My Australian non-T primitives

RezonantVoid

Hollow Knight
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I've been asked to make this thread a few times, but the sheer quantity and shyness of my specimens has made me procrastinate on it for a while. But hey, Ive got a 4 hour car trip and a bunch of elusive specimens Ive finally photographed, so let's get down to it today.

I will try and rattle off certain groups in seperate responses, starting with my trapdoors and finishing with my medically significant species.

The following spiders are only a pinch out of the salt bowl so to speak. There are literally hundreds of mygalomorph species here i'd love a shot at keeping, but realistically that's not possible. However, through a lot of effort and just under 2 years, I think I'm pretty happy with the variety Ive got so far. From regular open hole dwellers and tube builders to carefully concealed trapdoors and species that just gave up being neat and make huge web messes, there's something for every spider enthusiast to enjoy (hopefully).

So, now that the grand speech is over, lets begin!
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
"I'm just waiting, just waiting..."

Seriously now, can't wait to see what you got! Thanks for undertaking this!

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

RezonantVoid

Hollow Knight
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First up as mentioned, I'll start with my trapdoors. It's appropriate as it was trapdoors that really made me decide to begin getting involved in this hobby in the first place. Some of these are bought, caught, rescued and donated, and will prove to be anything but "those dull brown spiders you never see once they setup a hole".

I'll start off with my concealed lid makers; Cataxia, Euoplos, Idiommata and Seqocrypta.

Cataxia are, in my opinion, probably the blandest of our trapdoor species. Not any particularly impressive colours, but they do have very well concealed lids and a ferocity with feeding that is unmatched.

Both my species are unidentified, and both make the same paper thin trapdoor lids.

Sp. 1^

Sp. 2, a bit larger^

My Euoplos are very large, probably the largest and most solid built of my collection. 60-70mm DLS adult length. These are native to higher moisture zones like rainforests and creek beds. They build very thick plug lids that are often around 3-4mm thick, and are completely waterproof. The lid is decorated with debris for camoflauge.

Both of mine are Euoplos Variabilis.


Specimen 1^


Specimen 2^, recent addition.


A feeding gif

My Seqocrypta are only slings right now so I don't have many good photos, but here's one.


Lastly for me lid makers, is probably my rarest and most prized species, Idiommata Sp. Silverback. Native to northern Queensland, this girl boasts some of most stunning iridescence Ive seen on spiders before. It's normal for T's to have colourful reflective feet that might be one or 2 colours, but this beautiful trapdoor reflects the entire spectrum extremely vibrantly. She is so shy that photographing this has been extremely difficult, but I've successfully done so a few times recently.

Here's the gorgeous girl out in the open, she looks more like a T and is one of few non-T primitives that can climb glass


Here is some very dull chromatic hair reflection, but I chose this one because she's showing blue and pink at the same time. Normally alot brighter and more vivid


Moving on, we have my tube builders and open burrow Genus, Arbanitis. Now it's no secret on here that I could endlessly proclaim my love for this genus. I have quite a few and several are more than likely undescribed. Idiopidae (family Arbanitis belongs to) is expected to double in the number of species, and I'm more than happy to add some to the list from Arbanitis.
I have quite a lot so I won't be going into great detail with the behaviour of my individuals, but I'll give a rough info block:

Probably the most widespread and adaptable genus in our country, Arbanitis inhabit anywhere from dry scrubland, tree trunks, creek beds, rainforest mud slopes to literally vertical cliffs and the salty environment of the beach, which few other similar spiders tolerate. They tolerate high disturbance and can adapt well to urban settings if residential development occurs. The are medium to large spiders with beautiful metallic shines on the carapace, the colours and vibrancy varying per species. None have dangerous venom and make great additions to any collection here.

To begin, I'll start with a few pics of my first ever spider, a local species 15 minutes away. Unfortunately, the amount of residential development has proven too much for even this species to endure, but I have rescued and bred a handful of individuals and will be releasing slings when we get some more rain. Unnamed species, dubbed by me as Arbanitis sp. Gold.

Wild burrow^

My adult female^




Breeding^

The rest, apart from a few significant species, won't have lengthy extra info, just pictures and brief descriptions.


Arbanitis sp. Black^


Same species in a threat pose^


Dorsal view.

Okay, this one is special. Arbanitis sp. Wooli, one I'm 99% sure is undocumented as it lives on the beach, which is a big deal for primitive spiders. The entire colony is located along about 50m of vertical mossy cliffs right on the beach that are spring fed.

Juvi I unearthed.


The wild colony.


My largest female. To match their habitat, this species requires alot of sand in the substrate.


Arbanitis Longipes/Brisbane Long-Legged trapdoor below.

As seen, extremely "high gold" species with yellow so vibrant it's highly visible even without a flashlight.

It also decided to build a spagnum moss tube all the way to the lid of its enclosure.


Arbanitis sp. Tambourine 1 below, she is without a doubt my largest species from this genus.



A feeding gif, she seals off her burrow and erupts from the ground to catch food.
"You thought this was regular ground, BUT IT WAS REALLY ME, ARBANITIS SP. TAMBOURINE 1!"


Arbanitis sp. Kempsey "Brown". Just look at this floofy little one.


Arbanitis sp. Kempsey "Black", a less fluffy one with dark colouration from an adjacent hill to the species above.


Arbanitis sp. Glenreagh, rescued from certain dehydration in a habitat that was already losing alot of spiders for the same reason. A low gold species on the smaller side.


Now, here's a little lesson in trickery, for I said that the lid builders were finished, but I have one more :)
This is an Arbanitis sp. I have never seen anything like before. Not only does it make a lid which is unusual, but hinges the lid from the bottom like a drawbridge. In place of triplines, it uses a ring of silk around the hidden entry, about 3mm from the edge of the lid, as a more accurate strike zone indicator. She is only a sling right now, but I can already discern she is a low gold species with strong mottling on her legs to blend in with forest floor leaf litter.

Additional observations:
She webs EVERYWHERE which is completely unlike every other species Ive seen.
She does what I call "prey stashing". I always give her 5 pinheads at a time, and she grabs one, bites it, retreats, then reappears a few seconds later ready for more. This leads me to believe they have stronger venom that other Arbanitis and that they catch as much as possible during the night, and then gorge themselves during the day on the previous nights catch.
Unlike her wild siblings, she chooses to leave the lid opened all day and waits at the entry.

Lastly, my favourite from this genus, my Golden Tube Spider, Arbanitis sp. Coramba. This species has given me more pain to photograph than all others, extremely flighty at even the slightest tap of her enclosure. Lately though, after a year of owning her, she has finally become more bold about leaving her tube entry. Species makes 40cm high vertical tubes on the sides of plant stems/tree trunks and covers it with dirt and chewed up leaves.

First ever photo I got of her with the container lid off ^

This is her completely natural colour, no colour filters added and just under a regular phone flashlight ^

And of course, just for all of you, I made a gif of her feeding! :D

I believe that's all of my Arbanitis, but knowing my luck Ive probably missed some and will need to add them later. Hope you are enjoying them so far!
 
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Arthroverts

Arachnoking
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Ooooohhhhh man. This is single-handedly the best collection of non-tarantula primitive spiders outside of the US, if not one of the best in the world. If I didn't want to go to Australia before, this has only tripled my enthusiasm to go! I am literally in awe of just these few species that you have shown us, and I can't believe you have even more.

Please keep this up! You have a loyal fan here to watch; @lostbrane, do ya see this?

Thanks for sharing,

Arthroverts
 
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RezonantVoid

Hollow Knight
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Jan 7, 2018
Messages
1,354
Ooooohhhhh man. This is single-handedly the best collection of non-tarantula primitive spiders outside of the US, if not one of the best in the world. If I didn't want to go to Australia before, this has only tripled my enthusiasm to go! I am literally in awe of just these few species that you have shown us, and I can't believe you have even more.

Please keep this up! You have a loyal fan here to watch; @lostbrane, do ya see this?

Thanks for sharing,

Arthroverts
Dear me, I'm only halfway finished too! :rofl:
Glad you're enjoying them so far
 

RezonantVoid

Hollow Knight
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Next are 2 smaller groups combined into one response, my Dipluridae and Nemesiidae. In terms of shenanigans, these 2 groups probably make me laugh the most.
Nemesiidae includes some of the country's rarest species, particularly bearded wishbone spiders. I've had the honour of caring for a mature male from a locale near me, and these spiders are huge. Like, around 5" DLS.
Dipluridae will always have a place in my heart, and is a family I'm highly guilty of not owning enough species from. Look at all the species above, how they make intricate, neat, well designed lids, or perfectly round burrows. Australothele Nambucca took one look at these and said to itself,
"You know what? Screw this. I'm making the biggest, messiest web you blokes have ever seen. In fact, it will be so big I can't even work out where the entry is after i catch food."

So to begin with these, let's have a look at my Wishbones. I have less slings than adults currently, and at least 5 species I'm in search of.
I'll begin with my Stanwellia sp. slings, each is unidentified. These are also called Spotted/Poka dot trapdoors, as they are very... spotty! Some of them can have striped legs and pinkish abdomens as adults.

This was my first Stanwellia. My only pink CF and is growing alarmingly fast. Already put on 6mm DLS since I got it, which wasn't that long ago.

Next to are 2 recent additions from northern NSW, both different species and ferocious eaters.

Last one from Stanwellia below.


Moving on to my larger specimens, a recent addition that was technically a surprise freeby after being sent the wrong species, Namea sp. Mallee. Unfortunately I've been having a tough time getting her to put on any weight, as she runs out of digestive fluid quick and can only be fed a small cricket every 2 days.

Her abdomen is now marginally bigger than in this picture.

Next, my rather striking, cool tempered Namea Salanitri, also called a red headed wishbone spider or false funnelweb. She is currently my largest specimen by only a few mil.

She used to be probably the angriest species in my entire collection aside from Selenotholus Kotzman, but since her last molt she's become quite the sweetheart. If need be, I wouldn't even mind having her on my hand in the event of a rehouse or escape.

Also her ^

Next another new addition, and a huge one too. Namea sp. Tambourine "Black",
She's put on quite alot of size in the abdomen since arrival.


Her inside the new enclosure below.


Finally for Nemesiidae, is one I believe many of you have seen and come to love, my Aname sp. Gold, Yukinoshita. She is quite timid and fast, but her favourite thing to do is pose on her prized piece of cork bark. In fact, she's my only spider that has not buried cork bark, and actually appreciates the foreign wood.

Just after molting ^


Yukinoshita and her bark, as usual.

And again.


Now, time for my favourite messy web builders, Australothele Nambucca. I've had a few curtain web species, but unfortunately they have left the collection and my only current species is A.Nambucca, my Giant Black Curtain Webs. They are fast, frightened, and black. Thank the heavens they cannot climb plastic. These race out to catch food so quickly they forget where they even came from and take a decent amount of time to relocate the entry to their own burrows. They don't really dig too deep, but prefer to use pre-existing nooks, cracks and holes to base their burrows in. I won't flood with pictures, but here's a few of my favourites.

My largest female ^


Another of my large but unfortunately deceased females ^


Feeding gif showing off the impressively messy web

Mature male ^

They are also insane break dancers


Hope you enjoyed these as well, I'll put up my medically significant species shortly
 
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RezonantVoid

Hollow Knight
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A little disclaimer I feel I should add for the last category:

In not even the slightest way do I keep these species simply for the sake of a bragging right, or a deadly obsession. I have been fascinated by the intricate burrows and hunting methods of these spiders since I was very little, and hold utmost respect for their awesomely potent venom. I feel almost privileged to be able to work with and study such spiders up close, and use maximum caution when dealing with them. In sticking with the relaxed theme of this thread, I will probably come off as taking these too lightly, but do not take it that way.

Now, the medically significants. The terrifying ones that stop 90% of uninformed tourists from visiting the country. I haven't even added one image yet and already have a reason to love them. Hopefully by the end of this, you will too.

Australia has a handful of nasty species, but they are rarely encountered and consequently pose little risk to civilians. I will not make a huge info block on Atracids, because I already have. You can read it here if you want to waste even more of your time after reading all these posts.
https://arachnoboards.com/threads/rezonants-guide-to-funnelwebs-care-venom-and-other-info.318990/

So yea. The 2 nasty families are Actinopodidae (mouse spiders) and Atracidae (funnelwebs). The former is probably the lowest risk of all, as they are the most concealed and absolutely hate wasting venom. They also have the most impressive fang to body size ratio of any spider group I know. Some other curiosities about them is sideward facing fangs and ballooning slings. Atracidae have 3 genus; Illawarra, Atrax and Hadronyche. The former 2 are small genus (Illawarra Wishharti is the only species in its genus and Atrax only has Robustus, Yorkmainum and Sutherlandi) while Hadronyche has over 30, which are divided into 4 groups:
Lamingtonensis
Adelaidensis
Infensa
Cerberea

Infensa and Cerberea are my favourites behaviour wise, but also the worst 2 for potency.


I'll start with my mouse spiders, Missulena Bradleyi. There are a handful of species including one outside Australia, but Bradleyi is (while still extremely difficult) the easiest to come by. I currently have 3 of these as permanent members and 2 that will be going to a new home soon. My largest can crunch a paddle pop stick in half.

Here was my first little chub, and I was absolutely thrilled when I got her after heavy rain brought her into someone's house.

Not long after, she molted. I believe this is the first ever time this species has been recorded molting which is impressive due to how widespread they are across Australia.


And when she finished, she left me with probably my most liked upload in my entire gallery.


So, I bet you want to see those immensely disproportionate fangs in action right? Well, so did I, and it took a little coaxing with some other individuals I bought after the one above, but I eventually got the following photo.

Now I can assure you, you're not gonna find a better nail clipper than this anywhere else on the planet ^

Mature male ^

And finally, tiny juvenile doing his best to chomp.

It's funny how they attack in almost slow motion.


So for the grand finale, let's introduce our infamously toxic friends, the Atracids.

It's a pain to remember which group each species belongs to, but I have all 6 of the confirmed medically significant species plus a few more.

My first ever Atracidae, Hadronyche Valida.

I now have 2 of these, and they are definitely my reccomendation for a beginner deadly species. Least potent venom of known Atracids combined with the second largest size and definitely the biggest webs.

My other one below.


Outside her burrow below.


Hadronyche Lamingtonensis, kindly provided to me by
@Rhino1


Here is another curiosity, Hadronyche Levittgreggae. Found in bone dry bushland with no soil moisture down to 1ft deep


Now, the "Unholy Hexology". The 6 deadly species that have proved more than enough in the past that they aren't messing around. The Atracotoxins in their venom can have you in a casket in 15-45 minutes if not treated properly. These are not spiders I deliberately mess with, and i even drill a large hole in their lids just so I don't have open the lids unnecessarily. No Atracids can climb smooth surfaces, but no harm in going the extra mile. To kick things off, Hadronyche Macquariensis, or H.Macq for short. This is the closest species to me and the one I deal with the most. Fast growing and aggressive, these aren't afraid to take down prey in broad daylight. Here's a few of my personal favourite pictures

Large adult female, she's doubled in size since receiving her ^

She peek ^

Recently rehoused one below, as seen they have a real boxy carapace shape.


Next, the iconic Atrax Robustus, the Sydney Funnelweb. The females aren't particularly nasty, but the males are extremely potent and high risk when wandering for females in Summer.


One of my 2 juveniles



Next are my 2 blue mountains funnelwebs, Hadronyche Versuta. Both are similar size but each drastically different webs.


My other one below.
20190918_211239.jpg

Below is Hadronyche Cerberea, my Southern Tree Funnelweb. This species has the highest envenomation rate of all funnelwebs at 75%. She's currently my largest.


And below is when she first arrived.


Second last is the second deadliest spider in the world, Hadronyche Infensa. Brand new addition so only a few photos of her so far.

20190913_172909.jpg

And last, but not least in the slightest, the most venomous species of spider, and probably anything, on the planet. The Northern Tree Funnelweb. Hadronyche Formidabilis. If it's scientific name wasn't metal enough, it's venom definitely is. Maximum caution is used for this little one, but she is absolute favourite Atracid for how photogenic she is, and her determination with hunting prey. She also webbed EXACTLY where and how I wanted her too. So let's meet her. She has inherited the name of one of my previous A.Robustus, Apocalypse.


Here are 2 feeding gifs.


So, that's all! I have multiple individuals of many of these species, but couldn't upload one of each. Hope everyone has enjoyed reading, I will update as I get more!.
 
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Rhino1

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
490
Wow huge post mate, well done. Nail clipper lol

Will have some more for you soon mate, just flat out with the cattle at the moment after those fires as there's nothing left for them to eat here. Talk soon
 

RezonantVoid

Hollow Knight
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Jan 7, 2018
Messages
1,354
Will have some more for you soon mate, just flat out with the cattle at the moment after those fires as there's nothing left for them to eat here. Talk soon
Super 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

Do you ever wish you could get exotic species @RezonantVoid? Or are your native species always enough?

Thanks,

Arthroverts
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
 

RezonantVoid

Hollow Knight
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Messages
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As stated, I just about feel guilty for not owning more Dipluridae, so after seeing available a species I never thought I'd ever get my hands on, thats going to change this week. I'll have photos up in a few days once she arrives, but she's gorgeous

Extra note, my planned species which was Cethegus Fugax is only available to WA customers so unfortunately I can't get it :( but I have something just as impressive, and probably 50x more aggressive lined up in its place
 

RezonantVoid

Hollow Knight
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I'm very disappointed with you @RezonantVoid. Your supposed to get both species, no excuses!

;) :D :rofl:, just kidding; can't wait to see what it is!

Thanks,

Arthroverts
I'm sorry! I tried bargaining to no avail!

Yea lol I'm pretty disappointed too especially since that info wasn't included on the website page. I am getting an additional centipede as well, S.Morsitans, but if this new spider behaves how some of its fellow species do, it will definitely be among my most uniquely behaved. An entirely new family, genus and species to my collection all at once
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
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Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Where are the juicy details about this new Homogona sp. ;)?
"I'm just waiting, just waiting, just waiting for the Homogona to come..."

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

RezonantVoid

Hollow Knight
Joined
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Messages
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So today, there has been quite a bit of activity in The Abyss (don't laugh, I can name my collection room whatever I want thank you). In fact, when 2 spiders adjacent to each other are out simultaneously, you know stuffs going down. Yukinoshita and Flinger (yes she's a T but who cares) were out gossiping to each other about today's new arrival.
20190926_164504.jpg

The smell of substrate mix filled the air as my latest work of art was completed. Very similar to the setup for my Black wishbone spider, it features a large rock on the top right corner, spagnum moss in the bottom right, open space bottom left and an angled starter burrow in the top left. With of course, a bit of added greenery.
20190926_164344.jpg

Some more photos from different sides below.
20190926_164415.jpg
20190926_164438.jpg

But what about the perculiar assortment of twigs, sticks and bark strewn across the container? I have added these in hope that our newest addition will find them very useful. But what exactly is this new addition?

Let's have a look at her.
I present to you, my new Homogona sp.


She's nothing particularly flashy, but I think she's absolutely gorgeous, despite being covered in mud. It's not particularly visible from above, but her legs are extremely spiny. In fact, these guys share a common name with Cataxia sp.; Spiny trapdoors. Here's a close up of those front legs and pedipalps, just so you can see what I mean.
20190926_170452.jpg

She really is gorgeous.
20190926_170636.jpg

So these guys are so closely related to Cataxia that a few species from Cataxia where recently moved over to Homogona. I thought I read that they are actually under Ctenizidae but that was apparently wrong, and they are indeed idiopids. Strongly aggressive, she even flung a cricket she was eating at me because she whipped out a threat posture so quickly.

Various species from this genus are known to construct elaborate burrow entries with sticks, twigs and dried grass. I have no clue if this species is one of them, but I figure I can't pass up the opportunity to test it out, hence the assortment of debris throughout her enclosure.
Let's move her in.
20190926_171629.jpg
A typical, ungrateful stress curl. I don't know what else I expected.
20190926_171640.jpg

Well, I hope you enjoyed the read. I was really disappointed I couldn't get the Cethegus Fugax, but maybe next time. Look forward to more in the future!

Fun fact, Homogona and Cataxia are so closely related that they are now synonymous as @Ungoliant has pointed out to me. The world spooder Catalog says so itself. Apologies for the misinformation, this is what happens when my order gets changed last minute
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
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Messages
3,686
I'm not into trapdoors/funnelwebs or medically significant species, but I absolutely love this thread!
Very well done, gonna stay tuned for updates! :)

Ps. You might consider compiling a book with the way you describe behaviour and such, it would be a fun and informational read, I think!
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Help me! I've fallen into The Abyss! And it's awesome in here, yeah! :D :rofl::rofl:

Congrats on the new addition! She looks awesome; can't wait to see what kind of web she builds!

Thanks for sharing,

Arthroverts
 
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