mouse spiders

[Justin]

are these hard to find in the hobby?

 

[Alex S.]

Missulena are not available in the hobby.

Alex S.

 

[Justin]

ok thanks. i was just looking at those little buggers and MAN ARE THOSE SOME SERIOUS FANGS!!!!! justin.

 

[Alex S.]

Missulena Chelicerae

Yeah, the female Missulena occatoria has some of the largest chelicerae relative to body size of any spider.

Alex S.

 

[Venom]

They pack a punch of venom too. But sadly, being an Aussie spider, exports are illegal.

 

[Valael]

Steve will hook us up, won't you?!

 

[Advocatus]

For those of us who are wondering what the heck they are talking about:

 

[Wade]

Originally posted by Valael
Steve will hook us up, won't you?!

They're in the family Hexathelidae aren't they?

If so, Steve Nunn will probably not be exporting them anytime soon. Although he will be exporting captive bred slings of some other Australian mygalamorphs (especially tarantulas), Australia has regulations against shipping hexathelids at all. I think it's more of a safety issue than anything else.

If I'm mistaken, hopefully he'll pop in and correct me.

Cool looking spiders though!

Wade

 

[Vys]

Äck, I really think they're ugly, with such large chelicerae
And why on earth are they called mouse spiders?

 

[Venom]

This page has some more info on their venom :

http://www.avru.unimelb.edu.au/avruweb/Mouse.htm

. The females are kinde strange looking, but I think the males look cool, with the red and blue coloration.

 

[genious_gr]

Originally posted by Vys
Äck, I really think they're ugly, with such large chelicerae
And why on earth are they called mouse spiders?

:? cause they feed on mice maybe???

 

[Venom]

They are called mouse spiders because they often take up residence in abandoned tunnels, such as those previously occupied by mice.

 

[John Apple]

Huhn
It looks a lot like the spiders that I catch in Ohio on the sides of trees :?

 

[Venom]

Believe me, you don't have those where you live. They are native to Australia, and exports are banned. I also live in Michigan, and, to my knowledge, there are no native species of mygalomorph here. Perhaps you are thinking of the species in this picture :

http://www.marion.ohio-state.edu/spiderweb/SpiderPictures/Salticidae/Phidippus audax.htm

 

[John Apple]

I think they are called purseweb spiders
these are mygals
They make a tube web up the sides of trees loosely covered by debree
also there is a well sized population of folding door spiders in a columbus park
lets not forget there is also a population of trap door spiders in the pan-handle of Florida [these have a flat abdomen]
Lets not forget the population of Vagans in Ft Pierce
and about 15 years ago a small mygal was discovered in the carolinas
I have colected many 'jumping spiders' and these are not them

 

[Wade]

Yes, purseweb spiders are mygalomorphs, and they do look alot like the mouse spiders in that they have the oversized chelicerae. I assume that they are only distantly related, however. I've never seen pursewbs in the wild, that's cool that you're able to find them. I think we have them in VA as well, but I've never found one.

You probably also have one or two species of trapdoor spiders, also mygalomorphs, but even harder to find than pursewebs.

Wade

 

[Vanisher]

Yeah, the female Missulena occatoria has some of the largest chelicerae relative to body size of any spider.

Alex S.

Yes they have really massive chelicereera and fangs. But we have a species of mygalomorphs here in Sweden! "Atypus affinis". Check out the fangs of those! /Johan

 

[RottweilExpress]

Almost looks photoshopped..

 

[Bastian Drolshagen]

hey, Missulena sp. belong to Actinopodidae and not all species of this genus are native to Australia...
Missulena tussulena comes from Chile

 

[ErikWestblom]

hey, Missulena sp. belong to Actinopodidae and not all species of this genus are native to Australia...
Missulena tussulena comes from Chile

How big does M. tussulena get?