Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens in Coro, Venezuela

jbm150

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Spider and tarantula hunting wasps always amaze me. I like the colors of that particular species, I haven't seen it before. Sucks for the T though, I hate to see them being predated
 

Fingolfin

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Didn't like seeing the GBB go off to be food, but I thought it was intriguing to note the locale! I was under the impression that they were only on the peninsula north of there, so to know they are on the mainland as well was intriguing, to me anyway.
 

Bill S

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But let me ask, aren't their degrees of maturity? If it isn't fully mature yet, but somewhat mature, then don't you think it could be gravid?
In insects and arachnids the stages are very distinct. Sexually mature, or not mature. No gradation in between. They either have reproductive organs and structures, or they do not. In mammals there is gradation. Mammalian primary and secondary sexual structures develop gradually, not in a single molt.

---------- Post added at 07:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:59 PM ----------

No, that spider is done for.
There was someone on another board who rescued a tarantula that had received the paralyzing sting from a wasp, but had not yet been buried with the egg deposited on it. The tarantula survived, but was "numbed" for quite some time. Finally, though, the wasp venom wore off and the tarantula recovered. A truly rare event, but at least in this one case it worked.
 

JC

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There was someone on another board who rescued a tarantula that had received the paralyzing sting from a wasp, but had not yet been buried with the egg deposited on it. The tarantula survived, but was "numbed" for quite some time. Finally, though, the wasp venom wore off and the tarantula recovered. A truly rare event, but at least in this one case it worked.
Yeah, makes sense too. I see these wasps sting each individual spider multiple times depending on how much the spider fights back. So you can guess that the venom isn't a real killer, the cocktail doesn't shutdown or destroy vital areas instead only 'numbs' or 'disables' their mechanisms. How inefficient would the reprodutive journeys of these wasps be if their venom resulted in leaving the larvae to hatch out to an already dead/rotting/rotted/molding spider to eat?
 

Protectyaaaneck

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In insects and arachnids the stages are very distinct. Sexually mature, or not mature. No gradation in between. They either have reproductive organs and structures, or they do not.

Well if that was the case, then shouldn't there be a known size for every species of tarantula at which they should be able to reproduce at?
 

JC

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I don't follow.
Ok, here the situation.

In order for an animal to be considered sexually matured, it needs to have fully developed its sexual organs. End of story.

For example, when we see a Poecilotheria ornata in the FS section marketed at 7'', we assume that it is fully sexually matured only because it is at this size they are normally matured. Truthfully size means nothing, because it is the physical development of the spermathacae that determines this in conjunction with the functioning of the spiders other sexual organs. You may also have the reverse situation. You may have a Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens mature at 2.5 inches, because the sexual organs are ready and able to produce offspring. Scientific biological anomalies yes, but if you understand the basics they are very possible.

In a nutshell:

Functioning sex organs and offsprings can be produced = sexually mature
Not yet possible to produce offspring = immature

Now you are asking if size makes a difference if how much offspring can be produced. The answer is yes, but it has to do with the animal's prime states, different story.
 

ZergFront

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I have 2 GBBs and still thought this was pretty cool to see. I saw a YouTube video on Animal Planet where a guy was looking for GBB in Venezuela. Unfortunately, it was all in German I think.. :(:rolleyes:
 

Bill S

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Not size, but anatomical structure.
Exactly. Some animals simply grow larger or smaller than the average for their species. Being big does not mean they've reached maturity, being small doesn't mean they haven't.
 
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