Arana Polita - Chicken Spider Diary

[Smitty78]

I have both species.

Like I said the urticating hairs are less effective on my skin, to the point of little to no reaction. And unlike P.antinous the Chicken Spider does not flick its hair often. My adult Chicken Spiders have no bare rumps from this practice, yet my adult P.antinous flick at any sign of irritation and have bald spots.

Aggression wise the P.antinous are easily spooked and will rear up, I've had a couple try and strike me before. The Chicken Spiders I have handled (the younger ones) and the adults tend to just bolt, but stay relatively calm.

For appearance all I can see is a slight difference in the adult females back 4 legs. The Chicken Spider tends to be a slightly more thick.



Another question though. My adult female has a little bit of fluid emerging from a leg joint. It isn't much, about 2mm across, but I'm still worried. I have amputated badly damaged legs in the past from other species, is this a wound that will seal itself or should I remove the leg to prevent issues? I'm just overly worried and anxious about the well being of the adult, with good reason.

#1 I wouldn't worry about the fluid. I have had it happen a few times, and it typically stops. If it really becomes a problem, I would suspect she will cast the leg herself. You could also sprinkle some corn starch, or flour on it if you are overly concerned.

Just to show some differences within the same species.

I have 3 P. antinous, only 1 of which kicks hairs and I really need to disturb her to do this. I have little to no reaction to the hairs of the P. antinous (not that I think this has any true value), but Brachy's kick my a$$.

I have yet to see a strike pose by any of my P. antinous. I am in no way advocating handling T's (to each their own on that one), but I have occasionally handled 2 of them. Specifically 1 of them, as she wanders out onto my hand each and every time I open her enclosure.

I also notice that the "back 4 legs" in my P. antinous are thicker. Similar to what you see in the rear legs of Xenesthis.

Do you by chance know anyone with a really good lens that could get us some good macro shots?

I appreciate you answering my questions.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

#1 I wouldn't worry about the fluid. I have had it happen a few times, and it typically stops. If it really becomes a problem, I would suspect she will cast the leg herself. You could also sprinkle some corn starch, or flour on it if you are overly concerned.

Just to show some differences within the same species.

I have 3 P. antinous, only 1 of which kicks hairs and I really need to disturb her to do this. I have little to no reaction to the hairs of the P. antinous (not that I think this has any true value), but Brachy's kick my a$$.

I have yet to see a strike pose by any of my P. antinous. I am in no way advocating handling T's (to each their own on that one), but I have occasionally handled 2 of them. Specifically 1 of them, as she wanders out onto my hand each and every time I open her enclosure.

I also notice that the "back 4 legs" in my P. antinous are thicker. Similar to what you see in the rear legs of Xenesthis.

Do you by chance know anyone with a really good lens that could get us some good macro shots?

I appreciate you answering my questions.

I ended up putting some flour on the area before you even responded. I will keep an eye on her and use super glue if need be before I amputate a leg.

Hmmm, perhaps my P.antinous from the Ixtapa river basin are more aggressive. They tend to be agitated no matter what I do.

I know that the P.antinous hairs I am allergic to, hence my extreme reaction. Other types of urticating hairs give me little to no reaction, except of course for Brachy's as well.

The thickness in both the P.antinous and Chicken Spider is in the back 4 legs, just from comparatively similar sized adult females the chicken spider has a 1-2mm increase in thickness. This is only a comparison of 1 specimen of each species.

As for Macro shots I will ask my friend if he can lend his camera (and if he has a macro lens).

 

[jayefbe]

Given your information, and the fact that it comes from 1 specimen of each "species", I'm highly skeptical that they may actually be different species.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Given your information, and the fact that it comes from 1 specimen of each "species", I'm highly skeptical that they may actually be different species.

I have 25 Chicken Spiders. All of which are relatively passive and do not cause me to have allergic reactions to their urticating hairs. In comparison the P.antinous specimens I have received in the past (I brought in over 25 last time from the Ixtapa river basin), were all aggressive and had urticating hairs that left me having allergic reactions and rashes for over a week at a time.

I compared 1 adult P.antinous and 1 adult Chicken Spider side by side. I am not going to disturb the other Chicken Spiders at the moment as they are all getting accustomed to their new home. There is no need to stress out all of them right now. I will compare another individual adult Chicken Spider to my P.antinous adults.

 

[Smitty78]

Given your information, and the fact that it comes from 1 specimen of each "species", I'm highly skeptical that they may actually be different species.

I am a skeptic as well. That however has nothing to do with AbraxasComplex. In fact what AbraxasComplex is doing, and I am sure others will eventually put this "argument" to rest once and for all. I believe that most would put their money on this being the same species. I am thankful that AbraxasComplex is posting this information for us.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

I am a skeptic as well. That however has nothing to do with AbraxasComplex. In fact what AbraxasComplex is doing, and I am sure others will eventually put this "argument" to rest once and for all. I am I believe that most would put their money on this being the same species. I am thankful that AbraxasComplex is posting this information for us.

I frankly believe they are a separate species due to the urticating hairs and behavior. I did try combining the P.antinous before to see if they were communal. No such luck. I had to remove all of them due to extreme intraspecies aggression within the first couple minutes.

I did find this chat recently, and it is backing up my findings as well. Rick West perceived it as P.antinous, but Martin Nicholas pointed out some points including the fatter leg issue. http://www.thebts.co.uk/chat_martin_nicholas.htm

 

[jayefbe]

I am a skeptic as well. That however has nothing to do with AbraxasComplex. In fact what AbraxasComplex is doing, and I am sure others will eventually put this "argument" to rest once and for all. I believe that most would put their money on this being the same species. I am thankful that AbraxasComplex is posting this information for us.

I'm not saying that I don't trust the OP or anything of that sort. I genuinely appreciate all the lengths he's going to, and am excited that this spider is at least somewhat in the hobby. I just think that declaring them different species based on urticating hair reaction, "aggressiveness", and leg thickness is rather premature.

 

[DreadLobster]

Wow. Crazy. I won't pretend to have any knowledge to offer on the subject... so here's a noob question for you:

How big are they?

Specifically the adult female. There's nothing in the pictures for scale really so I was just wondering. Thanks!

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Wow. Crazy. I won't pretend to have any knowledge to offer on the subject... so here's a noob question for you:

How big are they?

Specifically the adult female. There's nothing in the pictures for scale really so I was just wondering. Thanks!

The adult female's legspan is about 7-8''. I'll try and measure next time she's on the move.

 

[Merfolk]

I frankly believe they are a separate species due to the urticating hairs and behavior. I did try combining the P.antinous before to see if they were communal. No such luck. I had to remove all of them due to extreme intraspecies aggression within the first couple minutes.

Weel, if they were unrelated or separated for long this could happen, it would be interresting to see long separated chicken spiders put back together after a while. If the behavior is constant in its difference, you'll indeed have another solid argument!

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Weel, if they were unrelated or separated for long this could happen, it would be interresting to see long separated chicken spiders put back together after a while. If the behavior is constant in its difference, you'll indeed have another solid argument!

I will be able to test this. One sling has two legs on one side missing, so I separated it from the others and am making sure it eats and such. I plan to keep it separate till it molts. After a couple molts apart I will introduce it to another container with several others of various size that have been together all this time and keep a close eye on them for a few hours.

With P.antinous the reaction was either instantaneous or within a few minutes.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

As a note. I will be away in Vancouver for the Olympics till the 18th.

I will have internet access, but no access to the tarantulas. I will still answer questions that I can. A photographer has been set up for some macro comparison shots between 2 P.antinous adults and 2 chicken spider adults. That will happen within the following 3 weeks after I return from Vancouver. I will post the pictures when they become available.

 

[jbm150]

I just wanted to say thanks for the feedback and updates, this is really exciting stuff

 

[DDaake]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Week update. Back from Vancouver. Had a great time, though the games made the city a tad bit chaotic.


Anyway I went to check on my two chicken spider groups right away. All were alive and well.


When I lifted up the cavern roof the spiderling group (with the adult female and 1 large juvenile) I was surprised to find all the slings were congregated under or around the adult female. In fact 2 of the smallest slings were riding on her back. She had no food at that moment considering they had finished off the crickets I had supplied them before I left. So that removes the likelihood they were coming in for a communal meal. I went to grab my camera, but the slings had already descended and left her back when I came back.

I hope to catch some pictures of this next time.

 

[Protectyaaaneck]

That sounds awesome. Too bad you didn't get any pics.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

I'm going to try tonight to capture it again. I will have my camera beside their container ready at all times. May take a video if I can.

On another note, a Macro Photo shoot is scheduled for next weekend. I will be comparing P.antinous adults to the chicken spider adults. I'll post them as soon as they are ready.

 

[AbraxasComplex]

Just took some photos. No babies on the back this time, but still congregating under or around the main female.

 

[ZergFront]

That is very cool. I've only heard of Theraphosa doing this kind of congregation in the terrestrial types (was in the latest TKG)

 

[AbraxasComplex]

That is very cool. I've only heard of Theraphosa doing this kind of congregation in the terrestrial types (was in the latest TKG)

Can you link me to the article you mentioned?