Help requested with injured spider

[Kalinga]

Hello -

I pulled one of these guys - ID'd as a species of trapdoor spider as best as I can tell - from the bottom of the pool a couple days ago and assumed him to be dead:

However, I noticed he had 'moved' a few feet when I returned back out there a couple hours later. When I touched him, I noticed he had not stiffened, but remained entirely flexible, and he seemed to react ever so slightly when I did so. So I relocated him to a shady spot near our front door just in case he was convalescing. While doing so, I saw another one of these in front of our garage door - a good 50 feet from where I fished the first out of the pool.

We have a resident 'tarantula hawk' population, and I am beginning to think maybe he was stung by one? The venom from these wasps does not kill their pray, but rather paralyze them, after which the wasp will drag its (still living) prey to its den so its larvae can dine on fresh food.

My question is, *if* this indeed is the case, does anyone know if effects of the venom will eventually wear off? I would think that just as we have evolved, arachnids might similarly have some innate capability to filter out toxins? He seems to be a little more responsive to stimuli than yesterday or the day before. However, I do not know if this is a sign of the venom wearing off - or maybe just a response of a dying organism?

He measures about 3/4" in length from the front of his cephalothorax to the rear of his abdomen.

Thanks and happy Thanksgiving.

 

[schmiggle]

See this page:

Tarantula Stung by Tarantula Wasp

Sounds like it can be done, but involves mostly luck and a huge amount of patience. Also sounds like it usually doesn't happen. I suspect--though have never actually done research on it--that the toxin usually does permanent nerve damage to the spider, since it seems like a very big issue if the spider were to start moving around some number of weeks after having eggs laid inside it.

 

[Dementeddoll]

Hello -

I pulled one of these guys - ID'd as a species of trapdoor spider as best as I can tell - from the bottom of the pool a couple days ago and assumed him to be dead:

However, I noticed he had 'moved' a few feet when I returned back out there a couple hours later. When I touched him, I noticed he had not stiffened, but remained entirely flexible, and he seemed to react ever so slightly when I did so. So I relocated him to a shady spot near our front door just in case he was convalescing. While doing so, I saw another one of these in front of our garage door - a good 50 feet from where I fished the first out of the pool.

We have a resident 'tarantula hawk' population, and I am beginning to think maybe he was stung by one? The venom from these wasps does not kill their pray, but rather paralyze them, after which the wasp will drag its (still living) prey to its den so its larvae can dine on fresh food.

My question is, *if* this indeed is the case, does anyone know if effects of the venom will eventually wear off? I would think that just as we have evolved, arachnids might similarly have some innate capability to filter out toxins? He seems to be a little more responsive to stimuli than yesterday or the day before. However, I do not know if this is a sign of the venom wearing off - or maybe just a response of a dying organism?

He measures about 3/4" in length from the front of his cephalothorax to the rear of his abdomen.

Thanks and happy Thanksgiving.

Hmm, I'd say just keep it in quarantine. It could be that it is wearing off the toxins. Especially if it's reacting better now. If it would have been dying I'm sure it would have just stayed paralyzed and died off already.

 

[ErinM31]

It could potentially have just been recovering from being under water, no? If it was stung by a wasp, it seems possible that it could be permanently paralyzed but not die. I'm afraid I don't know anything about parasitical wasps in the States, but on a nature show, I did see a wasp that would permanently paralyze a cockroach after leading it to her lair and laying eggs in it. Do you know if tarantula wasps lay their eggs in tarantulas? If so and if the tarantula is still not moving, it might be best to put it out of its misery and freeze the carcass or something to kill any wasps. I honestly don't know what would be best to do. I wonder if there are traps that could be set for these wasps?

 

[darkness975]

Do you know if tarantula wasps lay their eggs in tarantulas?

They lay the egg on it and when the egg hatches it burrows into the spider and eats it from the inside out.

Nature is not always pleasant.

 

[Dementeddoll]

Eeww, poor thing. Just put it out of its misery then.

 

[schmiggle]

First of all, the wasp has likely not yet laid an egg, because it would have waited until the spider is safely inside a burrow before laying the egg (after all, if she loses the spider but escapes, it's better to have not left the corpse). Second, even if the egg was laid, it could have spoilt before hatching.

Both of these situations--first, that the egg is laid after the spider is deposited in a burrow, and second, that the egg spoils in a not insignificant fraction of scenarios--were actually observed and described in this paper:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01650520412331270945

In addition, the spiders where the egg failed to develop fully recovered after the fact.

 

[Kalinga]

Thanks to those who have replied. He(?) seems to be regaining movement, little by little. We erected a little triage shelter over him while this storm passes through. Over the last 1-2 days he seems to be regaining the ability to move multiple limbs in coordination with each other, though he remains immobile.

I appreciate your thoughts and responses - thanks...

 

[ErinM31]

Thanks to those who have replied. He(?) seems to be regaining movement, little by little. We erected a little triage shelter over him while this storm passes through. Over the last 1-2 days he seems to be regaining the ability to move multiple limbs in coordination with each other, though he remains immobile.

I appreciate your thoughts and responses - thanks...

I'm glad to hear that he's regaining mobility! I hope he's not infected and makes a full recovery soon!