arizona species...need some help here

[Paladin]

alright, my friend just got back from a trip to arizona and he brought me back a souvineer. Its a male aphono obviously but i dont know the exact species. its probably too hard to get an id from a pic but ill try. if you look at swifts website and look at the "arizona giant stripe knee" u can see is shows some resemblance...who knows though

by the way, my friend doesnt know anything about t's but i wish he called me before he brought it home. He isnt gonna last too much longer...

 

[Paladin]

just one more

 

[MrT]

It more than likely a A. chalcodes.
All the males have the striped knees after the mature. I do believe.

Ernie

BTW, fatten him up, he may live longer than you think..

 

[Paladin]

well i need a female then...you wouldnt have one by they way. anyway, thanks for the help

 

[sinsect]

Mr T,
what makes you think that is A. chalcodes? It's usually a big mistake to assume that you have a certain species without knowing exact collection/locality information. That tarantula looks nothing like any "Aphonopelma chalcodes" male I have seen, and very few described species feature leg striping. Without specific locality data, there's no way to tell what species you have, Paladin -- but if I had to hazard a guess, it would not be chalcodes.

 

[Paladin]

well i guess i have another unknowner in my collection. for now anyway. thats alright though

 

[MrT]

Originally posted by sinsect
Mr T,
what makes you think that is A. chalcodes? It's usually a big mistake to assume that you have a certain species without knowing exact collection/locality information. That tarantula looks nothing like any "Aphonopelma chalcodes" male I have seen, and very few described species feature leg striping. Without specific locality data, there's no way to tell what species you have, Paladin -- but if I had to hazard a guess, it would not be chalcodes.

OK,

Ernie

 

[sinsect]

Originally posted by MrT
OK,

Ernie

lol....learn something new every day, huh?

@ Paladin:
If you (or your friend) can name the location (the more specific the better) that this spider was found, I would be glad to assist in identifying it.

 

[Paladin]

lol yeha im gonna ask him tomorrow. thanks for the help

 

[DiStUrBeD-OnE]

Originally posted by sinsect
Mr T,
what makes you think that is A. chalcodes? It's usually a big mistake to assume that you have a certain species without knowing exact collection/locality information. That tarantula looks nothing like any "Aphonopelma chalcodes" male I have seen, and very few described species feature leg striping. Without specific locality data, there's no way to tell what species you have, Paladin -- but if I had to hazard a guess, it would not be chalcodes.

I Had a male that looked exactly like this, but it was fresher, and had only molted into maturity maybe 1 month before i caught it (Fresh colors, deep red abdomen hairs) And saying that it couldnt be an A. Chalcodes is wrong. I searched everywhere to find out what it was so i could catch a female and breed them. His spider isnt far away from dying, since his abdomen hairs have turned dirty brown / tan colored, pretty much all the colors are dull.

From E-spiderworld.com
Aphonopelma chalcodes, Desert Blond. Found in the deserts of southern Arizona and northwestern Mexico this is a borrowing species that can be adapted to a shallow substrate as long as a shelter is provided. The carapace and chelicerae are covered with a golden tan hair and the abdomen is brown with some reddish hair while the legs are brown with a bronze hue. Long-lived species that is reputed to fast for long periods.

This fits almost 1/3'rd of the male tarantulas in arizona, Some do get the stripes once they hit mature male, so when theyre mature males, its gonna be very hard to identify, But saying A. Chalcodes isnt a very far off guess.

But if you ever do find the species paladin, ill go out and try to collect you a female

(Edit I looked and saw the Giant stripe knee pics on alot of sites, but i only saw females, so i dont know if its only stripes on the females, or on both:? if you can find a male pic, Tell me if it has the stripes or not, cause the male i had was freakin huge for an aphono, so i thought it would be it..

Ian

 

[BigSam]

Nemesis112 has a T that his friend caught for him as well. It's looks just like that, the same thing same color same everything. He even had a name for it but I forgot which Az T that is

Nemesis112 should know what kind of T that is.

Sam,

 

[Paladin]

sounds good. the only thing is i dont have a female so what am i suppose to do with it

 

[sinsect]

Originally posted by DiStUrBeD-OnE
And saying that it couldnt be an A. Chalcodes is wrong. B]

Ian,
I'm not saying that the spider pictured is Absolutely, 100%, Not Aphonopelma chalcodes; what I said, if you will re-read my post, is that if I were to guess the species, I would not guess chalcodes, based on the fact that that individual tarantula bears little to no resemblance to any known A. chalcodes male I have seen; nor does it bear any resemblance to the Type Description of a male A. chalcodes.

Also ---

I hope you are not basing your species identification on E-Spiderworld's description.

Finding a female based on what a mature male looks like will most certainly end up in a mis-match of species, as most male Aphonopelma species do not resemble their female counterparts to any distinguishable degree.
Due to the very large number of unidentified (as well as described) species in Arizona and throughout the Southwest US with strikingly similar characteristics, the only way to get an identification is to compare physical attributes and characteristics with a current published species description. Even then, you are not destined for success, based on the overwhelming number of as-yet-unidentified species (stripes or no stripes )

 

[Paladin]

alright y firend says he was between agulia and something els...i forget. but that should give you a clue

 

[NEMESIS_112]

Originally posted by BigSam
Nemesis112 has a T that his friend caught for him as well. It's looks just like that, the same thing same color same everything. He even had a name for it but I forgot which Az T that is

Nemesis112 should know what kind of T that is.

Sam,

That look exactly like the one my friend caught up in Prescott Valley for me. Exact appearance. Let me double check and make sure your friend didnt take it. Ah! its still here. I think they are twins . Anyways. What should I do with mine. Just feed it until it dies?
Adrian

 

[sinsect]

Originally posted by NEMESIS_112
What should I do with mine. Just feed it until it dies?

Unless you are able to identify the species based on original species description or type specimen, then.......yeah. Sorry, but that's about all he's good for, unless you want to release him back to the area he was collected.

 

[Charlie]

My 2 cents

You seem to imply that you cannot breed a spider from the same region with another spider that is similar in appearance without an exact identification?

My question is why not? I mean if two similar tarantulas from the same area will mate in captivity then isn't it probably true that they would mate in the wild as well?

I mean male tarantulas travel long distances for a mate. When he finds a female that will accept him I am sure he doesn't stop to ask her what species and genus she is.

I am not preaching this as gospel truth or anything but it does seem to make sense to me.

-Charlie

 

[sinsect]

Charlie,
You are most probably correct in your assumption that Theraphosids of different species in the wild will occasionally interbreed. The problem with unintentionally allowing this to happen in captivity is the potential for misidentification and taxonomic difficulties, especially if any of the offspring are subsequently released back into the wild. The basic truth of the matter is that your spider room is not "the wild", so contributing to the already-problematic field of Theraphosid taxonomy is not something that should be occuring, at least until a general revision of the Aphonopelma genus is completed. As an example, I am sure that Theraphosa blondi and Theraphosa apophysis must interbreed in the wild -- bring the topic of re-creating this match in captivity on any message board and one will undoubtedly be "flamed" for even allowing the thought to cross their mind.
Let the spiders do what they do in the wild, but be conservative with any liberties you may allow them within the confines of your spider room.

 

[Sean]

You might try asking Darrin Vernier he might be able to give you an ID on it.

 

[Paladin]

if anyone of u guys could get me afemale of thi species or region it would be great...but i guess ill keep him till he dies