Id to amblypygi

[d373599]

I have this girl for almost a year and i always tought shes a Damon Diadema/Variegatus but she just mold and i think shes a Damon Medius, someone help?

1. Pre molt
2. Post molt
3. Molt

 

[Sugarpill]

The identification of these creatures is truly difficult, sometimes it feels like only absolute masters can identify the species sometimes, and someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in I’m sure. They look like my varig and I’ve heard medius is quite rare in the trade, but honestly I’m interested in hearing what others have to say. Not long ago an ambly master posted some great scientific papers on identification, I’ll add to this it I can find it!

 

[wizentrop]

Correct, this is Damon medius.
D. medius has pretty much replaced the popular and once more common Damon diadema in the pet hobby, although some hardcore enthusiasts still keep the latter species.
True D. variegatus is extremely rare in the hobby and I will even argue that is close to non-existent in North America (perhaps a couple of hobbyists are keeping this species, but unlikely). It exists in the European hobby but still quite rare even there.

 

[d373599]

Correct, this is Damon medius.
D. medius has pretty much replaced the popular and once more common Damon diadema in the pet hobby, although some hardcore enthusiasts still keep the latter species.
True D. variegatus is extremely rare in the hobby and I will even argue that is close to non-existent in North America (perhaps a couple of hobbyists are keeping this species, but unlikely). It exists in the European hobby but still quite rare even there.

Hey thanks a lot!!

Mind if i ask what do you do to know the species? I uses to see his legs because (maybe im wrong, let me know if i am) D.medius has 2 stripes on his legs and D.diadema has 3, but mine has 3 pre molt and 2 post molt.

The identification of these creatures is truly difficult, sometimes it feels like only absolute masters can identify the species sometimes, and someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in I’m sure. They look like my varig and I’ve heard medius is quite rare in the trade, but honestly I’m interested in hearing what others have to say. Not long ago an ambly master posted some great scientific papers on identification, I’ll add to this it I can find it!

Wow that would bee awesome!!

Thanks you so much! I know how difficult is the id of this species, plus they are quite rare and theres no much info. I am an biology student but all my teachers focused more on desert mammals so i do not know on who i can ask.

But im very wellcome with your toughts!!

 

[Sugarpill]

Correct, this is Damon medius.
D. medius has pretty much replaced the popular and once more common Damon diadema in the pet hobby, although some hardcore enthusiasts still keep the latter species.
True D. variegatus is extremely rare in the hobby and I will even argue that is close to non-existent in North America (perhaps a couple of hobbyists are keeping this species, but unlikely). It exists in the European hobby but still quite rare even there.

There we go! I got it totally backwards so I was hoping someone like Wiz would help out here ! even with help and recommended websites I still have trouble identifying between species what my friends just call the “Harry Potter bug”

 

[wizentrop]

Mind if i ask what do you do to know the species? I uses to see his legs because (maybe im wrong, let me know if i am) D.medius has 2 stripes on his legs and D.diadema has 3, but mine has 3 pre molt and 2 post molt.

That's a good general way to differentiate diadema from medius, but as you can see it works better with larger and more mature specimens. A young D. medius will have 3 stripes on the legs.

Now, there's another species that is still uncommon but slowly making its way into the hobby - Damon johnstonii. It looks identical to D. medius, only it has a triangular frontal process on the carapace, kind of like a nose. So I had to make sure yours doesn't have it.