ID for BIG spider:P

[melanie5]

Some days I'm really happy working in a greenhouse. You get the coolest freebies.
Here's the story:
We import plants from South America. Whenever we get a shipment in, a man from a Dutch company comes to us, to check the plants for bad bugs and bacteria and stuff.
He was at our place about 1,5 weeks ago. He knows I have T's and spiders and he asked me if I was interested in a big brown spider he had found at another company. Well, needless to say, I wanted the spider, so he brought it to me today.
The spiders was found in a crate of plants that came from Costa Rica.
To me it looks like a female, due to the size of it's abdomen. I've never seen a true spider MM this fat, so I'm thinking female. Also, the man told me it had been eating well, but was already fat when he got it. Seems to me there isn't an awfull lot to eat when your stuck in a crate of plants on a ship for more then 6 weeks. So I'm thinking she might be gravid.

SO here's th equestion: What is it? My first thought was some kind of Hogna sp.
(Zippo in the pics is for size, because I don't have dollars)

 

[lucanidae]

Eye pattern is screaming out Ctenidae, there a few a people on the boards who know that family very well....unfortunatley I am not one of them. Lots of people will jump to genus Phoneutria (the more likely to be dangerous ones) but I'm not sure the characteristics to sight ID that group, either way don't get bit....and yes I agree it looks female. One way to tell will be to look at the underside of the abdomen and see if the epigynum is dark and/or sclereotized, which indicates a mature female.

 

[sick4x4]

looks like a Phoneutria spp to me and highly toxic....

wayne

 

[Widowman10]

this picture makes me think Phoneutria sp. but honestly i have no clue and am not great at guessing. keep looking around for pics and let us know what you come up with since you have the spider there with you.

 

[bluefrogtat2]

agree

i agree with wayne.nice looking one too.wish you were in the states would offer to buy.nice find by the way
andy

 

[Widowman10]

looks sorta like the spider found here:
http://www.atshq.org/forum/showthread.php?p=102194
prob in the same genus for sure.

edit: hehe, looky here:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=77637
same thing... good ole google searches...

 

[melanie5]

Mine looks more lightbrown/yellow in the pics the this one. I just read on Wikipedia that there are 5 different Phoneutria species. This is not the nigriventer I think, cause that one's more brown.

And by the way, very venomous? Oops, guess I was lucky when it was on my hand It was very quiet and wouldn't let go of the paper towel, so I sort of pushed it with my finger on to the substrate. Didn't once threaten me or anything. She hiding behind her corkbark now. Wonder is she's gravid (if it really is a she)

 

[Scourge]

Stefan2209 knows a bit about Ctenid's, perhaps he could help you.

 

[Stefan2209]

get your eyes checked. It's likely Cupiennius sp.

Keep your mouth shut. - This IS Phoneutria.

@Melanie

Quite interesting specimen.

Stay careful - will get in touch over the weekend.

Regards,

Stefan

 

[Frédérick]

nigriventer?

 

[Widowman10]

Keep your mouth shut. - This IS Phoneutria.

@Melanie

Quite interesting specimen.

Stay careful - will get in touch over the weekend.

Regards,

Stefan

thank you stefan :clap: always good to see you and hear your opinion about our spiders :worship:

 

[sick4x4]

nigriventer?

thanks Stefan, i figured you would know for sure...the abdomen markings and carapace gave me that assumption...

fred i wouldn't say that due to the lacking of the red on the chelicerae

 

[Frédérick]

you're right, I googled some images and by what I saw I revise my guess, I think it's Phoneutria fera:razz:

 

[Stefan2209]

Hi guys,

thanks for appreciation.

I take it for unlikely Mel is dealing with P. nigriventer here.

It should be possible to rule some things out and maybe get a better fix of what this could be, however, i highly doubt that it´ll be able to come up with even an "educated idea" about the species by pictures alone with this specimen. - At least not with more detailed information.

Thinking about P. fera? - I´d really like to hear what you´d base that idea on....

Regards,

Stefan

 

[melanie5]

Stefan, thanks for your input. I can make more specific pics if you want. Just let me know what you want to see.
Do you think it's a female? I'm wondering what to do if she realy is a female and she's gravid. I have no experience in breeding and I've heard that the slings are very hard to raise.
Is this a normal size for this spider, cause she's realy big and plump? Didn't know they could be this big.
I've also read that they only live about two years, and I think this is a mature one, so she probably won't live long.
If I look at the pics on the internet, my quess was also sp fera, because my spider has no red anywhere. Why do you think it's unlikely that it's a nigriventer? My spider came from Costa Rica, but I couldn't find any specific info about these spiders in Costa Rica, only in Brazil and some other South American countries.

 

[†-MarK-†]

It was on your hand ? jesus You know this is the most venomous spider on the world

 

[Widowman10]

You know this is the most venomous spider on the world

it really isn't. Atrax robustus.

it is pretty venomous, but not the most.

 

[melanie5]

Here's a nice site about Phoneutria venom:
http://www.minaxtarantulas.net/artiklar/phoneutria/phoneutria_e.html

Here's a list of bites:

State Sao Paulo ………….773 bites per year / 1 fatality in 2320 bites
· State Parana ……………..150 bites per year / 2 fatalities in 602 bites
· State Santa Catarina ………86 bites per year / no fatality
· State Rio Grande do Sul …218 bites per year / no fatality

 

[Quixtar]

it really isn't. Atrax robustus.

it is pretty venomous, but not the most.

Phoneutria nigriventer is more toxic. Atrax robustus is more dangerous to primates due to the robustoxin found in the males.

 

[melanie5]

Here's a pic of her tank. If anyone has suggestions to make it better, please let me know. (sorry for the fake plant in the corner, didn't have anything else )