beggining to think my M. velvetosoma isnt

[Lycanthrope]

ok heres the deal. we bought this t in florida the day i moved. it was labelled "equadorian brown velvet". i looked the spider up, found out its info and latin name. thing is ive noticed some differences in appearance between mine and pics ive seen. who knows maybe just color morphs but heres a pic and a detailed description, since the pic is of mediocre quality. here we go: it looks much like a mini T. blondi, like M. velvetosoma. currently its about 3.5-4". color is a deep chocolate brown, with a tan cephalothorax. the rear 4 legs are the same deep brown, but the front 4 are only the dark brown up to the patella, the rest of the leg is the same tan as the ceph. its pretty calm, doesnt even flinch when misted directly, although it did kick itself bald of hair on the ride here. the abdomen hair, or what is left of them, are very soft and velvet-y looking. heres the pic, any help would be appreciated, thanks rick and bridget

 

[Brandon]

-Personally, That doesnt look like any T blondi iv ever seen id stick with your guess/sold as M velvetosoma.

Sincerely,

Brandon

 

[Lycanthrope]

you must have misunderstood. i wasnt saying it was a t. blondi, i was stating something i read that M. velvetosoma RESEMBLED a mini- blondi. the point of the thread is asking if it might be something other than M. velvetosoma because i havent seen pics of them with the coloration of my t.:?

 

[belewfripp]

Crassicrus lamanai would be my guess, a.k.a. the cinnamon tarantula. The pic is kind of fuzzy but I think I'm seeing swollen femurs on the back legs, that plus the coloration and what look like rather small chelicerae all make me think it is C. lamanai but that is just an educated guess.

Adrian

 

[Joy]

Originally posted by belewfripp
Crassicrus lamanai would be my guess, a.k.a. the cinnamon tarantula. The pic is kind of fuzzy but I think I'm seeing swollen femurs on the back legs, that plus the coloration and what look like rather small chelicerae all make me think it is C. lamanai but that is just an educated guess.

Adrian

A good point, Adrian, although I believe it's the tibia rather than femur that's enlarged on C. lamanai (see photo). The spider in the photo does resemble C. lamanai.

 

[Joy]

Here's M. velvetosoma

Joy

 

[Joy]

And here's C. lamanai

Joy

 

[JDK]

Is your lamanai expecting, or is it just really fat?

 

[Immortal_sin]

all of Joy's spiders are ....well fed..shall we say?!
and I thought mine were obese

 

[belewfripp]

Originally posted by Joy
A good point, Adrian, although I believe it's the tibia rather than femur that's enlarged on C. lamanai (see photo). The spider in the photo does resemble C. lamanai.

Tibia, femur, I can never keep the leg segments straight, no pun intended. C. lamanai's got that swollen segment about halfway down the leg and it looks like the one in the photo does too, it looks clearer on the leg to the left moreso than on the right. I'm also going to make a rather unscientific statement and say that the shape of the abdomen of the T in that photo is consistent with C. lamanai, too. In my experience, C. lamanai has a uniquely-shaped abdomen, being almost perfectly round around the sides and then instead of gradually coming around the back it suddenly comes in and flattens out almost in back.

Adrian

 

[Lycanthrope]

well guys thats it. its a Crassicrus lamanai , im sure of it. cant believe it took me this long to check:8o . i been keeping it moist too, thinking it was a brown velvet as it was sold to me. anyways thanks guys, for yet another dilemma solved by these boards

 

[Steve Nunn]

Originally posted by Lycanthrope
well guys thats it. its a Crassicrus lamanai , im sure of it.

Hi,
What exactly is it that makes you sure it's C. lamanai? Did you notice any of the morphological features other then the swollen tibia that define C.lamanai??

Here's the diagnosis from Rick West's original description (1996 The Journal of Arachnology, Vol.24; pp 254-261):

Crassicrus possess a more incrassate, barrel-shaped tibia IV than Eupalaestrus Pocock 1901, the only other New World theraphosid to exhibit this feature. This character state is present in both sexes but more pronounced in the female. Crassicrus, in contrast to Eupalaestrus, lacks a scopulated pad on the retrolateral surface of femur IV. Females are readily distinguished from all other theraphosids by a field of thorn like setae on the entire ventral and ventro-prolateral surface of coxae and femora II-IV. Both sexes possess fine plumose hairs on the retrolateral surface of the palp trochanter and femur and the opposing prolateral surface of the leg I trochanter and femur.

With this info in mind, the spider looks more like a Eupalaestrus spp. than anything else. To be sure you should look for the presence of the scopulated pad on femur IV. If you see this pad then chances are it's Eupalaestrus spp(if this pad is present then the genus Crassicrus is eliminated). If not then you may well have C. lamanai. This being the case you should look for the presence of thorn like setae on the ventral surface of the coxae and femora II-IV. All this is providing that the tibia IV is incrassate (barrel shaped).

Please post again if any of the terminology threw you

Good luck,
Steve

 

[Lycanthrope]

What exactly is it that makes you sure it's C. lamanai? Did you notice any of the morphological features other then the swollen tibia that define C.lamanai??

swollen tibia, comparatively small chilicerae, and a pretty distinct coloration in my description:

color is a deep chocolate brown, with a tan cephalothorax. the rear 4 legs are the same deep brown, but the front 4 are only the dark brown up to the patella, the rest of the leg is the same tan as the ceph.

With this info in mind, the spider looks more like a Eupalaestrus spp. than anything else.

have you any pics of Eupalaestrus that even remotely resemble this t? ive found two Eupalaestrus spp. pics after an hour of searching, neither having the coloration, matching chelicerae, or even the shaping of the tibia of my t. if you have something that does id be glad to see it.

To be sure you should look for the presence of the scopulated pad on femur IV. If you see this pad then chances are it's Eupalaestrus spp(if this pad is present then the genus Crassicrus is eliminated). If not then you may well have C. lamanai.

no pad that i can find

Please post again if any of the terminology threw you

not at all, with a quick reference i figured it out just fine. also what would be the odds of finding Eupalaestrus sp.in a local petshop?

 

[Steve Nunn]

Hi,
The odds of finding a Eupalaestrus spp. would be fairly good, there's a few species in the hobby (three I know of). Both Eupalaestrus and Crassicrus are the only theraphosid genera that possess the swollen tibia IV (in the subfamily Theraphosinae anyway). If you can't find the scopula pad on femur IV then the chances are pretty good it's Crassicrus. You are certain that this feature isn't present? Forget color, useless in a description and even more so for identification (look at a premolt A. seemani for example). The only reliable features to use are those used to describe these theraphosids, of which I posted the differences.

Again, good luck!

Steve

 

[Joy]

Originally posted by JDK
Is your lamanai expecting, or is it just really fat?

Neither! I maintain she is simply big-boned

Joy

 

[JDK]

I'm sure you got one happy spider there. Nice abdomen size i'll give you that. But Ican't say the same for t's having bones.

 

[Wade]

Just to have more pics to compare, here's my M. velvetosoma (photo by Art Evans):

 

[dennis]

Originally posted by Joy
Here's M. velvetosoma

Joy

The M. velvetosoma in my book "terrarium encyclopedia" looks more black with red hairs on its abdomen ... Yours is just brownish. How is this possible? Did the photographer for the book took the wrong picture or something??

Ðennis

 

[Joy]

Originally posted by dennie
The M. velvetosoma in my book "terrarium encyclopedia" looks more black with red hairs on its abdomen ... Yours is just brownish. How is this possible? Did the photographer for the book took the wrong picture or something??

Ðennis

Possibly it's just a regional variation. The velvetosoma we saw in Peru were darker than mine, too.

Joy

 

[Chris]

Mine looks exactly like Wade's pic. They really are a pretty spider when you have a good look at them.