A Release Into The Wild

davisfam

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 19, 2010
Messages
287
When is the best time to set a male spidiie back out into the wild?! We have raised a male C. captiosus from a little sling into now a sub-adult over the past 6 months but we don't like to keep males for their entire life span considering, in our opinion, it's cruel unless you are using the male to breed in captivity. Male spidiies are born to do one thing.. :p

Should we wait until FL's 'winter months' end since we've had him since a sling and he might not make it especially in possibly freezing temperature?!
We would prefer to wait until March or April but if the best time is now then we'll do what's best for our little guy! :)
 

revilo

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 2, 2010
Messages
173
hi davisfam,

he now is subadult, so i would set him outdoors now. many spider species hibernate in the subadult stage - and a lot of them do their last molt while hibernation.
i think (don't know if right) that your outdoor-temperatures are moderate at now, so he have (has ? o my god grammar in school is far away :rolleyes:) the possibility to aclimate on outsideconditions before it's getting really cold - and he is able to choose the right time to start looking around for a female in spring by it's own ;)

only thing i'm confused about is that this mentioned ctenus species is one of the "florida-invaders" i guess ?! am i right with this ?

ciao, oli
 

jsloan

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 22, 2004
Messages
972
Should we wait until FL's 'winter months' end since we've had him since a sling and he might not make it especially in possibly freezing temperature?!
You have cold weather in Florida? Check this out: when I got up this morning the temperature at my place was -24F,
with a windchill of -39F. :)

We would prefer to wait until March or April but if the best time is now then we'll do what's best for our little guy! :)
I recommend letting it free as soon as you start seeing individuals of the same species out and about.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
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Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
dang sloan. a little disappointed in you




you should not release anything back into nature. especially not something you have been feeding and has been in your collection for a while


as far as i can tell, i am one of the few ppl to actual do any reading about invert pathogens... and rest assured virtually every bug in collection likely has some infections. most are not that deletorious and most don't leave easy to find traces... but EVERYTHING i have ever read indicates that, just like humans, there are all kinds of active pathogenic organisms in spiders and other bugs. yes, the likelihood of your one spider unleashing spider aids onto the local populations is pretty small... but it *IS* non-zero. if you think i am smoking something then consider grain mites, if nothing else. pretty much everyone's collection has grain mites. probably mainly vectored through feeders but the fact is we don't know exactly how they move around in hobby. you really want to introduce non-native/non-local grain mites into your locale? er... why?


if you really do love spiders and bugs... do the mature thing and keep your bugs in collection IN COLLECTION.
 

jsloan

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 22, 2004
Messages
972
you should not release anything back into nature. especially not something you have been feeding and has been in your collection for a while
You know, I forgot all about that! I do need to do more reading on that subject. Can you suggest some papers?

I don't know anything about the mites you mentioned. I do know that indigenous mites in general are common on many of the spiders I collect in my pitfall traps. Some of them are so small I find them among the nooks and crannies of the palps of male spiders such as Pardosa. I don't know if these are parasitic or just hitching rides, though.

I had a L. geometricus die earlier this year. I examined it under the microscope and found a kind of abscess on the membrane between the carapace and sternum on one side. There were about 4 small mites there. I wonder if that's what did it?
 
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arachnidsrulz12

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
63
never release a T's or spider if it is raise from captivity:embarrassed::embarrassed:

They will never survive outside the world

just saying:D
 

revilo

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 2, 2010
Messages
173
spiders behavior is based on instinkt. run for cover, run for food,...

of course spiders survive after release back in nature !

BUT MAYBE, the "illnessfactor" (what cacoseraph described) is something to think about - i don't know if it's dramatical like he mentioned but for sure it's absolutely possible that you bring something in nature (bacterias, virus,...)that is dangerous and missplaced there.

vg, oli
 

Widowman10

Arachno WIDOW
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 25, 2007
Messages
4,212
i totally agree with revilo! :D

spiders have been surviving for how long now? they can most certainly survive outside if they've been raised from captivity :rolleyes:

caco does have a point though. something to think about.
 

arachnidsrulz12

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
63
suviving

if the spider was raised in captivity, they won't survive from bacteria and virus in nature outside:cool::rolleyes:
 

What

Arachnoprince
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Jul 13, 2006
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1,150
You know, I forgot all about that! I do need to do more reading on that subject. Can you suggest some papers?
These were just a few papers I could find quickly...Im sure there are more, I am omitting one about Wolbachia in Chinese spiders but I can send the PDF to those interested, it is password protected on the AAS site(vol.38 number 2).

Pathogens and parasites of Opiliones - http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v21_n2/JoA_v21_p120.pdf
Zygomycetous Fungus as a Mortality Factor in Laboratory Stock - http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v18_n1/JoA_v18_p118.pdf
Laboratory Infection of Garypus californicus With Neoplectanid and Heterorhabditid Nematodes - http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v13_n3/JoA_v13_p400.pdf (VERY interesting, biologic control nematodes infecting non-targetted hosts.)
Nematode And Dipteran Endoparasites of Pardosa milvina - http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v31_n1/arac-31-01-0139.pdf
Entomophagous Fungi as Mortality Agents of Ballooning Spiderlings - http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v18_n2/JoA_v18_p237.pdf
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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i love you again, jsloan =P

you guys HAVE to read the papers about Walbachia! they are reproductive manipulators without compare. they can INSTILL parthenogenesis in species that normally aren't. they also cause a good deal of grief so are not all roses =P


there are some of the neat things out there.... there is a disease called Papaya Bunchy Top Syndrome. it is caused by an organism that successfully infects the plants... AND THE FREAKING TRUE BUGS THAT FEED ON THE PLANTS. i am not saying one is just a carrier... both are infected and exhibit macro observable symptoms. it is the craziest thing i have ever heard of. ppl always say "oh, diseases are so species specific"... well, here is a disease that isn't just crossing species lines... or genera... it is crossing GODS ROT KINGDOM lines


i am particularly afraid of pathogenic fungi... as i believe i have seen them in nature in California. yes, they are EASILY observable in collection at a certain point... but they could go into stealth mode long enough to spread to a lot of your collection. plus, there are species that affect both Ctenizidae and the ancient segmented trapdoors. that is crossing what... order lines?








that is the other thing... bugs get sick and die in nature all the time. randomly catching bugs is just begging to bring something in. i pretty much only deal with local WC bugs... and things just randomly die on me sometimes. or act goofy and fail to thrive. i have yet to see and big die offs or have FTT spread to bugs that previously were doing good... but i have little doubt i am seeing some kind of pathogens in operation. possibly opportunistic and i am seeing them weed out weakened bugs... who knows?



also, i will try to find links... but i read a paper in which the researcher was working with one genus of bacteria (might even be Walbachia or the similar genus that i can't recall right now) and decided to do a genetic analysis of a ton of spiders from a bunch of different locales. EVERY single locale had infected spiders.... in some locales the infection rate was as high as ~90%. think about that for a second.
 

KnightinGale

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
170
Wow, this is fascinating stuff. And this is why I love arachnoboards! Thanks for the information and the links guys!
 
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