls in manufacturing and removed at a later date as required. With the spider, it would be just like a faulty sensing I once encountered in a paper pulp system. The black liquor kept being added to the pulp over and over only to cut off when a process way down the line received a vat full sensor signal. The correct signal was being sent but was ignored as it was on the green liquor injection process.

I'd like to hear other possible scenarios that could explain the tube.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## SteveIDDQD (Oct 10, 2019)

@RezonantVoid ,had a lot of fun reading through this and looking at the great photos of your spiders.

You have some truly amazing (and scary!) species in your country.

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## RezonantVoid (Oct 10, 2019)

SteveIDDQD said:


> @RezonantVoid ,had a lot of fun reading through this and looking at the great photos of your spiders.
> 
> You have some truly amazing (and scary!) species in your country.


I'm super happy you've enjoyed reading about them! I do have to agree, some do them look pretty weird (especially that wishbones with the insanely large fangs) but then I look at the adorable face of Idiommata sp. Silverback and it calms me down lol

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## Dave1969 (Oct 14, 2019)

Thank you for this post. You have a very engaging writing style that exudes a wondrous enthusiasm for our country's beautiful araneofauna - especially the Mygalomorphs.

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## RezonantVoid (Oct 28, 2019)

So it's been a while since I last updated, and consequently theres been plenty of exciting updates!

First up, @The Snark , I think I may have officially worked out the mystery behind why my trapdoor slings have decided to go vertical, I believe it's actually a method to better help them capture their primary prey: pinhead crickets. Since normally they'd be catching things like clumsy beetles that require little effort to overpower, such elaborate entries are not needed. However, since the crickets have a knack for jumping, I think the protrusions help in that the pinheads run into them while jumping. This is not the first time they have adapted rapidly to change, in the first few months of their life they learnt that catching crickets meant they needed to completely leave the burrow and chase them down.



I have a GIF underway of them feeding, but for now I can't upload any more things to the gallery so I'll wait

There's been lots of other things happen too, we have 2 new molts from Hadronyche Macquariensis and Hadronyche Valida, photos of both will be available soon when I feed and rehouse them.
The giant black Cataxia has finally settled in and constructed a lid, a feeding gif will be available soon. She has probably taken the second longest out of my recent additions to settle in.



My Homogona/Cataxia is still not settled in, she destroyed her starter burrow so it looks like another rehouse in on the horizon.
I've now confirmed I have a third Atrax Robustus and only 1 Hadronyche Versuta, the Robustus has made quite the impressive web in her short time here.



I have rehoused Arbanitis sp. Black into a new, larger setup, which it thoroughly appreciated. Unlike my other Arbanitis, this one only took 24 hours to make a full burrow.





I finally got a clear shot of one of my Seqocrypta Jakara slings, I now have 2 healthy slings left.


I'm just gonna chuck in this photo of Namea Salanitri because it's good.



Australothele Nambucca pairing appears to have gone successfully, and my male was not wastefully slaughtered afterall



A quick tube spider photo



And finally, on the note of tube spiders, our newest one has laid us an eggsac! This is likely the reason she held off building a tube for so long, but now she is building one between her 2 pieces of bark. Her enclosure is now called "The Great Wall"



I hope you all enjoyed this little update. Are there any species you want me to do an in-depth analysis on? Let me know and id be happy to give it a shot.

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## Arthroverts (Oct 28, 2019)

Awesome looking @RezonantVoid! Excited to see what happens with them tube spider slings. Any chance of us seeing some more of those _Namea sp._?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Oct 28, 2019)

Arthroverts said:


> Awesome looking @RezonantVoid! Excited to see what happens with them tube spider slings. Any chance of us seeing some more of those _Namea sp._?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Arthroverts


I can definitely do that 

I've got something pretty special lined up for the tube spider slings, involving a decent sized fishtank. I've been preparing for it over the last few months but the eggsac has presented me a perfect opportunity so to speak. I'll have a little more info on it soon


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## Dave1969 (Oct 28, 2019)

Congrats on the Australothele. I hope all augers well and a bountiful sac is produced. Namea are always nice - their photos are never gratuitous additions. The Barychelidae looks good, all the spiders do.

My Homogona/Cataxia is in a similar boat to yours. After nearly three weeks, I decided to construct a starter burrow. She uses the burrow sometimes, but, has not excavated it further so half her cephalothorax hangs in the air. I might have to spoon feed her and dig further myself.

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## RezonantVoid (Oct 28, 2019)

Dave1969 said:


> Congrats on the Australothele. I hope all augers well and a bountiful sac is produced. Namea are always nice - their photos are never gratuitous additions. The Barychelidae looks good, all the spiders do.
> 
> My Homogona/Cataxia is in a similar boat to yours. After nearly three weeks, I decided to construct a starter burrow. She uses the burrow sometimes, but, has not excavated it further so half her cephalothorax hangs in the air. I might have to spoon feed her and dig further myself.


Thank you for the compliments! Yea, Cataxia always seem to be very fussy with moving in, straight peat and sand is the mixture I have the most (but still little) success with, they don't seem to appreciate added leaf litter mixed into the soil and high amounts of other organic matter. Keep the sub composed of as much mineral content like sand, crushed rocks and clay as possible

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## The Snark (Oct 28, 2019)

RezonantVoid said:


> First up, @The Snark , I think I may have officially worked out the mystery behind why my trapdoor slings have decided to go vertical,


I was just out looking at the T holes and idly wondering when they will start webbing. Now, thinking about your comments I'm going to take a much closer study. Could be much more going on than the casual observation would notice.

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## RezonantVoid (Nov 17, 2019)

Apologies for the lack of uploads, we have been very busy and on high alert for bushfires as of late. The entire east coast is pretty much burnt out at the moment, this was the working conditions last week.



I've had some new communal scorpions arrive as well as my first tarantula eggsac, so I have been hyper busy. To top it all off, all but one of my Namea have entered premolt so it will be a while before i get any photos. Are there any other species you guys want an in depth analysis on instead?

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## Andrea82 (Nov 17, 2019)

RezonantVoid said:


> Apologies for the lack of uploads, we have been very busy and on high alert for bushfires as of late. The entire east coast is pretty much burnt out at the moment, this was the working conditions last week.
> View attachment 325762
> 
> 
> I've had some new communal scorpions arrive as well as my first tarantula eggsac, so I have been hyper busy. To top it all off, all but one of my Namea have entered premolt so it will be a while before i get any photos. Are there any other species you guys want an in depth analysis on instead?


I read about it on the news and was wondering if you and fellow Aussie keepers were okay. Glad to see you are!


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## RezonantVoid (Nov 30, 2019)

ITS FINALLY HERE

the short awaited Namea update!

So once again, apologies for not updating in a while, ive had my hands full with my first batch of tarantula slings, which has taken up alot of my hobby time over the last few weeks.

Now getting straight to the point, Nemesiidae are easily the rarest family of spiders we have in the country. From Ixamatus to Xamiatus, Stanwellia to Namea, most of the genre here are rarely found outside national parks.

As I believe I mentioned on page one, Wishbone spiders get their name from their "Y" shaped burrow structure, with one open visible hole and a second entry that some species keep hidden with a trapdoor as a secret escape route. This twin entry is very visible with my N.Salanitri



An exception to this is the genus Xamiatus, the largest and rarest wishbone spiders in the world, with just a single tube burrow. I have had the privilege of keeping a mature male X.Illara before and these things are damn beautiful.

So, let's start with my N.Salanitri, or Red Headed Wishbone Spider.


She's just come out of a molt so this is the only new photo I have of her, but it's enough to see her gorgeous red, black and silver colouration. She's from an area called Broken Hill, and was very kindly donated to me by a private property owner with lots of them on his property.

This is a very underrated species in my opinion, as during their smaller stages they look very dull brown and unappealing. In fact, I had no idea they even got this colourful when I received her, but boy am I glad I did. She's around the 3" DLS mark, so quite large, but Xamiatus sp. can grow to 4"+, making them the size of small tarantulas. She will be getting an enclosure upgrade soon as well.

Next, Namea sp. Mallee, the surprise freeby that is doing very well. Not much info available on this one, but I can vouch for her energy and how photogenic she is.



Similar appearance to Salanitri, but more vibrant orange and gold compared to the darker red. Here she is stuffing her face.



Now next is my last Namea sp., Namea sp. Tambourine "Black", and this little jerk has been what I believe deliberately frustrating my photography plans all week. She's fresh out of a molt, absolutely huge, gorgeous and jet black, and suddenly lost her confidence to appear on camera. I have got her fully outside once, and then NYOOOM she disappears when the camera focusses. I have tried luring, leaving the lid and room lights off, everything. But in the end all I got was this...


Laugh at me all you want, I take this as an absolute victory 

She comes from probably my #1 favourite spider area, Mt Tambourine, but I've never seen them there personally. This rainforest mountain is home to Hadronyche Valida AND Formidabilis, at least 4 different Arbanitis species, 2 different Euoplos species including one palisade, spotted trapdoors (unsure of their family), Stanwellia and Namea species, and hundreds more others including many different true spiders. If you're ever visiting Australia, I highly recommend making it a stopping point and taking the Curtis Falls track and Botanical gardens tour. You can see almost 10 different species of primitive spiders in only a few square metres!

Alright, now Ive fulfilled my Namea info request, I will start work on my next update, all the slings in my collection! Hope everyone enjoys this little read

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## The Snark (Nov 30, 2019)

RezonantVoid said:


> and this little jerk has been what I believe deliberately frustrating my photography plans all week.


Week? It took me almost 2 years to get a pic of my hole dweller!

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## Arthroverts (Nov 30, 2019)

Awesome! Incredible info, visiting Mt. Tambourine has been added to the bucket list. Thank you @RezonantVoid!
Looking forward to the next installment of one of my favorite threads...

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Dec 2, 2019)

Arthroverts said:


> Awesome! Incredible info, visiting Mt. Tambourine has been added to the bucket list. Thank you @RezonantVoid!
> Looking forward to the next installment of one of my favorite threads...
> 
> Thanks,
> ...


You won't regret it. It's very close to the Gold Coast which most tourists visit anyway, And being a rainforest area, has an incredible abundance of awesome wildlife on top of just spiders


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## Staehilomyces (Dec 3, 2019)

Can vouch for that. On part of the Curtis falls track, there were H. valida webs under nearly every rock. Never managed to lure one out though. 



There's also a place at Mt. Coot-tha (just outside Brisbane city) where H. infensa are everywhere. Most of the place is too dry for them, but there's small moist pockets near the creeks. Here's a web with a sizeable molt near it.

Reactions: Like 3


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## RezonantVoid (Dec 3, 2019)

Staehilomyces said:


> Can vouch for that. On part of the Curtis falls track, there were H. valida webs under nearly every rock. Never managed to lure one out though.
> View attachment 327303
> 
> 
> ...


Excellent photography, I'm planning on doing a web run down of all our primitives soon. And yes, Valida are very difficult to lure out on a good day. Definitely not like H.Macq


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## Staehilomyces (Dec 4, 2019)

Cheers. By the way, I found a couple H. formidabilis webs today, at Springbrook national park.

Reactions: Like 3 | Winner 1


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## RezonantVoid (Dec 4, 2019)

Excellent! Although I hate it when they are inaccessible because of their position. It's good at Tambourine as they are often in the rotting treestumps which are easy to break apart

Reactions: Like 1


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## Dave1969 (Dec 4, 2019)

Staehilomyces said:


> Cheers. By the way, I found a couple H. formidabilis webs today, at Springbrook national park.
> View attachment 327430
> 
> View attachment 327431


Nice examples there.


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## Pepper (Dec 4, 2019)

Very cool thread. Thanks so much!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Staehilomyces (Dec 4, 2019)

RezonantVoid said:


> Excellent! Although I hate it when they are inaccessible because of their position. It's good at Tambourine as they are often in the rotting treestumps which are easy to break apart


Yeah, me and my mate tried to lure them out, to no avail. 
By the way, how's yours? Heard it molted again.


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## RezonantVoid (Dec 4, 2019)

Staehilomyces said:


> Yeah, me and my mate tried to lure them out, to no avail.
> By the way, how's yours? Heard it molted again.


Yea she did, she's doing pretty good still. Still a bit camera shy but here she is catching a cricket just now

Reactions: Like 1


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## Staehilomyces (Dec 4, 2019)

Looks cool. Some of my FWs are a pain to feed - my new versuta only ever takes it from the tongs, as does one of my cerberea. Probably cause they haven't really webbed much up yet.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## RezonantVoid (Dec 4, 2019)

Staehilomyces said:


> Looks cool. Some of my FWs are a pain to feed - my new versuta only ever takes it from the tongs, as does one of my cerberea. Probably cause they haven't really webbed much up yet.


Interesting, tong feeding almost never works for any of mine aside from Formidabilis. Goes to show they have personal preferences for sure


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## Staehilomyces (Dec 4, 2019)

Yeah...as a side note, most of my infensa slings seem to have stopped eating. They've all recently molted, but usually they'll eat a couple days after. This time, some haven't eaten for a week after.


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## RezonantVoid (Dec 4, 2019)

Staehilomyces said:


> Yeah...as a side note, most of my infensa slings seem to have stopped eating. They've all recently molted, but usually they'll eat a couple days after. This time, some haven't eaten for a week after.


The intresting thing with my Formidabilis is there was only a bit over a month between her 2 molts. Powerfeeding combined with the higher temperatures are a recipe for speed growth, so it wouldn't surprise me if maybe they are already heading for a second molt and just have synchronised molt cycles


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## Staehilomyces (Dec 4, 2019)

Oddly, one of my infensa slings regained normal eating habits after molting, but the rest haven't shown themselves at all. Also, my valida appears to be premolt again.

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## RezonantVoid (Dec 25, 2019)

I havnt abandoned the thread yet, but have been extremely busy with new slings, work, and battling the "Imortal Mold". Before new years photos, i wanted to get some sad updates out of the way.

First up, it looks like he Australothele  Nambucca pairing was not successful or the female already laid but ate the eggsac.

The second, even worse update is a heavy loss to the collection. My first Missulena Bradleyi specimen.



I have absolutely zero clue what caused her death, but she was almost due to lay an eggsac. If she did lay, it would have been the first recorded captive breeding of this species despite their large wild distribution.

Still hoping to get the sling update up in the next few days, just wanted to announce the sad stuff first

Reactions: Sad 2


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## Arthroverts (Dec 25, 2019)

Sorry to hear that man. I hope you will be successful with both species in the near future.

Thanks,

Arthroverts


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## The Snark (Jan 6, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Spiders are bizarrely fussy in captivity with building materials.


Something that just occurred to me regarding materials in enclosures. How does a keeper choose what materials and substrate go into a terrarium? You have heard things from other keepers. Seen other enclosures. Tried different materials to see what works. Trial and error stuff.
Okay, now, think, imagine, what materials a spider prefers? How does it arrive at those decisions? What senses are being used? Eyesight? Tactile? Auditory picked up in the setae? Maybe it has some olfactory cells in it's knees or someplace? And of course, a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy.... of a genetic instruction manual, abridged, 145,934,781,202 edition.
Then with all that data, how does the spider brain process it? Certainly nothing remotely like how a human brain shuffles and deals the cards.

So along comes the avid dedicated keeper with it's opinions and conclusions and totally alien set of senses and data processing and installs the absolute perfect furnishing for the enclosure. And the trap door model X-714 series 4000003.8 climbs to the top of a piece of bark and refuses to eat. Houston, we may have a minor problem here.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## RezonantVoid (Jan 31, 2020)

"Ill try and get that sling update out before new years"

Pffftt what a joke, im just on that level of lazy right now lol.

But now the update is here! Typed out on an even buggier mobile keyboard and now with more spelling mistakes than ever before!

So lets rattle off the Arbanitis. Since announcing the sling info block ive had 2 new sacs laid and hatched, with a 3rd (i think) on the way within a few weeks. Arbanitis sp. Kempsey Black dropped me an absolutely huge, nearly golf ball sized eggsac. Of course since this sac was from a WC mother, half of them will be returned to the wild at the end of February, 25% will be kept for breeding colonies and the other 25% will likely be distributed to fellow hobbyists or sold in trios. As far as Arbanitis go, sp. Kempsey Black is a mid gold species with, as expected, extremely dark abdomen and leg colouration. The slings however have the characteristic banded abdomen. These ones are very intelligent, trying to communicate with me via web messages on side of their mother's enclosure.
	

		
			
		

		
	








Very interesting indeed.

Next up, my largest and oldest sling colonies, Arbanitis sp. Gold. One of these colonies is over a year old and currently the average size is 5-8mm total length. Im closely studying the behavior of this colony, but ill share that another time. We are here for the pictures! Here's the 2 oldest colonies with their mini tubes







Believe me, i have easily another 80 more slings from this species. This was my first ever breeding project, and an entire batch went to Minibeast wildlife as a future breeding colony. This is important as this particular species is now 100% functionally extinct. I hate to start getting all high and mighty, but saving this species is probably my favourite accomplishment of all time.

Last Arbanitis sling colony is Banded tube webs. Super sadly, their mother died of seemingly natural causes only a few weeks after they hatched. The sac yield was much smaller than anticipated, a few will go back to @Rhino1 and the rest will stay here as a breeding colony. But look how adorable their little tubes are!







For whatever reason they prefer to build against the plastic instead of the provided rocks and sticks.

Seqocrypta Jakara are both growing well and building bigger lids.



The 3 Stanwellia wishbones are also doing great. Each is at about 15mm DLS
	

		
			
		

		
	








Idiosoma sp. sling from @Dave1969 is doing okay, dont see much action from it as it takes forever to catch food here it is during a recent rehouse.




Hadronyche Levittgreggae sling is still as chubby as ever



And finally for the slings (i think) is Arbanitis sp. Tambourine 2, the Drawbridge trapdoor sling. Doing great and eating well




Apologies that this took so long, ive had an absolutely massive workload on my plate as of late, but glad i got around to it.

What should i do next? Species that i've kept in the past but not currently? It'd be nice to pay em tribute. Ive also got a project im working on which ill tease later tonight, as well as (hopefully) a youtube channel in the works 

Thanks for reading!

So as mentioned i have pretty big project i hope to unveil in thr next couple of weeks when some more supplies arrive. Its named Project "Crimstone V1", and these 2 pictures are the only hint im giving for now. It may not look like it, but they give away ALOT

Reactions: Like 7 | Love 2


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## Ftang5 (Feb 3, 2020)

only 1 image is loaded but that name sounds like a terraria reference..... are you making a crimson themed enclosure? maybe bioactive? what sort of rock is that and what is it sitting on?


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 3, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> only 1 image is loaded but that name sounds like a terraria reference..... are you making a crimson themed enclosure? maybe bioactive? what sort of rock is that and what is it sitting on?


Rock appears to be rapidly cooled molten iron. Ive never ever found rocks so red they look nearly painted, plus with the veiny appearance. Since the second image didnt load for you i will tell you are basically correct. All i need now is millipede molts to complete it (yes, you read that correctly). But theres still a bit more to it. I have specifically chosen ahead of time what species will perfectly match the Crimtane theme


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## Ftang5 (Feb 3, 2020)

i opened the image in a new tab, theory crafting time:

you have 4 and 17 grass and flower walls respectively, if you reverse that you get 17 and 4 the 17/04 so now if my excellent detective skills serve me correct i now have an unveiling date.

rod of regrowth, bioactive confirmed
architect tools, build project confirmed
wearing forbidden armor, the inhabitant of this project will be a desert species

you will use the millipede molts to create a crimera

4 dyes are shown 

r e z o n a n t v o i d  12 letters

12 / 4 = 3

triangles have 3 sides


in conclusion, Rezonantvoid = illuminati

no need to applaud, my detective skills are world-renowned........

if you look at my profile pic I have finally chosen what it will be, my favorite tarantula species the humble green bottle blue
also ive read the post above, yeah it'd be cool if you make a yt channel, id love to see how you care for your tarantulas and mygalomorphs alike.

Reactions: Funny 6


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 4, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> i opened the image in a new tab, theory crafting time:
> 
> you have 4 and 17 grass and flower walls respectively, if you reverse that you get 17 and 4 the 17/04 so now if my excellent detective skills serve me correct i now have an unveiling date.
> 
> ...


Forbidden Armour is in the Vanity slot lol

Incorrect on desert species, look at what else is in the screenshot


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## Ftang5 (Feb 4, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Forbidden Armour is in the Vanity slot lol
> 
> Incorrect on desert species, look at what else is in the screenshot


I see a sun stone a deadly sphere and 2 strange plants. I also see a blood crawler and crimslime but thats too obvious.


 Sun is bright gold is bright too, abrantis gold confirmed?


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 4, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> I see a sun stone a deadly sphere and 2 strange plants. I also see a blood crawler and crimslime but thats too obvious.
> 
> 
> Sun is bright gold is bright too, abrantis gold confirmed?


I may or may not have a blood crawler of sorts  who knows?


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## Ftang5 (Feb 4, 2020)

Once again my world renound detective skills and googling "red australian mygalmorph" has led me to think, nay BELIEVE you have a red mouse spider.
I dont need confirmation as my detective skills surely cant be wrong, right?

Reactions: Like 1


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 4, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> Once again my world renound detective skills and googling "red australian mygalmorph" has led me to think, nay BELIEVE you have a red mouse spider.
> I dont need confirmation as my detective skills surely cant be wrong, right?


What would be the point of setting up for a red head if the males only live for a few months? You're getting closer though, but ill leave you guessing


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## Ftang5 (Feb 4, 2020)

How could i be so blind? I assumed because the title was non ts that you wont be making it for a t. I knew the answer all along. It is all so clear to me now. Your blood crawler is a phlogius rubiseta, is it not?


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 4, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> How could i be so blind? I assumed because the title was non ts that you wont be making it for a t. I knew the answer all along. It is all so clear to me now. Your blood crawler is a phlogius rubiseta, is it not?


It wouldn't be in this thread then


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## Ftang5 (Feb 4, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> It wouldn't be in this thread then


Welp,im stumped, you have succeeded in bamboozling me...  for now....

HAHA! Your largest blunder was providing engaging and informational writing and great photos!

your blood crawler is a namea salinitri or similar wish-bone!

Or a Euplos Variabilis!


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 4, 2020)

Some new photos

Hadronyche Formidabilis (Northern Tree)





First full body photo of Euoplos Turrificus (Palisade)



Arbanitis sp. Coramba (Golden Tube web)



Arbanitis sp. Black (Bellingen Black trapdoor)



Hadronyche Infensa (Darling Downs)



Arbanitis sp. Tambourine 1 (Tamborine tube spider)

Reactions: Like 9


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## Ftang5 (Feb 5, 2020)

Hey rez i have some potentially good news, i emailed biosecurity and asked what specific risks tarantulas pose to our ecosystem and the response i got was that, "i can advise that a BIRA has not been conducted on these spiders so they are automatically banned until a BIRA is performed. After a BIRA is performed the risk will be evaluated and if found to be neglegeable exotic tarantulas may be allowed to be imported, however it is unknown when a BIRA will be conducted"

A bira is a biological risk assesment,
When they eventually conduct one we may yet be allowed those 8 legged rainbows....

If the bira goes through all good then id need to collect signatures as an expression of interest to import.

Reactions: Like 2 | Optimistic 1


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 5, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> Hey rez i have some potentially good news, i emailed biosecurity and asked what specific risks tarantulas pose to our ecosystem and the response i got was that, "i can advise that a BIRA has not been conducted on these spiders so they are automatically banned until a BIRA is performed. After a BIRA is performed the risk will be evaluated and if found to be neglegeable exotic tarantulas may be allowed to be imported, however it is unknown when a BIRA will be conducted"
> 
> A bira is a biological risk assesment,
> When they eventually conduct one we may yet be allowed those 8 legged rainbows....
> ...


Now this... does put a smile on my face

Talk about bad timing i went to pull an eggsac from Arbanitis sp. Tamborine 1 only to nearly kill the poor thing. Blessing in disguise tho because i got heaps of mites off and this probably never before seen image. She's unharmed and back in her now pulled out burrow.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Ftang5 (Feb 13, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Now this... does put a smile on my face
> 
> Talk about bad timing i went to pull an eggsac from Arbanitis sp. Tamborine 1 only to nearly kill the poor thing. Blessing in disguise tho because i got heaps of mites off and this probably never before seen image. She's unharmed and back in her now pulled out burrow.
> View attachment 333824



aww, she's cute. also how goes the abrantis slings?, they getting any larger?

Reactions: Like 1


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 13, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> aww, she's cute. also how goes the abrantis slings?, they getting any larger?


Check back in 6 months time and ill let you know if they're in premolt yet  these things grow like a glacier. It takes them nearly 2 years to reach 5th instar


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## Ftang5 (Feb 13, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Check back in 6 months time and ill let you know if they're in premolt yet  these things grow like a glacier. It takes them nearly 2 years to reach 5th instar


do you see them out much,are they like scorpions where they have 7 instars then stop molting? also how goes project crimstone mk II


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 13, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> do you see them out much,are they like scorpions where they have 7 instars then stop molting? also how goes project crimstone mk II


They are out everyday, they molt all their life and im waiting for my crimson grass to grow

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 14, 2020)

Good news

Reactions: Like 2 | Optimistic 1


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 15, 2020)

Arbanitis sp. Gold getting a new home due to the "Imortal Mold"

Reactions: Like 3 | Thanks 1


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## Ftang5 (Feb 15, 2020)

Dont know much about mygalmorphs, abrantis are chilled enough to be free handled? I just assumed because they are in the same order as atrax which is so angry it practically leaks venom that these would be too

Reactions: Like 1


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 15, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> Dont know much about mygalmorphs, abrantis are chilled enough to be free handled? I just assumed because they are in the same order as atrax which is so angry it practically leaks venom that these would be too


Its often an individual thing but all of mine except 1 can be picked up. In fact, you can usually hold these things straight after wild capture. Atracids are excessive with aggression. The specimen above is an absolute sweetheart and ive never had even a threat posture from her. They lack the sensitive feet (with the exception of their pedipalps) that tarantulas have

Reactions: Like 2


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## Ftang5 (Feb 15, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Its often an individual thing but all of mine except 1 can be picked up. In fact, you can usually hold these things straight after wild capture. Atracids are excessive with aggression. The specimen above is an absolute sweetheart and ive never had even a threat posture from her. They lack the sensitive feet (with the exception of their pedipalps) that tarantulas have


So, good temperment, communal, amazing gold coloring and often out and visible. I see why you like them so much, where do i sign up!

Reactions: Like 1


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 15, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> So, good temperment, communal, amazing gold coloring and often out and visible. I see why you like them so much, where do i sign up!


Take your pic i got 3 species of slings and 2 of the colonies are at selling size. Communals have a bit of a trick to them but im going to make a thread on it this week as theres a bit of an art to pulling it off


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## Ftang5 (Feb 15, 2020)

What species and whats your pricing?
Probably will have to wait for a couple weeks as i just got my first rental approved and am flying the coop soon.


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 17, 2020)

H.Formidabilis and Arbanitis sp. Tambourine 2 after she hardened. Much higher gold than when i caught her

Reactions: Like 7


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## Ftang5 (Feb 18, 2020)

Hey rez, someone is asking me what species this is but i am not nearly at the authority to judge mygalmorph species as you. What do you think it is? Also if my messages are getting too off topic i can report them and get a mod to come delete them.

Yes, they are from reddit, where i run an australian invert sub which if you ever use reddit id be happy to give you mod powers on.


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 18, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> Hey rez, someone is asking me what species this is but i am not nearly at the authority to judge mygalmorph species as you. What do you think it is? Also if my messages are getting too off topic i can report them and get a mod to come delete them.


Without a very specific location, almost to the locale, i can only tell what it isnt, and its certainly not Atrax. A Hadronyche sp. of some kind, im just gonna guess Cerberea, but without location or a microscope its virtually impossible to tell. Whatever she is, shes gorgeous


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## Ftang5 (Feb 20, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Without a very specific location, almost to the locale, i can only tell what it isnt, and its certainly not Atrax. A Hadronyche sp. of some kind, im just gonna guess Cerberea, but without location or a microscope its virtually impossible to tell. Whatever she is, shes gorgeous


Ok he says its from south coast nsw and he thinks its H.versuta, thoughts?


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## RezonantVoid (Feb 26, 2020)

New addition, got a second A.Nambucca for breeding. Went up to my knees wearing jeans in a creek to get this one but it was worth every mud stain and mosquito bite

Reactions: Like 5


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## Ftang5 (Feb 27, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> New addition, got a second A.Nambucca for breeding. Went up to my knees wearing jeans in a creek to get this one but it was worth every mud stain and mosquito bite
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Geez you are dedicated, welp keep up the good work i geuss!

Reactions: Like 1


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## RezonantVoid (Mar 4, 2020)

Collection should be getting its only Hexathelid tomorrow


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## Ftang5 (Mar 4, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Collection should be getting its only Hexathelid tomorrow


But you already have many atracids? How can you be getting your collections only one?


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## RezonantVoid (Mar 4, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> But you already have many atracids? How can you be getting your collections only one?


Atracidae is now independent from Hexathelidae and no longer a subfamily. Ive screwed myself over confusing the 2 in the past far too many times


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## Ftang5 (Mar 4, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Atracidae is now independent from Hexathelidae and no longer a subfamily. Ive screwed myself over confusing the 2 in the past far too many times


 Wait, wasnt hex abolished and split into 3? Does hexathelidae even still exist?


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## RezonantVoid (Mar 4, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> Wait, wasnt hex abolished and split into 3? Does hexathelidae even still exist?


Yea it still exists but as mentioned in 2018 it lost Atracidae, Porrhothelidae and Macrothelidae (pretty sure the latter 2 got moved to Dipluridae)


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## RezonantVoid (Mar 4, 2020)

Lets put our hands together for my new Bymainiella sp.

Reactions: Like 5


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## Ftang5 (Mar 4, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Lets put our hands together for my new Bymainiella sp.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It looks like if p.irminia was a mygalmorph!  Gorgeous!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Ungoliant (Mar 4, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> It looks like if p.irminia was a mygalmorph!  Gorgeous!


Not to be that person, but all tarantulas are mygalomorphs.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Ftang5 (Mar 4, 2020)

Ungoliant said:


> Not to be that person, but all tarantulas are mygalomorphs.


Oh.... i have been using that term incorrectly then. I thought they were therasopods. Then whats the term for trapdoors, funnel webs and the like?


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## RezonantVoid (Mar 5, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> Oh.... i have been using that term incorrectly then. I thought they were therasopods. Then whats the term for trapdoors, funnel webs and the like?


Theraphosidae is a subfamily of Mygalmorphae, we just tend to coin any non-tarantula primitive as Mygalmorph to differentiate the 2


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## Ungoliant (Mar 5, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> Oh.... i have been using that term incorrectly then. I thought they were therasopods. Then whats the term for trapdoors, funnel webs and the like?


Mygalomorphs are an infraorder (smaller than an order but bigger than a family or superfamily) that comprises Theraphosidae (tarantulas) and most of the other extant "primitive" families of spiders, such as funnel-web spiders and trapdoor spiders.  Most other spiders are araneomorphs and are often called "true spiders" (even though both groups are spiders).

Certain mygalomorph traits are considered more "primitive," because they appeared early in the evolution of spiders and haven't changed much from those of early spiders.  Certain araneomorph traits are deemed more "advanced," because they appeared more recently and have undergone notable change from ancestral traits.  However, you can't really say that araneomorphs as a whole are "more advanced" or "more evolved" than mygalomorphs, as they are both equally separated in time from the common ancestor of spiders.

An easy way to distinguish between mygalomorphs and araneomorphs is the way the jaws and fangs move when in use.  Mygalomorph fangs move in parallel, swinging up along an arc before a strike.  Araneomorph fangs move in opposition to each other, resembling pincers.  Some good illustrations that show the difference:














RezonantVoid said:


> Theraphosidae is a subfamily of Mygalmorphae, we just tend to coin any non-tarantula primitive as Mygalmorph to differentiate the 2


Taxonomically speaking, Theraphosidae is a family.  (Anything ending in -idae is a family.  Anything ending in -inae is a subfamily.)

Reactions: Like 2 | Informative 1 | Helpful 1


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## Ftang5 (Mar 5, 2020)

Ungoliant said:


> Mygalomorphs are an infraorder (smaller than an order but bigger than a family or superfamily) that comprises Theraphosidae (tarantulas) and most of the other extant "primitive" families of spiders, such as funnel-web spiders and trapdoor spiders.  Most other spiders are araneomorphs and are often called "true spiders" (even though both groups are spiders).
> 
> Certain mygalomorph traits are considered more "primitive," because they appeared early in the evolution of spiders and haven't changed much from those of early spiders.  Certain araneomorph traits are deemed more "advanced," because they appeared more recently and have undergone notable change from ancestral traits.  However, you can't really say that araneomorphs as a whole are "more advanced" or "more evolved" than mygalomorphs, as they are both equally separated in time from the common ancestor of spiders.
> 
> ...


I understand the differences between araneo and mygalmorphs but i find it odd that a very clearly distinct set of spiders is classed the same as theraphso's. Are we sure there isnt a seperate group for the waxy-carapaced funnel webs & trap doors?


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## Ungoliant (Mar 5, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> I understand the differences between araneo and mygalmorphs but i find it odd that a very clearly distinct set of spiders is classed the same as theraphso's. Are we sure there isnt a seperate group for the waxy-carapaced funnel webs & trap doors?


Currently they are all mygalomorphs, just placed in different families.

This is similar to how araneomorph families have great diversity.


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## RezonantVoid (Mar 7, 2020)

Guys, Yukinoshita had her big night last night, and i was just in time to see the end of it. Someone's gonna be insanely shiny in the next few days

Reactions: Like 3 | Optimistic 1


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## Borttor (Mar 12, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Super stoked to be receiving them, but please no rush! You've had it that close with the fires, please take the time to get everything back under control there first
> Also had a reply from my funnelweb dude down south and he agrees that the webs you saw definitely are more like an Atrax species. He needs photos to confirm, but glad my hunch was correct
> 
> 
> There's many times where I say to myself "DAYUM that's pretty, I wish I could have that!", But in general I feel very happy with the variety I can get now


1 I applaud you Brave than I am I'm just going to respond to this message thank you for sharing that was awesome and a lot of spiders are just gorgeous


RezonantVoid said:


> I've been asked to make this thread a few times, but the sheer quantity and shyness of my specimens has made me procrastinate on it for a while. But hey, Ive got a 4 hour car trip and a bunch of elusive specimens Ive finally photographed, so let's get down to it today.
> 
> I will try and rattle off certain groups in seperate responses, starting with my trapdoors and finishing with my medically significant species.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for sharing your spiders are absolutely beautiful by the way the new arrival I'm in 100% agreement with you once that mud is off she's going to be beautiful.

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## RezonantVoid (Mar 12, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> It looks like if p.irminia was a mygalmorph!  Gorgeous!


She molted yesterday and once she's hardened 100% ill show you how awesome the stripes look now. There should be a couple of these still available on the insectory btw, i bought the 6th one left

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## RezonantVoid (Mar 14, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> I understand the differences between araneo and mygalmorphs but i find it odd that a very clearly distinct set of spiders is classed the same as theraphso's. Are we sure there isnt a seperate group for the waxy-carapaced funnel webs & trap doors?


I was rereading this, some trapdoors like those in Barychelidae are so much like tarantulas in appearance and characteristics that a novice entemologist would easily mistake them as a T without prior research. They can climb cmooth surfaces and stridulate, and the latter characteristic isnt limited to just them and Theraphosidae as ive had bearded wishbone males that could quite audibly hiss too. On closer inspection, we can find multiple similarities between each family other than just appearance

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## Ftang5 (Mar 14, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> I was rereading this, some trapdoors like those in Barychelidae are so much like tarantulas in appearance and characteristics that a novice entemologist would easily mistake them as a T without prior research. They can climb cmooth surfaces and stridulate, and the latter characteristic isnt limited to just them and Theraphosidae as ive had bearded wishbone males that could quite audibly hiss too. On closer inspection, we can find multiple similarities between each family other than just appearance


Mabye barchychelidae is the "found link" between Theraphso's and the waxy carapaced, smoother bodied and usually more agressive trapdoors and funnelwebs...

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## RezonantVoid (Mar 14, 2020)

Ftang5 said:


> Mabye barchychelidae is the "found link" between Theraphso's and the waxy carapaced, smoother bodied and usually more agressive trapdoors and funnelwebs...


Nemessidae and some Idiopids like the shiny Arbanitis also have very densely packed hair on the carapace instead of if being shiny, and the ultra sensitive foot hair on the pedipalps. I would probably call Nemessidae the closest "bridge genus"

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## Arthroverts (Apr 17, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> "Ill try and get that sling update out before new years"
> 
> Pffftt what a joke, im just on that level of lazy right now lol.
> 
> ...


Apologies if I missed the grand reveal on this but...what happened??

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Apr 17, 2020)

Arthroverts said:


> Apologies if I missed the grand reveal on this but...what happened??
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Arthroverts


All good lol it was just an a post about all the slings i had on me at that stage, since most of my colonies didnt get a highlight on page 1. Unfortunately though i lost 2/3 Stanwellia slings to a freak mold outbreak that came out of nowhere, and recently purchased a replacement.

Some other unfortunate news is that project Crimstone may have to be scrapped as i got ripped off and my red moss seeds aold to me were actually just lawn grass, so i dont have any way of getting red our warm coloured covering foliage. However, how a crimson desert is not out of the equation just yet, once i csn eradicate this mold i will be able to remake alot of enclosures.

Also getting perhaps the most important specimen in my entire collection soon thx to the unbelievably kind and helpful  @Oompoofishy , does anybody wanna have a guess on which species i will be trying to breed in the future?


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## Arthroverts (Apr 17, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> All good lol it was just an a post about all the slings i had on me at that stage, since most of my colonies didnt get a highlight on page 1. Unfortunately though i lost 2/3 Stanwellia slings to a freak mold outbreak that came out of nowhere, and recently purchased a replacement.
> 
> Some other unfortunate news is that project Crimstone may have to be scrapped as i got ripped off and my red moss seeds aold to me were actually just lawn grass, so i dont have any way of getting red our warm coloured covering foliage. However, how a crimson desert is not out of the equation just yet, once i csn eradicate this mold i will be able to remake alot of enclosures.
> 
> Also getting perhaps the most important specimen in my entire collection soon thx to the unbelievably kind and helpful  @Oompoofishy , does anybody wanna have a guess on which species i will be trying to breed in the future?


I meant in regards to Project Crimstone V1, ha ha. I'm assuming you meant to remake all your enclosures in that Crimson theme then?
Sorry to hear about getting ripped off like that, that's always a terrible feeling. Also sad to hear about your _Stanwellia, _hope you can get this mold outbreak under control here soon.

Ooh..._Xamiatus sp._?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## Dave1969 (Apr 17, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> All good lol it was just an a post about all the slings i had on me at that stage, since most of my colonies didnt get a highlight on page 1. Unfortunately though i lost 2/3 Stanwellia slings to a freak mold outbreak that came out of nowhere, and recently purchased a replacement.
> 
> Some other unfortunate news is that project Crimstone may have to be scrapped as i got ripped off and my red moss seeds aold to me were actually just lawn grass, so i dont have any way of getting red our warm coloured covering foliage. However, how a crimson desert is not out of the equation just yet, once i csn eradicate this mold i will be able to remake alot of enclosures.
> 
> Also getting perhaps the most important specimen in my entire collection soon thx to the unbelievably kind and helpful  @Oompoofishy , does anybody wanna have a guess on which species i will be trying to breed in the future?


My guess. P. Eunice. Did I win?


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## RezonantVoid (Apr 17, 2020)

Dave1969 said:


> My guess. P. Eunice. Did I win?


No lol its non T primitive

Btw id start a conversation but my inbox is full. Do you still have your male Bradleyi? I have just worked out thx to an update from Spidentify that all the males i presumed were Bradleyi, were in fact, M.Pruinosa males instead. That is why none of my pairings were successful except for 1, which must have just happened to be a Pruinosa Female instead. If your male survives pairing, im happy to take him and give him a shot with my females


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## Arthroverts (Apr 17, 2020)

@RezonantVoid, what about my guess? Was I at least near the mark?

I've been PMing you about the interview BTW, now I know why the messages aren't reaching you. Not trying to be pushy, but any chance you'll get it cleared out soon? 

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Apr 17, 2020)

Arthroverts said:


> @RezonantVoid, what about my guess? Was I at least near the mark?
> 
> I've been PMing you about the interview BTW, now I know why the messages aren't reaching you. Not trying to be pushy, but any chance you'll get it cleared out soon?
> 
> ...


My dearest apologies, i sent off my last response last month but i had poor service at the time so it may not have come through. I will get back to you later this evening for the last question, sorry its taken so long!

I honestly wish like nothing else it was Xamiatus of some kind, but its a male of a certain species i already have. Nemesiidae is a reasonably closely related family though so a decent first guess


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## Dave1969 (Apr 17, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> No lol its non T primitive
> 
> Btw id start a conversation but my inbox is full. Do you still have your male Bradleyi? I have just worked out thx to an update from Spidentify that all the males i presumed were Bradleyi, were in fact, M.Pruinosa males instead. That is why none of my pairings were successful except for 1, which must have just happened to be a Pruinosa Female instead. If your male survives pairing, im happy to take him and give him a shot with my females


He's webbed himself in at the moment (about a week and a half). Not sure how long I should leave him be. I want him to have a shot with my two females before it's too late. One of them (sand and coir peat) is settled in and feeding with an open side to her burrow. The other (coir peat alone) has locked herself in. I was really hoping to get a couple of them from a fellow who had been feeding them to his chickens (fell through with the Covid lockdown). If I can give him a shot and he survives I'd only be too happy to send him up.

When you say that you think a couple of your males could be M. pruinosa where did they come from? M. pruinosa is supposed to be restricted to the tropics and particularly above Carpentaria in NT (esp. Darwin) and WA. I haven't looked at your photos in a while, but from memory, I had suspicions at least one of them might be M. occatoria.


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## RezonantVoid (Apr 17, 2020)

Dave1969 said:


> He's webbed himself in at the moment (about a week and a half). Not sure how long I should leave him be. I want him to have a shot with my two females before it's too late. One of them (sand and coir peat) is settled in and feeding with an open side to her burrow. The other (coir peat alone) has locked herself in. I was really hoping to get a couple of them from a fellow who had been feeding them to his chickens (fell through with the Covid lockdown). If I can give him a shot and he survives I'd only be too happy to send him up.
> 
> When you say that you think a couple of your males could be M. pruinosa where did they come from? M. pruinosa is supposed to be restricted to the tropics and particularly above Carpentaria in NT (esp. Darwin) and WA. I haven't looked at your photos in a while, but from memory, I had suspicions at least one of them might be M. occatoria.


The range is definitely atypical, but Spidentify does show a few dots of them being recorded down south around where mine came from (20 minutes west of Coffs at my spider megaspot, Coramba). While they all had a smidge of pale blue, the main feature was the white patch the blue surrounded, whereas Bradleyi seem to have just dark shiny blue. At the very least, none of the males were Occatoria for sure, but they may have also been Insignis (not enough info to confirm). Not gonna lie, your male is the first true Bradleyi id seen a clear photo of. My females are absolutely enormous though, so they have to be either Bradleyi or Occatoria


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## Dave1969 (Apr 18, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> The range is definitely atypical, but Spidentify does show a few dots of them being recorded down south around where mine came from (20 minutes west of Coffs at my spider megaspot, Coramba). While they all had a smidge of pale blue, the main feature was the white patch the blue surrounded, whereas Bradleyi seem to have just dark shiny blue. At the very least, none of the males were Occatoria for sure, but they may have also been Insignis (not enough info to confirm). Not gonna lie, your male is the first true Bradleyi id seen a clear photo of. My females are absolutely enormous though, so they have to be either Bradleyi or Occatoria


I really think that the outliers, taken from the Atlas of Living Australia, are misidentified spiders - especially the ones near Victoria. M. pruinosa generally has a white to gloss white patch covering most of the abdomen (there are other distinguishing features in Levitt-Greg's 1969 description) whereas M. bradleyi has a small pale patch which could be blue or white or a combo. If your girls are well over 2cm body length, I'd say that they are more likely to be M. occatoria. Nonetheless, after I work out how best to awaken my guy and let him run the gauntlet, If he survives the attempts, I'd only be too happy to move him on.


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## RezonantVoid (Apr 18, 2020)

Dave1969 said:


> I really think that the outliers, taken from the Atlas of Living Australia, are misidentified spiders - especially the ones near Victoria. M. pruinosa generally has a white to gloss white patch covering most of the abdomen (there are other distinguishing features in Levitt-Greg's 1969 description) whereas M. bradleyi has a small pale patch which could be blue or white or a combo. If your girls are well over 2cm body length, I'd say that they are more likely to be M. occatoria. Nonetheless, after I work out how best to awaken my guy and let him run the gauntlet, If he survives the attempts, I'd only be too happy to move him on.


Interesting that hes being reclusive, all mine were very shy too. And thx for that, much appreciated. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Went waaaayy back through my gallery and found these, including one of my females from 2 molts ago. She has grown since that photo. Males look very white





[Edit]
Attached file is my first mouse that i believe may have actually been Pruinosa

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## Dave1969 (Apr 18, 2020)

Hi


RezonantVoid said:


> Interesting that hes being reclusive, all mine were very shy too. And thx for that, much appreciated. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Went waaaayy back through my gallery and found these, including one of my females from 2 molts ago. She has grown since that photo. Males look very white
> View attachment 340721
> View attachment 340722
> View attachment 340723
> ...


Those males are most likely bradleyi as the patch on pruinosa covers the whole dorsal surface of the abdomen. There is natural variation in how pale (or not) they are. 

From my understanding, a bradleyi female over 2.5 cm body should be a rare thing. They are listed as about 2cm. I'd hedge my bets that girl next to the tape measure might be occatoria.

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## RezonantVoid (Apr 18, 2020)

Dave1969 said:


> Hi
> 
> Those males are most likely bradleyi as the patch on pruinosa covers the whole dorsal surface of the abdomen. There is natural variation in how pale (or not) they are.
> 
> From my understanding, a bradleyi female over 2.5 cm body should be a rare thing. They are listed as about 2cm. I'd hedge my bets that girl next to the tape measure might be occatoria.


Thanks for the confirmation, this is all new info to me but glad my guess is at least correct on the females. Had someone down in Vic that came really close to getting me a male Occatoria but nothing ever happened and we lost contact

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## Dave1969 (Apr 18, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Thanks for the confirmation, this is all new info to me but glad my guess is at least correct on the females. Had someone down in Vic that came really close to getting me a male Occatoria but nothing ever happened and we lost contact


I've been checking out the location where I found the deceased occatoria daily. I fear that I might have missed the boat this year. If I find a male, it'll be posted your way asap. Fingers crossed.

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## Ungoliant (Apr 18, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Btw id start a conversation but my inbox is full.


To make room for new conversations in your inbox, check old conversations and select the "leave conversation" option.

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## RezonantVoid (Jun 21, 2020)

I have been very busy recently, and have not touched this thread in some time considering. Ready to hear what ive been up to all this time?

First up, in 2 weeks time im moving right down to the very bottom of Australia to a little place called Wonthaggi. I have only a basic idea about potential spiders in the area but there's gonna be like 5 new Atracids on my doorstep as well a few very pretty wolf spiders.

So my collection's current condition is just 60% of my stuff in temporary transport containers, all prepped for the big move. Ive been doing my best to limit new additions but BOY am i bad at self control. I cant really give in depth descriptions of each but ill try and make it all interesting.

From @Rhino1, a second Arbanitis sp. Bellthorpe, a female to replace the mother that died shortly after laying an eggsac. Absolutely gorgeous



He was also kind enough to give me a second Euoplos Turrificus. I have decided that in the event i have to sell my collection, both of mine will be returned to him for wild release instead of being sold. E.Turrificus are in my eyes worth about $300+ each, but their wild population and survival is far more valuable than a mere tripple figure price tag.



I FINALLY got a bunch more Diplurids (cant even use that name anymore after the recent classification adjustments) and a few Hexathelids. I now have a total of 5 Australothele Nambucca including several freshly molted females and a new mature male. Lets hope he doesnt get smashed like my last male did. One of the females is the biggest ive ever seen, and oddly enough 3 of them all molted within 2 days of each other.





From the same private property as the specimens above came the following, a new Paraembolides sp. and Arbanitis sp. which happens to be a drawbridge maker. Gotta love the stripes on both of them.







I have a few more updates,  which ill upload shortly

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## Dave1969 (Jun 21, 2020)

Some nice additions there.

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## RezonantVoid (Jun 21, 2020)

Now time for Newsroom, info about stuff not necessarily related to the acquisition of new specimens but moreso with ongoing and upcoming projects.

First of all, breeding projects.

Failed-
*Arbanitis sp. Wooli
-Male matured well out of season and got eaten without a single attempt at drumming


Loss: significant

*Idiommata Silverback "Jack Pad"
-failed to acquire female in time, or even send the male back for release


Loss: very significant

Successful-
Arbanitis sp. Gold
-pairing between my largest female and the last remaining (now mature male) sling from the first sac i captive bred in 2018. All went perfectly and neither showed any aggression


Gain: minor, but still appreciated.

Sac is developing well



Upcoming-
Australothele Nambucca 
	

		
			
		

		
	



Time frame: with the next 3 months, these guys have a weird breeding season. Female will require a sufficiently large enclosure to enable the male to escape.


Other fun things:

We went and visited some friends south of me. Took the opportunity to visit the location where i released some Arbanitis sp. Kempsey Black slings, to find them all flourishing




Tiny burrows can be seen in each photo.

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## RezonantVoid (Jun 21, 2020)

Finally, a few more additions i forgot.

Ive got a new collector friend that lives in a spider hotspot, who sent me some gorgeous new critters

A new Arbanitis Longipes, the biggest Arbanitis ive ever seen 




A new funnelweb, like H.Infensa or Valida.



Another Namea sp. Tambourine Black





ANOTHER Euoplos Variabilis 



And on Friday, i actually caught a few more of my own. 2 new Arbanitis, a new Hexathelid and a new Atracid, likely Infensa or Macquariensis. I only have a photo of the funnelweb though.




Here's your reward for making it to the end, Yukinoshita

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## Arthroverts (Jun 22, 2020)

For any of you who follow this thread closely, I just posted my interview with @RezonantVoid (thanks again RezonantVoid!) on my blog. Check it out here.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

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## RezonantVoid (Jun 22, 2020)

Arthroverts said:


> For any of you who follow this thread closely, I just posted my interview with @RezonantVoid (thanks again RezonantVoid!) on my blog. Check it out here.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Arthroverts


I was happy to help, anytime 

In early June im starting a hopefully collaborative thread which will be my biggest care info block to date, a thoroughly updated care guide covering most groups of primitives once and for all. Its a direct upgrade to my last trapdoor care thread and will cover a much broader range of species, accurate habitat mimcry, and other care tips for unique behavior as well as semi-arboreals, communal housing tips for sac mates, bla bla bla. Hopefully it will be useful to someone

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## RezonantVoid (Jul 3, 2020)

All the new additions from the other week.
New Hexathelid



The new, not Arbanitis, but Cataxia sp. Gibraltar




While not visible much here, theres prominent banding on the abdomen, and they dont construct lids either. Both of these really throw me off into thinking they were a low-gold Arbanitis sp.

And finally, put your hands together and welcome back the stage Hadronyche Valida!




Now i may or may not have taken photos of nearly all my collection while packing them away. Is there a group or genus you guys would like a visual update for?

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## Ungoliant (Jul 4, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> And finally, put your hands together and welcome back the stage Hadronyche Valida!


When they were giving out jaws, she got in line twice but skipped the floof line.




RezonantVoid said:


> Now i may or may not have taken photos of nearly all my collection while packing them away. Is there a group or genus you guys would like a visual update for?


Trapdoors!

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## RezonantVoid (Jul 4, 2020)

As you wish!

I have more photos but forgot to label which species was in each one. Here's 10 of the ones i liked the best.

Arbanitis sp. Drawbridge 



Arbanitis sp. Gold 



Arbanitis sp. Wooli





Arbanitis sp. Wooli MM



Cataxia/Homogona sp.



Arbanitis Longipes



Seqocrypta Jakara



Euoplos Variabilis 





My other Cataxia are too aggressive to easily photograph, my Euoplos Turrificus is staying in its current setup with its clay mixture, my Idiommata sp. Silverback female is staying in her enclosure for a few weeks and my other Arbanitis are doing well. Ill take more photos of them all when unpacking them.

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## RezonantVoid (Jul 6, 2020)

Some pics of Idiommata sp. Silverback/Electric Blue, im unsure if ive even updated on her since making this thread. Unfortunately, even for a trapdoor, her reclusive nature is extraordinary. A shame since she's one of my pretiest. Its difficult to get clear photos of her without spooking her at the same time.





I hope to make her a new enclosure where her iridescent legs will be much easier to photograph. Interestingly,  she dug the entire cavity seen above by herself

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## AvicRugby09 (Jul 10, 2020)

Wow these are awesome spider!

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## RezonantVoid (Jul 10, 2020)

AvicRugby09 said:


> Wow these are awesome spider!


Thanks! You have an awesome profile pic too

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## AvicRugby09 (Jul 10, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Thanks! You have an awesome profile pic too


Who doesn’t love Hollow Knight?

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## RezonantVoid (Jul 16, 2020)

Among a few others ive been rehousing at my new house, here are my 2 adult tube webs.

Arbanitis sp. Coramba "featherleg" (named after the unusually fluffy legs she has).





Arbanitis sp. Bellthorpe "banded" (named after very prominent abdominal stripes. Potentially A.Mascordi).



She jumped out and i had to  catch her




Very sadly, this week i announce the exit of 3 very special specimens. Hadronyche Walkeri, Hadronyche Lamingtonensis and worst of all one of my 2 Missulena Occatoria. I have no idea what caused their deaths, all 3 were perfectly healthy with no damage and died in their transport cups in a very short timeframe. For this reason i hurriedly rehoused all my medically significant species the other day, but due to only having mobile data for internet at the moment i will upload their photos at a later date

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## RezonantVoid (Jul 28, 2020)

Some of my red specimens for a random change of pace

Euoplos Variabilis, from @Rhino1 (if you havnt done it, you should give this guy an applause for supplying me with many specimens i never dreamed id get to see personally)



Atrax Robustus "red CF" (bought 2 of these as 1cm slings, 1 recently failed a molt unfortunately but its sibling has shown itself to be one of the very rare red form specimens. These photos are 3 months post molt, so i doubt this is only temporary colouration. Until now she has been very dark brown)






Not really red in colouration, but my remaining female M.Occatoria (red headed mouse spider. Males are vibrant red)



Namea Salanitri (had an MM arrive today, lets hope for some slings soon!)




And finally, my newest specimen which also arrived today. I thought i ordered Euoplos Grandis, not a small tarantula!



Photos cannot express the sheer enormity of this specimen. She is larger than several of my juvenile and subadult T's.



This though, is not a genus im willing to handle during a rehouse for a size comparison photo. They are basically stationary rocks until provoked, at which point they will VICIOUSLY attack whatever moves in close proximity, even if it means snapping a fang on your tweezers or biting 3mm into solid wood. The strength of these little tanks is much greater than a T of the same legspan, and that combined with their quite unknown venom is enough for me to respect them from a distance.

Hope you all enjoy this little update

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## basin79 (Jul 29, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Some of my red specimens for a random change of pace
> 
> Euoplos Variabilis, from @Rhino1 (if you havnt done it, you should give this guy an applause for supplying me with many specimens i never dreamed id get to see personally)
> View attachment 354427
> ...


Stunning. 

Prefer the phrase "They are basically stationary rocks until provoked, at which point they will RIGOROUSLY defend themselves  against whatever moves in close proximity,....."


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## RezonantVoid (Jul 29, 2020)

basin79 said:


> Stunning.
> 
> Prefer the phrase "They are basically stationary rocks until provoked, at which point they will RIGOROUSLY defend themselves  against whatever moves in close proximity,....."


Picture an 8-legged chihuahua that goes for your hand every time you pet it

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## RezonantVoid (Jul 30, 2020)

Arbanitis sp. Gold




Arbanitis sp. Wooli 



Namea Salanitri MM
	

		
			
		

		
	




Namea sp. Tamborine "Black"



Australothele Nambucca with disfigured abdomen



Paraembolides sp. Coramba



Arbanitis Longipes 



Euoplos Grandis

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 2, 2020)

Need help deciding quickly guys, would you prefer to see a new Idiopid (family Arbanitis, Euoplos and Cataxia belong to) or a new Euagrid (ex Dipluridae)? Only 1 left of each in the site im planning to buy from but cant buy both


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## basin79 (Aug 2, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Need help deciding quickly guys, would you prefer to see a new Idiopid (family Arbanitis, Euoplos and Cataxia belong to) or a new Euagrid (ex Dipluridae)? Only 1 left of each in the site im planning to buy from but cant buy both


Being that you'll be caring for the spider I'd suggest you pick the one YOU want more.


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## RezonantVoid (Aug 2, 2020)

basin79 said:


> Being that you'll be caring for the spider I'd suggest you pick the one YOU want more.


I Know the care well for both species having kept them before, and am keen for either one as eagerly as each other, especially since i havnt had them for a little while

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## basin79 (Aug 2, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> I Know the care well for both species having kept them before, and am keen for either one as eagerly as each other, especially since i havnt had them for a little while


I never doubted you wouldn't be able to provide the best care.

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## Jess S (Aug 2, 2020)

After seeing that E grandis, you know I'm going to vote Idiopid lol.
But go with whatever will make you happiest

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 3, 2020)

Either will make me equally happy, but after a bit of consideration im thinking with my current space that a new Idiopid would easier to appropriately house. I may still be able to get both however depending on how quickly lockdown ends and if i can get my new shelving

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 3, 2020)

Caught 7 new specimens on Saturday, my first Stanwellia species that are larger than tiny slings. Found from this lovely coastal hilltop 





If you asked me 2 years ago whether or not you could find Mygalomorphs right on the beach or coastline i would have said no. But ive proven myself wrong twice now, having accidentally discovered primitives living in such habitats for the second time. I present Stanwellia sp. "Cape Liptrap"





She's fairly unremarkable in appearance, and without the assistance of @Austinarachnids i wouldn't have even guessed them as being Stanwellia due to the colouration. 



Unfortunately, this species appears to only tolerate pure beach sand as substrate and nothing else, unlike my Arbanitis sp. Wooli who are happy in my sandy substrate mix meant for coastal species. I will be venturing back to this area to gather sand for her soon.

But i said 7 new specimens right? Well, i only intended on getting her alone, but after unearthing her i made a discovery at the bottom of her burrow.



6 "slings", each with a legspan between 15-20mm. This is remarkable to me, as up until now i believed nearly all primitives would leave their mother's burrow at around 6-10mm total length like Arbanitis. These are all well developed, well fed and capable juveniles about a third of the mother's current size. Im guessing they've probably eaten their sac mates reach that size, but they have still obviously been cohabiting for a considerable length of time.

They have adorable little spotted abdomens too.







So, these are the fruits of my first spidering trip in my new area.

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 4, 2020)

Well, unfortunately the Idiosoma i was planning to buy both went out of stock as soon as i went to the site. The Euagrid im planning to get is Namirea Plannipes, there's 2 left and ill bag one as soon as there's one left. If i miss that one too, its $100 mystery box time


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## Ah Lee (Aug 5, 2020)

That's a really beautiful collection of spiders, i especially love the Arbanitis golds.

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 5, 2020)

vogelspinnenasia said:


> That's a really beautiful collection of spiders, i especially love the Arbanitis golds.


Im glad you like them!


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## RezonantVoid (Aug 14, 2020)

Had another change of plans, got some Atracids on hold for a few weeks until im able to get some new shelving. In the meantime, enjoy this feeding video of H.Formidabilis i put on reddit 

__
		https://www.reddit.com/r/thedarkden/comments/hzqmvi

Reactions: Like 6


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## RezonantVoid (Aug 22, 2020)

2 more unknown Stanwellia sp. from 7 minutes away.







Cataxia sp. Gibraltar 



Euoplos cf Grandis




New Atrax Sutherlandi from @Dave1969

Reactions: Like 5


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## RezonantVoid (Aug 30, 2020)

10 more Stanwellia sp. local to me from a single burrow!
	

		
			
		

		
	








And finally 

After 3 YEARS

A MISSULENA OCCATORIA MALE

Reactions: Like 7 | Wow 1 | Love 1


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## Licespray (Sep 7, 2020)

Glad to see our boy arrived alright. Sent you an email by the way, please keep Skye and I in the loop on how things progress

Reactions: Like 1


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## Spydr (Sep 7, 2020)

i have never seen so much gold.  the "i love gold!" line from austen powers keeps repeating in my head.
one of these NEEDS the common name 'Pele's Hair' after the gold hair some volcanoes make.

Reactions: Like 1


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## RezonantVoid (Sep 7, 2020)

As soon as Messanger stops playing up ill add you on there for ease of communication. Ive tried them together several times and the male hasnt done anything yet, so i will be trying to do it during the daytime from now on since the males are diurnal. Thank you both so much once again!


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## Georges Simp Pierre (Sep 8, 2020)

Beautiful spider! I've seen a few mature male Missulena in my garden though I've never been able to find any burrows. Apparently they can dig really really deep.

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## Licespray (Sep 8, 2020)

Georges Simp Pierre said:


> Beautiful spider! I've seen a few mature male Missulena in my garden though I've never been able to find any burrows. Apparently they can dig really really deep.


If you have Occatoria try and get RezonantVoid a male

Reactions: Agree 1


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## RezonantVoid (Sep 8, 2020)

Georges Simp Pierre said:


> Beautiful spider! I've seen a few mature male Missulena in my garden though I've never been able to find any burrows. Apparently they can dig really really deep.


They have very camouflaged burrows too. Do you know what species it could be at all?


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## Georges Simp Pierre (Sep 8, 2020)

The ones I've seen have all been bradleyi (i think).


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## RezonantVoid (Sep 14, 2020)

Ive been a bit quiet again lately, but fear not! Get ready for the collection to surpass 100 permanent individuals with almost 15 new specimens this week. On top of that, theres a couple of new ones i already have with me i will also mention in said update. Lets welcome the newly described Cryptoforis Hughesae and my first Blakistonia sp. among others! A new breeding project with Hadronyche valida has come up too, among with many specimens i never thought id get to see in person. This is what happens when i get an extra 4 metres of shelf space

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## Georges Simp Pierre (Sep 15, 2020)

I'm wondering what you do to get the spiders out of their burrows on the occasions I've tried to extract the trapdoors in my garden it has been very hit and miss


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## RezonantVoid (Sep 15, 2020)

Georges Simp Pierre said:


> I'm wondering what you do to get the spiders out of their burrows on the occasions I've tried to extract the trapdoors in my garden it has been very hit and miss


If its not Arbanitis or Aname, getting them out is an ordeal and a half. It can take a few days of conditioning on specific burrows to get one careless enough to leave its burrow. For this reason i normally dig them up by hand.

To condition a burrow, use a thin stalk of grass and softly tap the entry with it. Avoid shining light down the hole initially, but wait as long as it takes for the occupant to inevitably make an appearance. If you're lucky enough, it may chase the grass far enough for you to block off its burrow. But preferably,  reward it with a cricket if it comes out far enough. Condition its feeding response into making it leave the burrow to catch food. This may take 2 or 3 days, but eventually you will lure it out far enough to easily block off the hole and scoop it up.

Could you post pictures of the burrow entrances?


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## RezonantVoid (Sep 16, 2020)

As seen above, a new Aname sp.. Still getting the location for it so i can label the lid



Also this adorable little Idiosoma sp. Black





Arriving today, we have Aname sp. Black (and gold!)





Its very hard to pick up with my phone camera but the setae give off a rich golden/yellow sparkle in the light. I wouldn't believe it possible without seeing it in person.



Stanwellia Nebulosa





And this cute little Blakistonia sp.



Cannot wait to get them all into permanent homes, big thanks to @Dabugboi for supplying me with these (and more!) beautiful specimens. Not many sellers have as top notch packing and customer service as this bloke, and im looking forward to seeing what other interesting critters he may supply me in the future.

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 17, 2020)

Yesterday's arrivals, also all from South Australia like the above post.

A second Stanwellia Nebulosa



Aname sp. Silver
	

		
			
		

		
	




What i believe to be a second Aname sp. Red





It turns out that my "Namea Salanitri" female was misidentified, and is indeed Aname sp.

Blakistonia sp. Bumblebee





And 2 new Blakistonia sp. "Leaf-lid"







Why they are called "Leaf-lids" will become more apparent when they begin to burrow in their new enclosures 

But these aren't the last ones that are arriving this week, or the only new ones i have with me! Hopefully the rest should turn up today, and next week i will post an entire inventory/collection list

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 22, 2020)

Cryptoforis Hughesae, a genus that has only been named this year!



A beautiful Arbanitis sp. Nowra 1, hopefully gravid.



Arbanitis sp. Nowra 2



Arbanitis Gracilis



Another new Blakistonia sp.



One of my Hadronyche Valida that was apparently a male.



My second Euoplos turrificus appears to instead be Euoplos thynnearum, which is still a kind of palisade trapdoor



The Cataxia sp. that was ex-Homogona has turned its latest enclosure into a ball pit



And the 2 newest Blakistonia sp. Leaflid with their impressive burrow entrances.

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## Georges Simp Pierre (Sep 24, 2020)

@RezonantVoid sorry for using your thread but how do you propose I extract this trapdoor. Burrow is fairly horizontal and I'm assuming cataxia from the wafer lid

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 24, 2020)

Georges Simp Pierre said:


> @RezonantVoid sorry for using your thread but how do you propose I extract this trapdoor. Burrow is fairly horizontal and I'm assuming cataxia from the wafer lid


No problem! Likely Cataxia, slim chance it could be a special lid building Arbanitis. Your best bet is digging this one up, lidded species are VERY hard to lure

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## Georges Simp Pierre (Sep 24, 2020)

Cool are you aware of any way of digging it up without collapsing the burrow or doing large amounts of damage to the landscape or do you just gotta go at it with a shovel.


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## RezonantVoid (Sep 24, 2020)

Georges Simp Pierre said:


> Cool are you aware of any way of digging it up without collapsing the burrow or doing large amounts of damage to the landscape or do you just gotta go at it with a shovel.


I do it with a small hand trowel, dig around the burrow instead of directly into it. After pulling it off in sections, you will eventually  come to the bottom chamber which can often be easily pulled out with some tweezers. Since the burrow is semi horizontal and on a small vertical embankment, it would be best to start underneath it

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1 | Helpful 1


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## Arachnoenthusiast (Sep 24, 2020)

Beautiful spiders!

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## Georges Simp Pierre (Sep 24, 2020)

With the advice of @RezonantVoid I have been able to extract this beautiful female. The only question that remains is what species is it?

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 24, 2020)

Georges Simp Pierre said:


> With the advice of @RezonantVoid I have been able to extract this beautiful female. The only question that remains is what species is it?


Congratulations on your new Arbanitis sp.!

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## Dabugboi (Sep 26, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> As seen above, a new Aname sp.. Still getting the location for it so i can label the lid
> View attachment 360087
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks man! next stop Hoggicosa!

Reactions: Wow 1


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## RezonantVoid (Oct 20, 2020)

Haven't updated much but here's a little something I've been working on!

Reactions: Like 3 | Informative 2


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## ThatOneGuyInAus (Oct 22, 2020)

Where did you get these from? I'd really like to know as I can't find many good places to purchase spiders.


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## RezonantVoid (Oct 22, 2020)

ThatOneGuyInAus said:


> Where did you get these from? I'd really like to know as I can't find many good places to purchase spiders.


Insectory, JJ's stings, bugfrenzy and minibeast are great bug site you can order from online. As far as the more unique stuff, ive got more stuff from Facebook in 1 and a half months than an entire year of gumtree advertising. Cannot reccomend enough hitting up some of the private breeders on there. @Dabugboi can probably help you out too


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## ThatOneGuyInAus (Oct 22, 2020)

RezonantVoid said:


> Insectory, JJ's stings, bugfrenzy and minibeast are great bug site you can order from online. As far as the more unique stuff, ive got more stuff from Facebook in 1 and a half months than an entire year of gumtree advertising. Cannot reccomend enough hitting up some of the private breeders on there. @Dabugboi can probably help you out too


Thanks. I already knew about minibeast wildlife and bug frenzy but couldn't find a review on them so I wasn't sure whether I should buy from them but now I will try them. i will have a look at the others


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## Dabugboi (Nov 8, 2020)

ThatOneGuyInAus said:


> Thanks. I already knew about minibeast wildlife and bug frenzy but couldn't find a review on them so I wasn't sure whether I should buy from them but now I will try them. i will have a look at the others


I messaged you


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## RezonantVoid (Nov 8, 2020)

Turns out my "H.formidabilis" is actually both an MM and actually an undescribed tree dwelling species from Mt. Tamborine





So here is a replacement sling of the same species



New Euoplos variabilis



Idiosoma sp. Wagga Wagga



Aname sp. "Cerulea"



A nice and rare shot of my Euoplos turrificus when i rehoused it



One of my 3 new Missulena bradleyi



Stanwellia sp. Wonthaggi, my local species



Bymainiella sp.



A cool Stanwellia sp. I received for free



Australothele nambucca



My new Euoplos turrificus setup



A third Blakistonia sp. Leaflid



Idiosoma sp. Burra 1



A cool photo of Yukinoshita



Stanwellia grisea and sp. Wonthaggi



Namea flavomaculata  (the actual ID of my sp. Tamborine "Black")



My failed attempt to breed Arbanitis sp. Wooli (male keeps refusing to drum)



One of my Euoplos variabilis turns out to actually be a species of the newly described Cryptoforis genus, only named this year. The only distinguishing feature is they build their lids from debris and silk, as opposed to Euoplos which make plug lids from mud that are around 3-5mm thick.



Gravid Blakistonia sp. Leaflid and her enclosure





An absolute massive gravid Idiosoma sp. Burra 2



Stanwellia sp. Tarra Valley



Arbanitis sp. Handorf, completely breaking the rules of known Arbanitis distribution. She also layed me the tiniest eggsac ive ever seen, im guessing the male must have only had 1 pedipalp or something. I have a second smaller specimen of this sp. as well. Interesting to note almost zero reflective hairs on the top of the carapace.



Aname sp. Black&gold 2 (Mainae group)



Blakistonia sp. juvenile



Aname sp. 3 i think



Stanwellia sp. purple



Undescribed coastal Cethegus sp. MM from only 40 minutes away from where i used to live.



Arbanitis gracilis



Euoplos variabilis



Euoplos variabilis



Also Euoplos variabilis



Adult female undescribed Tamborine tree funnelweb (Hadronyche sp. Tamborine 2)



Blakistonia sp. "D-lid"









Hadronyche macquariensis



There's still like another 10-15 i havn't photographed yet lol

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## RezonantVoid (Nov 16, 2020)

Breeding pair of Hadronyche macquariensis





The first 2nd generation captive bred eggsac of Arbanitis sp. Gold!





Arbanitis sp. Flagstone



Huge and probably gravid Euoplos variabilis



Hadronyche sp. Tamborine 2

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## RezonantVoid (Dec 23, 2020)

Idiomatta sp. Silverback



Huge Hadronyche nimoola





Hadronyche marracoonda



Yukinoshita (Aname CF. palida)



Idiosoma sp.



Missulena bradleyi



Arbanitis sp. Grafton gold





Arbanitis CF. robertsi, a new tube builder that is likely gravid

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## RezonantVoid (Dec 23, 2020)

Australothele nambucca MM



A fascinating Arbanitis sp. orange (named after both the colour and the locality), new to the hobby and the only known Arbanitis among the few lid making ones to build thick plug lids



Arbanitis sp. Bellthorpe "gunmetal", after fasting below ground for roughly 6 months



Idiosoma sp.



2 huge and gorgeous new Arbanitis sp., I think from around Nowra





Blakistonia sp. bumblebee



And finally, one of the rarest species in the hobby down here, Xamiatus rubifrons

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## Dabugboi (Dec 31, 2020)

That “sp.3” reddish aname is sp. 4. Cerulea is sp. 3.

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## RezonantVoid (Jan 21, 2021)

Haven't shown many Actinopodidae in a while so here is a Missulena bradleyi I recently got, but sold off to a friend who has been wanting them for a long time





Aname sp. SA black 1



Aname sp. SA black 2 (mainae group)



Stanwellia sp. purple



Arbanitis sp. Gold



Idiommata sp. silverback



Australothele nambucca MM





Arbanitis sp. Orange

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## RezonantVoid (Jan 21, 2021)

Aname sp. SA black 2 (mainae group)



Arbanitis sp. Tamborine "drawbridge"



Arbanitis sp. Newcastle 1



Aname sp. Mt Lofty "orange"



Australothele nambucca pairing attempt



Arbanitis sp. Maleny



Another new Idiosoma sp. from somewhere in SA



Aname sp. SA black 1



Arbanitis sp. Wooli 



Massive new Xamiatus rubifrons

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## RezonantVoid (Jan 21, 2021)

Xamiatus rubifrons juvenile



Xamiatus rubifrons breeding pair







Blakistonia sp. leaflid



Arbanitis sp. (Forgot the locality but chasing it up)



Aname sp. SA black 1





Aname sp. red



Presumed new Teyloides sp.

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## RezonantVoid (Jan 21, 2021)

Arbanitis sp. Handorf





Hadronyche sp. Tamborine 2 (tree dweller)



Hadronyche cerberea



Arbanitis sp. Bateman's Bay



Arbanitis sp. Nowra "yellow"



Cataxia sp.



Euoplos thynnearum lid



Euoplos turrificus lid

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## RezonantVoid (Jan 21, 2021)

Aname (also quite possibly Teyloides) sp. "cerulea" slings







Arbanitis sp. Bellthorpe "banded" slings





Blakistonia sp. leaflid sac and slings







Arbanitis sp. Toowoomba slings

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## RezonantVoid (Jan 21, 2021)

And just like that, we went from around 85 permanent specimens in June 2020 to just over 200 permanents about 7 months later

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## RezonantVoid (Feb 10, 2021)

Teranodes sp. female, presumed gravid



Unknown tree dwelling funnelweb from southern Victoria (nicknamed the "very southern tree funnelweb")



Cataxia sp. purchased from Minibeast wildlife several years ago
	

		
			
		

		
	




Big 65mm Hadronyche cerberea



Freshly molted Hadronyche valida



Euoplos variabilis with the lid lifted open



Big Arbanitis sp. Nowra 2



Stanwellia sp. Bago



Gorgeous Namea cf. dahmsi



Big cranky Xamiatus rubifrons MM

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## RezonantVoid (Feb 11, 2021)

Euoplos sp. nangur



Arbanitis cf. robertsi
	

		
			
		

		
	




A true Euoplos grandis



Presumed Aname sp., possibly pallida group



Hadronyche sp. Tamborine 2 sling



Another fruitless attempt at pairing Australothele nambucca



Namea cf. dahmsi



2 Blakistonia sp., 1 of which is freshly molted





Bymainiella sp. gibraltar

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## scolopendra277 (Feb 11, 2021)

how hard are these to care for?

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## RezonantVoid (Feb 11, 2021)

scolopendra277 said:


> how hard are these to care for?


It's easy to to keep them alive for a long time, but to keep them adequately and happy is a little more complicated as you'll always get the best results out if mimicking each species natural habitats. Alot of keepers I know just chuck them in a tub of peat moss, but in reality alot of them are quite uncomfortable when housed on it. Some of them will only be able to display their natural and signature behaviours if they are housed on clay, such as Euoplos turrificus and thynnearum.

If there's one species that's a cut above the others in terms of difficulty, it's Australothele nambucca. They are very picky with moisture levels and can die in as little as a week if their setup becomes too dry. They are also a nightmare to captive breed, I've been trying for the majority of my 3 years hobbying and never succeeded

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## RezonantVoid (Mar 14, 2021)

Ever wanted to see some of my specimens and their differences through video? I made this quite lengthy video showcasing some of the ones I own. Atracids, Actinopods and Anamids are next week

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 17, 2021)

It's been so long since I updated this thread and there's so much new stuff it's hard to pick up exactly where I left off. Here's a few new ones though.

Stanwellia cf. inornata



Aname sp. red 1



Aname sp. orange 1



Aname sp. gold 2



Aname sp. SA "black steel"



Anamidae sp. Mt Lofty 2



Proshermacha sp. Mt Lofty 1



Anamidae sp. Flinders Ranges 1



Aname sp. mudflats



Kwonkan sp. Redhill

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 17, 2021)

Arbanitis sp. Orange, an unique lid building species with a very stocky build to assist it in burrowing through tough clay.



Arbanitis sp. Barrington Tops 1. Bizarre opalescent colouration on the abdomen when under light and one of the weirdest lids I've seen from any trapdoor make this a quite interesting new species to the hobby.



Chenistonia sp. Orange



Paraembolides tubrabucca



Arbanitis sp. Barrington Tops 2



Arbanitis sp. Barrington Tops 3, another one with a funky drawbridge style lid.



Arbanitis sp. Barrington Tops 4, the most Southern tube building Arbanitis I'm currently aware of.



Arbanitis sp. Coramba 3. The third species I've personally found in this area, distinguished by its regular open hole burrow and unusually long cephalothorax hairs.



Arbanitis sp. Grafton gold, the species that started it all.

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 17, 2021)

Arbanitis robertsi, a tube builder
	

		
			
		

		
	




Euoplos cf. variabilis



Blakistonia sp. ravioli, named for the unique lids they build in the wild. So far, nobody has successfully got them to recreate such lids in a captive setting, although I have to some degree.



Blakistonia sp. Flinders Ranges 1, also what i call "semicircular tube trapdoors". The unique burrow is a tube, either horizontal on the underside of overhanging wood on a slope or vertically against the side of a rock. The entrance to the burrow is adorned by a massive semicircular fringe of mud around the lid, which is also semicircular in shape.



Cataxia sp.



Anamidae sp. Crawford forest 1. Possibly Teyl sp.



Trittame cf. rainbowi



Cryptoforis hughesae



Namea sp. Toowoomba



Finally, after 3 years, a second Idiommata sp. silverback

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 17, 2021)

Aname sp. Crawford forest



Blakistonia sp. 1



Stanwellia sp. Bago



Blakistonia sp. leaf lid



Australothele nambucca



Hexathelidae sp. Coramba 2, no longer mine but a cool little species.

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## The Snark (Aug 17, 2021)

Great pictures!
I notice they all have the same basic eye configuration and size. Little more than motion detectors. It's so typical of Australian fauna and their ancient evolution, adapting the animals to 'only as required;, dictated by the environment. Little or none sporting or experimentation as often seen in younger species. From what I've seen of Aus. only the outback from Darwin to Brisbane, the entire area speaks *'old'*. Out in the Kakadu and Arnhelmland you can feel the antiquity. Up in your face 'this is one very ancient land, unchanging for many eons'.


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## scolopendra277 (Aug 17, 2021)

Beautiful spiders! I'm thinking of getting one of these, how hard are these species to keep?

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 17, 2021)

scolopendra277 said:


> Beautiful spiders! I'm thinking of getting one of these, how hard are these species to keep?


That thoroughly depends on whether you want to keep Actinopodidae, Atracidae, Anamidae, Barychelidae, Euagridae, Idiopidae, Hexathelidae, Microstigmatidae, Pycnothelidae or the other obscure families. To begin with, open hole Arbanitis and Stanwellia are IME both the easiest and among the best looking species we have in the entire country. 

Arbanitis is also great because the genus has unbelievable variety and species groups for all levels of experience. You can start with easy ones and even as an advanced keeper still try out ones that need very specific and tricky habitats


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## scolopendra277 (Aug 18, 2021)

RezonantVoid said:


> That thoroughly depends on whether you want to keep Actinopodidae, Atracidae, Anamidae, Barychelidae, Euagridae, Idiopidae, Hexathelidae, Microstigmatidae, Pycnothelidae or the other obscure families. To begin with, open hole Arbanitis and Stanwellia are IME both the easiest and among the best looking species we have in the entire country.
> 
> Arbanitis is also great because the genus has unbelievable variety and species groups for all levels of experience. You can start with easy ones and even as an advanced keeper still try out ones that need very specific and tricky habitats


I was going to try an Arbanitis gold coast, how hard are those to keep?

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 18, 2021)

scolopendra277 said:


> I was going to try an Arbanitis gold coast, how hard are those to keep?


Don't have those ones personally but I'm guessing they are a standard open hole species. Arbanitis are very hardy and its very difficult to kill them unless deliberately. You're best off using wild substrate but a peat moss and sand mix will suffice


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## scolopendra277 (Aug 18, 2021)

RezonantVoid said:


> Don't have those ones personally but I'm guessing they are a standard open hole species. Arbanitis are very hardy and its very difficult to kill them unless deliberately. You're best off using wild substrate but a peat moss and sand mix will suffice


Thank you! I'll try that.

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 18, 2021)

Namea cf. dahmsi, mother and slings





Hadronyche marracoonda sling



Teyloides sp. sling



Proshermacha sp. sling



Cataxia sp. (possibly pulleinei



Stanwellia sp. Hall's Gap 1, male and female. One of the only trapdoor species I truly count as a dwarf.





Arbanitis sp. Coramba 2, a drawbridge species I found a few years ago. This is the first adult specimen I've seen.



Aname sp. NSW mallee

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 18, 2021)

Teranodes sp.



Hadronyche sp. Tamborine 2, undescribed tree dweller.



Seqocrypta jakara



Euoplos grandis



Arbanitis sp. Montville, male and female.





Euoplos turrificus. This one turned out to be a penultimate male that matured on Tuesday.



Anamidae sp., possible Proshermacha.



Aname comosa



Kiama lachrymoides

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 18, 2021)

Euoplos regalis, the largest trapdoor for overall size and mass I own at just shy of 4" DLS



Cataxia sp. from near me.



Euoplos sp. Flinders Ranges



Chenistonia sp. Barrington Tops



Arbanitis sp. Nowra



Arbanitis sp. Coramba 1, a tube builder.



Namea sp. Tamborine 2



Stanwellia sp. from about 2 hours away.



Hadronyche nimoola, the real one deal this time.



Arbanitis sp. Gundagai

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 18, 2021)

Arbanitis sp. Cumberland Plains



Blakistonia sp. Flinders Ranges 1, semicircular tube.



Bymainiella lugubris



Sason colemani, adult female.



Arbanitis sp. Tamborine 3, drawbridge type.





Arbanitis sp. Tamborine 1, also nicknamed "goliath" due to being one of the largest species in the genus with both females and males consistently reaching over 3" DLS.



Arbanitis papillosus, sandpaper tube trapdoor. The species possesses unusual bumpy tubercles covering the entire abdomen.

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## RezonantVoid (Aug 23, 2021)

Chenistonia sp. WA 1





Idiosoma sp. WA 1





Seqocrypta jakara



Aname sp. red, unfortunately with an impaction. Regrettably, not really sure how to help her either.



Euoplos regalis

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## NaychaBoi (Sep 3, 2022)

That Arbanitis you found in Wooli is incredible. I spent most of my life living in Grafton so I’ve spent a great deal of time in Wooli, Glenreagh, all along the beaches and inland too. While I was down there I was mainly into reptiles and kept some local wolf spiders and Lychas scorpions

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## 8 legged (Sep 4, 2022)

Write a book! I will preorder!

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 4, 2022)

8 legged said:


> Write a book! I will preorder!


It's been so long since I undated this that I almost forgot about it! Can't promise a book but I'll do my best haha

Reactions: Optimistic 1


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## RezonantVoid (Sep 4, 2022)

Proshermacha sp. Denmark (not the country), adult possibly gravid female.



Teyl luculentus



Synothele sp. Carmel



Cethegus fugax, likely gravid female



Idiommata sp. silverback



Proshermacha sp. Mt Bryan



Trittame cf. rainbowi



Hadronyche sp. Batemans Bay



Synothele lowei



Teyloides bakeri

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## RezonantVoid (Sep 4, 2022)

Euoplos grandis (no longer mine, sold)



Proshermacha sp. Adelaide Hills



Xamiatus rubifrons



Euoplos thynnearum, possibly the only specimen in the entire hobby. Builds an unusual lid with a thick lip around the edge.



Arbanitis sp. Coramba 1 "tube"



Namirea sp. Flinders Ranges



Bymainiella cf. polesoni



Stanwellia sp. Newcastle



Australothele nambucca



Arbanitis sp. Bellthorpe "tube"

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