ID this spider please!

[musihuto]

Hi,
I posted this a week ago in the canada forum, but no one was willing/able to tell me what it was... It was collected in toronto, canada, has about 1" legspan (maybe slightly less), and burrows.. unfortunately, this is the best picture i have. i was planning on taking more, but once i put it on substrate... it burrowed out of site nearly instantly! hopefully the colouration might be sufficient to identify it?

thanks!
- munis

 

[Steven Gielis]

I can't see the chelicerae very well buth it looks like a Dysdera spec. They have huge chelicerae to cath isopods.

 

[lucanidae]

Looks exactly like Dysdera crocata to me, which would be your most commonly found Dysderid in your area.

 

[ShadowBlade]

I concur, it appears to me Dysdera crocata.
Awesome pets, and cool to feed.
Can have a good number of babies as well.

 

[froggyman]

nice spider. it would be pretty cool to see it eat isopods

 

[C_Strike]

Theyr voracious, lol mine just tore prey apart! wasn't so big

 

[musihuto]

hmmm! yes i had been wondering what those big fangs were for! makes sense, i guess next feeding i'll give it an isopod instead of a cricket :}

thanks!
- munis

 

[Steven Gielis]

Actually they prefer other prey above isopods. When there is nothing else available they switch to isopods. That makes it a really hard spider.

 

[lucanidae]

Where did you hear that they prefer other prey over isopods? This article below and many others beg to differ in the case of D. crocata.

Suderland. (1980) A Serological Study of Arthropod Predation on Woodlice in a Dune Grassland Ecosystem The Journal of Animal Ecology

 

[Steven Gielis]

I've got the information from Bryan Goethals, a Belgian arachnologist.

 

[musihuto]

well, i put in an isopod, and it was sucking on it a few hours later... so i don't think its particularly picky..

cheers!
- munis

 

[AfterTheAsylum]

I think... it's a spider... did I get it right?

 

[ShadowBlade]

I think... it's a spider... did I get it right?

Mmm.. no, but close. Its actually a hamster. But don't worry, its easy to get them confused... You were on the right track!

 

[musihuto]

well last night it pounced on a 1st instar lateralis nymph... suggesting that it has no difficulty (or aversion) capturing small, very fast moving prey (that are obviously not isopods)...


cheers!
- munis