Hysterocrates hercules....

[DE3]

....Right?

 

[Mikey_G.Rosea]

i got that off google images of a Hysterocrates hercules

 

[Anansi]

nah looks more like H. Gigas...The real Hercules has a huge carapace in relation to the abdomen and is found in war torn countries in Africa...Many times its not the real hercules but an imposter...

 

[DE3]

nah looks more like H. Gigas...The real Hercules has a huge carapace in relation to the abdomen and is found in war torn countries in Africa...Many times its not the real hercules but an imposter...

But...it was sold to me by a dealer as "the real deal"...

 

[xenesthis]

Hysterocrates hercules [poss. jr. syn. of H. gigas Pocock, 1897] Pocock, 1899, female

Fellow Hysterocrates spp. keepers:

Keep in mind what Rick West's site has on his pic:

http://www.birdspiders.com/index.cf...l&imageid=15B02882KD0B7KAEC2K14D61D2D866DAFA8

"Hysterocrates hercules [poss. jr. syn. of H. gigas Pocock, 1897] Pocock, 1899, female".

I've always thought this as well. The mother of the current 2.5" females to 4.5" males imported from Europe last year into the U.S. hobby was a solid 8.5" legspan and the picture clearly showed that legspan.

Todd

 

[DE3]

need definitive identity method

Fellow Hysterocrates spp. keepers:

Keep in mind what Rick West's site has on his pic:

http://www.birdspiders.com/index.cf...l&imageid=15B02882KD0B7KAEC2K14D61D2D866DAFA8

"Hysterocrates hercules [poss. jr. syn. of H. gigas Pocock, 1897] Pocock, 1899, female".

I've always thought this as well. The mother of the current 2.5" females to 4.5" males imported from Europe last year into the U.S. hobby was a solid 8.5" legspan and the picture clearly showed that legspan.

Todd

Thanks for the input Todd, but I've looked at many pics and imo, it is very difficult to identify certain spp. that way.
I've had mine for some time, and it spends (not surpringly) most of its time underground. It molted at some point(s), because it's considerably larger than when I got it. I found one exuvia that had been tossed up on top of the peat substrate, but it was too crispy to even pick up without falling apart.
If it is an H hercules, I'd like to eventually find a mate, or sell it for breeding. In which case I need to be more confident of the exact sp.
So, does anybody know how to correctly idenitify this?

Thanks

 

[FryLock]

The prob is the type of H.hercules is said to be a mess with most its legs missing and probally baddy rubbed so..

 

[rknralf]

I've got 2 spiderlings purchased as H. hercules from Botar and I believe them to be the "real" deal. They are fairly small (.5", .75") and have a lot of growing to do. If one turns out to be a male, I will keep you in mind. I had planned on possible trying to inbreed them as the species is rare in the U.S. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe the 2 I purchased from Botar were originally bred in Germany.
Botar, if you read this post, if you could add some additional information it would be appreciated.
Ralph

 

[rknralf]

DE3,
By the way, it looks to me like the carapace on yours is larger in relation to the abdomen then other pics of H. gigas I've seen. Additionally in the second pic, it appears to have more of a dome shape than H. gigas.
I'm hopeful that your's turns out to be hercules,
Good luck!
Ralph

 

[RazorRipley]

I have a garanteed female hercules that I bought from the spidershoppe, it is 3.5-4 inches, and dont looks exactly like DE3s second picture. my gigas' are all bright rust red.

 

[stemloop]

Voice of reason

DE3, since obtaining several large females and eggsacs of some Hysterocrates sp. as a dealer in Florida in the mid-90's, I have read most everything I could get my hands on about this controversy. I'd also wager I've looked at more photographs of this genus on the web than I have of "Hot Amateur Cheerleaders"--OK, that just may be an exaggeration --and I think I am qualified to tell you exactly what you have:

A big brown bug from somewhere in Africa.

No gratitude or compensation will be required for my services in providing this positive ID. Just tryin' to help a brother out......

Todd

 

[zahiro]

This is my H. hercules sling, from Alemania.

 

[Steve Nunn]

Hi,
With the type specimen so banged up, It's going to be near impossible to ID anything in the future as H.hercules. Anything labelled as such is pure guesswork on behalf of the source and no more. Even the specimen on Rick's site is a guess (even though it came from the known locality of the species and it had a body length over 11cm!). This genus needs revising badly (not just the species, or it would be a waste of time) and until this huge task is done nobody can be certain they have the "real deal".

Because of the severe damage to the type specimen it is impossible to define any specific morphological features and thus no future specimens collected can be referenced against the type with any certainty. However, because of the damage to the type nobody it is quite possible nobody can synonymise it either. So, it may remain a 'valid' species with no chance of EVER determining if it really exists, and no further specimens can ever be truly identified as such.

I'm afraid this one will probably never be resolved. There are several theraphosid species in the exact same situation, this isn't a one off situation at all.

Hope this helps,
Steve

 

[UberUsumbara]

they all look my juvenile H. gigas, from the color to the thick bristle hairs on the back legs. The piture I saw once of a "true" H. hercules made it look like the carpace was swollen in a bump.

 

[Midwest Art]

Hysterocrates

Hystereocrates hercules, definately not.

Hysterocrates gigas not

Looks more like Hysterocrates crassipes to me. For a long time most "brown/grey" tarantulas that came from Africa were labeled H. gigas but have more recently correctly identified as H. crassipes.

N-Joy

Art Cerda
Midwest Exotic Pets

 

[MizM]

poss. jr. syn. What does that mean?

 

[webspinner]

Does anybody know any particular characteristic to differentiate a true Herc from any other Hysterocrates sp.? :? Seems like the H. minax problem has struck the Hysterocrates sp. :}

 

[Botar]

I've got 2 spiderlings purchased as H. hercules from Botar and I believe them to be the "real" deal. They are fairly small (.5", .75") and have a lot of growing to do. If one turns out to be a male, I will keep you in mind. I had planned on possible trying to inbreed them as the species is rare in the U.S. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe the 2 I purchased from Botar were originally bred in Germany.
Botar, if you read this post, if you could add some additional information it would be appreciated.
Ralph

I have no more info than what you have already posted. They came over from a breeder in Germany.

Botar

 

[Steve Nunn]

poss. jr. syn. What does that mean?

Hidy ho MizM

Possible junior synonym. That means that of the two or more animals to be synonymised (placed under the same name), the one(s) described after the first become(s) the junior synonym. Of the animals synonymised, the first to be described is the senior synonym and has the right to retain its name. In this specific case the name H.gigas will remain (if synonymised) and H.hercules would be considered the same as gigas.

Clear as mud???

Cheers,
Steve

 

[vulpina]

I also have what was sold as the real deal H. hercules, I purchased it over 2 years ago from John Hoke, it is now about 4.5" and spends 99% of it's time in a massively constructed burrow system that has 4 openings to the surface. It may or may not be the true hercules but is a very nice T nonetheless.

Andy