Oh.... i have been using that term incorrectly then. I thought they were therasopods. Then whats the term for trapdoors, funnel webs and the like?Not to be that person, but all tarantulas are mygalomorphs.
Theraphosidae is a subfamily of Mygalmorphae, we just tend to coin any non-tarantula primitive as Mygalmorph to differentiate the 2
Mygalomorphs are an infraorder (smaller than an order but bigger than a family or superfamily) that comprises Theraphosidae (tarantulas) and most of the other extant "primitive" families of spiders, such as funnel-web spiders and trapdoor spiders. Most other spiders are araneomorphs and are often called "true spiders" (even though both groups are spiders).
Taxonomically speaking, Theraphosidae is a family. (Anything ending in -idae is a family. Anything ending in -inae is a subfamily.)
I understand the differences between araneo and mygalmorphs but i find it odd that a very clearly distinct set of spiders is classed the same as theraphso's. Are we sure there isnt a seperate group for the waxy-carapaced funnel webs & trap doors?Mygalomorphs are an infraorder (smaller than an order but bigger than a family or superfamily) that comprises Theraphosidae (tarantulas) and most of the other extant "primitive" families of spiders, such as funnel-web spiders and trapdoor spiders. Most other spiders are araneomorphs and are often called "true spiders" (even though both groups are spiders).
Certain mygalomorph traits are considered more "primitive," because they appeared early in the evolution of spiders and haven't changed much from those of early spiders. Certain araneomorph traits are deemed more "advanced," because they appeared more recently and have undergone notable change from ancestral traits. However, you can't really say that araneomorphs as a whole are "more advanced" or "more evolved" than mygalomorphs, as they are both equally separated in time from the common ancestor of spiders.
An easy way to distinguish between mygalomorphs and araneomorphs is the way the jaws and fangs move when in use. Mygalomorph fangs move in parallel, swinging up along an arc before a strike. Araneomorph fangs move in opposition to each other, resembling pincers. Some good illustrations that show the difference:
Taxonomically speaking, Theraphosidae is a family. (Anything ending in -idae is a family. Anything ending in -inae is a subfamily.)
Currently they are all mygalomorphs, just placed in different families.
1 I applaud you Brave than I am I'm just going to respond to this message thank you for sharing that was awesome and a lot of spiders are just gorgeousSuper stoked to be receiving them, but please no rush! You've had it that close with the fires, please take the time to get everything back under control there first
Also had a reply from my funnelweb dude down south and he agrees that the webs you saw definitely are more like an Atrax species. He needs photos to confirm, but glad my hunch was correct
There's many times where I say to myself "DAYUM that's pretty, I wish I could have that!", But in general I feel very happy with the variety I can get now
Thank you so much for sharing your spiders are absolutely beautiful by the way the new arrival I'm in 100% agreement with you once that mud is off she's going to be beautiful.
She molted yesterday and once she's hardened 100% ill show you how awesome the stripes look now. There should be a couple of these still available on the insectory btw, i bought the 6th one left
I was rereading this, some trapdoors like those in Barychelidae are so much like tarantulas in appearance and characteristics that a novice entemologist would easily mistake them as a T without prior research. They can climb cmooth surfaces and stridulate, and the latter characteristic isnt limited to just them and Theraphosidae as ive had bearded wishbone males that could quite audibly hiss too. On closer inspection, we can find multiple similarities between each family other than just appearance
Mabye barchychelidae is the "found link" between Theraphso's and the waxy carapaced, smoother bodied and usually more agressive trapdoors and funnelwebs...
Nemessidae and some Idiopids like the shiny Arbanitis also have very densely packed hair on the carapace instead of if being shiny, and the ultra sensitive foot hair on the pedipalps. I would probably call Nemessidae the closest "bridge genus"
Apologies if I missed the grand reveal on this but...what happened??"Ill try and get that sling update out before new years"
Pffftt what a joke, im just on that level of lazy right now lol.
But now the update is here! Typed out on an even buggier mobile keyboard and now with more spelling mistakes than ever before!
So lets rattle off the Arbanitis. Since announcing the sling info block ive had 2 new sacs laid and hatched, with a 3rd (i think) on the way within a few weeks. Arbanitis sp. Kempsey Black dropped me an absolutely huge, nearly golf ball sized eggsac. Of course since this sac was from a WC mother, half of them will be returned to the wild at the end of February, 25% will be kept for breeding colonies and the other 25% will likely be distributed to fellow hobbyists or sold in trios. As far as Arbanitis go, sp. Kempsey Black is a mid gold species with, as expected, extremely dark abdomen and leg colouration. The slings however have the characteristic banded abdomen. These ones are very intelligent, trying to communicate with me via web messages on side of their mother's enclosure. View attachment 332599
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Very interesting indeed.
Next up, my largest and oldest sling colonies, Arbanitis sp. Gold. One of these colonies is over a year old and currently the average size is 5-8mm total length. Im closely studying the behavior of this colony, but ill share that another time. We are here for the pictures! Here's the 2 oldest colonies with their mini tubes
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Believe me, i have easily another 80 more slings from this species. This was my first ever breeding project, and an entire batch went to Minibeast wildlife as a future breeding colony. This is important as this particular species is now 100% functionally extinct. I hate to start getting all high and mighty, but saving this species is probably my favourite accomplishment of all time.
Last Arbanitis sling colony is Banded tube webs. Super sadly, their mother died of seemingly natural causes only a few weeks after they hatched. The sac yield was much smaller than anticipated, a few will go back to @Rhino1 and the rest will stay here as a breeding colony. But look how adorable their little tubes are!
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For whatever reason they prefer to build against the plastic instead of the provided rocks and sticks.
Seqocrypta Jakara are both growing well and building bigger lids.
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The 3 Stanwellia wishbones are also doing great. Each is at about 15mm DLS View attachment 332608
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Idiosoma sp. sling from @Dave1969 is doing okay, dont see much action from it as it takes forever to catch food here it is during a recent rehouse.
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Hadronyche Levittgreggae sling is still as chubby as ever
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And finally for the slings (i think) is Arbanitis sp. Tambourine 2, the Drawbridge trapdoor sling. Doing great and eating well
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Apologies that this took so long, ive had an absolutely massive workload on my plate as of late, but glad i got around to it.
What should i do next? Species that i've kept in the past but not currently? It'd be nice to pay em tribute. Ive also got a project im working on which ill tease later tonight, as well as (hopefully) a youtube channel in the works
Thanks for reading!
So as mentioned i have pretty big project i hope to unveil in thr next couple of weeks when some more supplies arrive. Its named Project "Crimstone V1", and these 2 pictures are the only hint im giving for now. It may not look like it, but they give away ALOT
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All good lol it was just an a post about all the slings i had on me at that stage, since most of my colonies didnt get a highlight on page 1. Unfortunately though i lost 2/3 Stanwellia slings to a freak mold outbreak that came out of nowhere, and recently purchased a replacement.
I meant in regards to Project Crimstone V1, ha ha. I'm assuming you meant to remake all your enclosures in that Crimson theme then?
My guess. P. Eunice. Did I win?
No lol its non T primitive
My dearest apologies, i sent off my last response last month but i had poor service at the time so it may not have come through. I will get back to you later this evening for the last question, sorry its taken so long!
He's webbed himself in at the moment (about a week and a half). Not sure how long I should leave him be. I want him to have a shot with my two females before it's too late. One of them (sand and coir peat) is settled in and feeding with an open side to her burrow. The other (coir peat alone) has locked herself in. I was really hoping to get a couple of them from a fellow who had been feeding them to his chickens (fell through with the Covid lockdown). If I can give him a shot and he survives I'd only be too happy to send him up.
The range is definitely atypical, but Spidentify does show a few dots of them being recorded down south around where mine came from (20 minutes west of Coffs at my spider megaspot, Coramba). While they all had a smidge of pale blue, the main feature was the white patch the blue surrounded, whereas Bradleyi seem to have just dark shiny blue. At the very least, none of the males were Occatoria for sure, but they may have also been Insignis (not enough info to confirm). Not gonna lie, your male is the first true Bradleyi id seen a clear photo of. My females are absolutely enormous though, so they have to be either Bradleyi or Occatoria
