Latrodectus (Theridiidae) Picture Thread

[Stylopidae]

Assuming thats a US specie.. sub-adult variolus? though the dorsal line/dots are far more slim than any of mine were. Probably a mac eh? or some pretty S.American I would immediately desire.

Cheshire, you come across variolus in your immediate area?

US species...I'm assuming variolus.

Collected in Texas at Arachnocon.

I have only seen one latrodectus in my entire life here in Iowa. It was about an hour north of me.

They occurr here, but you're better off playing the lottery.

 

[Canth]

US species...I'm assuming variolus.

Collected in Texas at Arachnocon.

I have only seen one latrodectus in my entire life here in Iowa. It was about an hour north of me.

They occurr here, but you're better off playing the lottery.

Looks the exact same as the ones I found there.

 

[Sniper]

What kind of Latro spec?

Hi all!

Anyone recognize this (subadult) spider? (I have a guess, but don't want to influence...)

 

[buthus]

Hi all!

Anyone recognize this (subadult) spider? (I have a guess, but don't want to influence...)

L.hesperus would be me guess.

Here's her pretty little cousin..

 

[Sniper]

L.hesperus would be me guess.

Hmm... I bought her as L. mactans "mexicanus" :? but looks like... I dont know what ...

 

[buthus]

Hmm... I bought her as L. mactans "mexicanus" :? but looks like... I dont know what ...

Ha! I was going to add that if she was a south or central American, she looks like she could be mexicanus! :clap: To late now...no one has to believe me...

Awesome man! I want some of those SOOO bad! To the point of planning a trip just for a quicky collection. ;P

Here
she is.
Also..couple other good sub-adult pics.. 6 row, first two latro/white flower pics. here

How long ago was her last molt? Be sure (please! ) to snap some more shots right after her next molt. Love to see her glass too!

 

[Sniper]

Ha! I was going to add that if she was a south or central American, she looks like she could be mexicanus! :clap: To late now...no one has to believe me...

Good to hear (see ) it... I hope so

I found some pics here, another confusing color variant ...

How long ago was her last molt? Be sure (please! ) to snap some more shots right after her next molt. Love to see her glass too!

The last molt was cca 2weeks ago... I think next molt will be actual in these days ... cameras (and a few subadult male ) are ready for it

Till then here is my L. menavodi:

 

[buthus]

I found some pics here, another confusing color variant ...

No confusion there .. thats quintessential "mexicanus". The only thing that yours may not have that those pics show is the amount that the "herringbone" stripes are swept back. They are running almost parallel to the dorsal line.
Hopefully yours will retain that much vibrant color otherwise the stripes become "ghosted" like many variolus have. (except variolus stripes are white)

Do you have other females?
Pics of the sub adult male ...a must!

Shoot me a PM in 3-4 months when you have 500 or so slings.

 

[Sniper]

No confusion there...

I see :clap: thx!

Do you have other females?

Only her in this species... my friend has 3 subadult pair of them... we hope at least 1egg sac

Maybe 1try with L.mactans mactans male... what do you think?

Pics of the sub adult male ...a must!

working on it

Shoot me a PM in 3-4 months when you have 500 or so slings.

:worship:

 

[buthus]

Maybe 1try with L.mactans mactans male... what do you think?

No not yet anyway. 4 females gives you guys a good chance of success, but sh!t happens ...so IMHO I would mate all four proper, raise as many slings as you can deal with and learn the ins and outs of this species care needs. Its the 2nd and 3rd generation where many latro keepers seem to start having troubles. Having a good number of breeders will help you keep the line(s) going.

 

[Sniper]

Thanx for advice I will follow it (or take it?... my English is not so good )

 

[buthus]

Thanx for advice I will follow it (or take it?... my English is not so good )

Ha! Got the sucker following my advice!
hmmm... now.. lets see what I can get you to do...

oh... BTW... "follow it", "take it" either way... depending on how hard ya want it. ...

 

[Sniper]

Ha! Got the sucker following my advice!

be my guest... btw the 3 other females are already adults... maybe one of them produce an egg sac before my pair reach an adult age If it happens I will try L. mactans mactans x L mactans mexicanus combo... anyway mactans and mactans mexicanus are different species or subspecies or essentials ... no any word on wsc or any other stuff in the net...

hmmm... now.. lets see what I can get you to do...

oh... BTW... "follow it", "take it" either way... depending on how hard ya want it. ...

HA... some significant info LOL

 

[Sniper]

L. mactans with an egg sac She produced it early morning hours

 

[buthus]

Another latro lovin' AB member gave me a crack at breeding a S.American sp. being totted as "sp.Alicia". Probably L.corallinus or L.antheratus.
Introduced a couple mature males to what I hope is a mature female. (Probably the smallest Latrodectus Ive played with so far.)

The pretty chick next door.

Entertainment for when the lovin' show got slow.

Jordan sent me a couple fem pals because I had a mature male and a few more boys up and coming. Both females mated...one mated twice. Both females died before producing sacs.
The 1st to die was giving me troubles from the get go. She would not settle down. She made enough of a web to mate her, but nothing more. Towards her end, I moved her around a couple times trying to find her something she'd call a comfy home, but no luck. This one needed a cool down big time (IMHO). I should have stuck her in the fridge when I was thinking about doing so.
The other female did well ...housed her right away in a little enclosure I use for mating photo shoots. She webbed the place up fairly well ...her little "funnel" was half-baked, but she hunted with some real spunk ..not always the case with pals from what Ive seen. She mated and I waited ...and waited. Then one of my other boys molted and soon after I mated her again.
Anyway ..she died not to long ago. Pallidus have proven to be one of the trickiest, but I had, at the very least, some semi-cocky hopes for this mating exchange. Bummed me out enough to avoid the subject. Sorry about the Jordan. Ill probably try again ..hopefully towards spring. I want to time things with our winter so I can chill em outside.
So here is the girl that was in the little mating enclosure ...I think this was the first pairing...

A quasi-recent variolus pairing.

I like this shot ..somehow totally sums up bishopi personality for me.

Mature bishopi male feeding...

Fem bsh feeding on a bundle of junk she decided to haul back up. Looks like theres a fresh earwig in there.. maybe it caused all the commotion.

geo ...hiding from the law!

Just a shot I like..

Couple of hot young girls I caught partying on my property...

 

[Rizzolo]

Wow

:worship:

cool photos as usual. your "alicia" widow looks nice and fat!

good luck


also, good luck with the pallidus pairing!!!

 

[buthus]

also, good luck with the pallidus pairing!!!

Read the paragraph again ...wish my luck NEXT time round. Luck does often seem to help, but ya cant rely on it. ...


The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Time for the bad and ugly...

Old dying widows will now and then just hang on to life as they barely hang on to their web. This one was a record breaker. It lived for several months in its retched state. Everyday, I'd look at it and be in disbelief that it was still alive. In the end it lost several legs (never witnessed) to its own webbing. As the legs start curling in and they have a harder time keeping them stretched outwards, they become clumsy hooks and the spider ends up having to twist them right off.

Speaking of leg lacking ...this beautiful "texanus" arrived DOA. It was well packed (IMO within the realm of properly), well hydrated, fed n' fat, etc. What I believe happened is... because of its missing rear leg, it had a hard time webbing itself in secure ...tight quarters, padding ...the stress of the struggle could have done it in, let alone being tossed around during the journey.

Pretty spider. I have a small group of her offspring. They have proven to be much more fragile than the average mostly "indestructible" hesperus slings ...for reasons unknown. I plan to dive head first into selective breeding these.
But, for now, just a toe in those waters...

Widow that refuse to eat.
Probably the most common reason for emaciated spiders is due to molt timing of individuals not lining up with chow time. Easy to catch if one is babying a smaller group of slings/juvs, but with mass feedings its easy to miss a few. Often, the spider will start wrapping their prey up and even start to feed, so you'll think all is well, but they don't always feed enough ...more like they go through the motions and then quit.

Unfortunately, most of the time (for me so far) when widows get to that point, if and after they DO finally feed, they usually die. Water is the key to a better recovery/survival rate ...if you can get them to consume water first before force feeding, they have a better chance. I suspect that lack of H2O prevents them from properly digesting the meal ...or maybe the stress of eating finally does them in. Funny though.. when Ive saved really messed up widows(hesperus) in the wild by placing food directly in their webs, they usually do great... next night I find a plump/perky spider.

Mystery factors probably weigh in as heavy as molt timing issues. A murmer of discussion regarding "cool down" periods has begun on the boards ...so latro keepers pay attention to whatever is said/discovered. I will be.
Widows that wont stay put, properly web and feed ...these will starve. Sometime they get to a point where they will finally feed a little, but wont/cant go through the motions. Producing webbing requires fluids and movement itself also requires fluids.
This is a CB pallidus that did very well until adulthood, then she quickly went downhill. A perfect candidate for the fridge, but I didnt cool her down ...should of/could of/would of sorta thing.
She finally fed but died in a day or 2...

A sp.Laos that starved ...wouldn't eat or drink, no matter what I did. I finally decided to let her wander around my desk/computer stuff while I was working. Figured maybe I could stimulate the need to feed. After some wander time i stuck food in her face ...literally. She fed for awhile ...but again, too late for this pretty girl ...she died hours after feeding. What r ya gonna do? These spiders are supposed to be living happily at the base of some uprooted tree high up in some mountain valley somewhere in some soupy SE Asian jungle. Died in distant foreign lands ...consumed by a hobby.

Boys don't cry...
A big girl shacking up in my empty pool. This one had a line of males waiting outside as she mated just insider her little "cave". The boy doing the deed died because of me ...my light upset her and she reacted by suddenly wrapping him up during copulation. Gotta laugh at that.

More domestic violence...

Death by old age? ...

Such is life...

Dead girlz...

Dried boyz...

 

[KUJordan]

You know, until about 3 or 4 years ago I had never seen a Latrodectus in person. Now, after all we have done they have become such a part of my life it's pretty crazy. I have come to realize the prolific nature of their survival (bishopi aside) and the overall strength of habitation and breeding. It's amazing to see and I really think that somehow the idea surrounding these awesome spiders could be slightly changing for the better on a much more broad scale than just us on these forums and the few true enthusiasts out there. Keep up the good work, everyone!

 

[buthus]

You know, until about 3 or 4 years ago I had never seen a Latrodectus in person.

Jordan, where did you grow up? I had figured you were playing around with mactans or something when you were but an over zealous little rock turnin' brat. :? ...

...:worship:

 

[Pulk]

mactans from buthus/steven...

and a revivensis sling