Species Hysterocrates hercules

[Steve Nunn]

Perhaps the name makes them the largest ...

Hi Lelle,
Perhaps other specimens......I've seen a specimen from the Niger Delta with a BL of 110mm, considerably larger than the type specimen, from the same locale and a definate Hysterocrates sp. Whether or not it was a H.hercules or just a gigantic H.gigas, I have no clue (so perhaps I should not relate this spider, as I have not seen the type), but it is food for thought

Steve

 

[Crotalus]

Hi Lelle,
Perhaps other specimens......I've seen a specimen from the Niger Delta with a BL of 110mm, considerably larger than the type specimen, from the same locale and a definate Hysterocrates sp. Whether or not it was a H.hercules or just a gigantic H.gigas, I have no clue (so perhaps I should not relate this spider, as I have not seen the type), but it is food for thought

Steve

Hey Steve

True. Where did you see that 110mm specimen?

 

[RichardG]

What's all the fuss about Hysterocrates hercules - it's just a stumpy-legged, brown Hysterocrates with a large carapace :?

Phoneyusa belandana - now that's a considerably more impressive species. Or for the real African fan a mature male Phoneyusa bidentata ituriensis

H. hercules might have a 'cool' name, but it's not a particularly impressive species/specimen

I'll be revising the genus Hysterocrates as part of a complete revision of African theraphosids; a project which is well underway, but still several years off completion. This project has been commissioned as a replacement book for Andrew Smith's out-of-print "Baboon Spiders".

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Crotalus]

That confirms what I suspected.
Looking forward to your book!

 

[FryLock]

Going thought the freezer a few hours back i got 30mm x 28mm (approx) from my old pet trade H. "gigas" and she was no monster leg span wise, Let's face it a spider named after Kevin Sorbo is never going to be that great .

 

[Randolph XX()]

finally there's a "confirmed" H.hercules foto in years!
wondering if there's any original sketch done by Pocock?

 

[Michael Jacobi]

Glad to see Richard chime in... I intentionally avoided commenting further as I did not want to reveal the information relayed by Richard if it was being kept under wraps.

It was impressive to see and hold such an infamous and controversial species, knowing that it was the type and, therefore, the "real deal". The spider itself was not that remarkable. The name - and the type locality/geographic distribution and its current volatility - gives the species more mystique than its morphology or size. For example, the Xenesthis monstrosus type that I posted photos of in another thread was much larger, and significantly more impressive.

Regards, Michael

 

[Steve Nunn]

Hi Richard,
The type doesn't sound that big, but one with a carapace over 45mm??? Then again, maybe just a population of something else already described??? Size variation amongst populations is so common, I would think many of the pettrade animals don't really even reflect natural sizes among many populations.

I'm looking forward to your next revision, finally you'll be covering some of the big Eumenophorines I've heard of some amazing size accounts in the Phonyusa, but again, most of the spp. in the genus are fairly average (with a couple of exceptions), aren't they??

Cheers,
Steve

 

[mcluskyisms]

Alright peeps, just thought Id get some photos of my cute wee fella up, he matured about 2 months ago hes always been cute and placid so we had him out for a wander about!!!

Here is the fella in question

Showing off his boxing gloves!!!

Shot of his ocular tubercle & eyes

Here's one detailing his tibial hooks

Thinking about going for a stroll....

He went for a clamber right up my arm!!!

Here he is sat chilling on Catherine's hands

He will be sorely missed when he departs, although with a bit of luck I may be able to find him a girlfriend!!!

Cheers, Chris

 

[Falk]

Very cool

 

[mcluskyisms]

Cheers mate

 

[Falk]

Chile is closing all export of theraphosids so hold on tight to it.

 

[mcluskyisms]

Luckily there are quite a few of these in the UK, I'm hoping to find him a female soon

 

[arachnidsrva]

H. gigas or H. hercules?

I had new stuff just come in last week from Niger -

from what I've been told ... you have to be a heck of a scientist to figure this out.

I don't own a microscope or a lab-coat - but these beasts are awesome !

What do you guys think? gigas or hercules? or .... ederi? ......

 

[Storm76]

Whatever species it is - they do look quite intimidating. Great T!

 

[jbm150]

Holy smokes, look at the carapace and chelicerae on that T! Leg IV is so thin....

How many did you get of "this species?" I quote because you may have multiple species lumped as "big brown spider"

 

[arachnidsrva]

I have three in my possession and five more on the way - apparently these guys burrow several feet down (closer to five)



I want to say that this looks different from any gigas to arrive - but apparently its almost impossible to tell the gigas and hercules apart

 

[syndicate]

I had new stuff just come in last week from Niger -

from what I've been told ... you have to be a heck of a scientist to figure this out.

I don't own a microscope or a lab-coat - but these beasts are awesome !

What do you guys think? gigas or hercules? or .... ederi? ......

View attachment 102305 View attachment 102306 View attachment 102307 View attachment 102308 View attachment 102309

What makes you so sure these are Hystocrates?
-Chris

 

[mcluskyisms]

Have you been giving it any swimming lessons yet???

 

[arachnidsrva]

hahah i new that thread would come back to haunt me - and probably will continue to do so.

why Hystocrates? - Im going by location from where they came and images of several different Hystocrates species, they look damn close the ederi but they have the tiny leg IV and the back legs aren't HUGE -

I am going with Hystocrates simply because I can't find anything closer -

I e-mailed these pictures to several people to get a general idea -

I've sent these images into people to see if anyone could break the ice or come up with an idea out of left field.

If you have any thoughts... by all means feel free spill them even if it's negative and spiteful like many of the responses I get

My sony camera picks up much more detail - but I can't get it to work.