Mygalomorph fooled me

[dragonblade71]

Several nights ago, I found a mygalomorph walking outside (going past my bedroom door.) I collected it and placed it in a temporary container. Ive been giving it water on a regular basis and so far, it seems to be doing well. Currently, I don't know what family, genus or species it is. Though it's definitely a mygal.

Last night, this spider gave me quite a shock. I turned around from my computer to see it on it's side with it's legs beginning to curl inwards. I thought it was on the edge of death. Immediately, I put a few drops of water in there nearby. I then got a tissue and wet it sufficiently and tried to place it against the underside of the spider. While manipulating the tissue, I inadvertently touched one or two of the spider's legs. And it reacted to this by moving them. Then it turned itself the right side up. And straight away, looked like it's normal healthy self.

Ive no idea what it was doing in that other position. It certainly fooled me. I don't think Ive ever seen a healthy living spider on it's side before. Later on, I thought maybe there could be the possibility that it was preparing to moult. But this morning, there was no shed exoskeleton. Still looking normal / healthy.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Several nights ago, I found a mygalomorph walking outside (going past my bedroom door.) I collected it and placed it in a temporary container. Ive been giving it water on a regular basis and so far, it seems to be doing well. Currently, I don't know what family, genus or species it is. Though it's definitely a mygal.

Last night, this spider gave me quite a shock. I turned around from my computer to see it on it's side with it's legs beginning to curl inwards. I thought it was on the edge of death. Immediately, I put a few drops of water in there nearby. I then got a tissue and wet it sufficiently and tried to place it against the underside of the spider. While manipulating the tissue, I inadvertently touched one or two of the spider's legs. And it reacted to this by moving them. Then it turned itself the right side up. And straight away, looked like it's normal healthy self.

Ive no idea what it was doing in that other position. It certainly fooled me. I don't think Ive ever seen a healthy living spider on it's side before. Later on, I thought maybe there could be the possibility that it was preparing to moult. But this morning, there was no shed exoskeleton.

It was taking a nap .. .. most likely whatever the scientific word for spiders sleep is?

 

[dragonblade71]

It was taking a nap .. .. most likely whatever the scientific word for spiders sleep is?

An interesting thought! Maybe I disturbed it during it's beauty sleep.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

An interesting thought! Maybe I disturbed it during it's beauty sleep.

Yeah i had no clue because it wasn’t in the t keeper book or anything I’ve read on spiders . Just noticed my Ts do the same exact thing .

 

[dragonblade71]

Yeah i had no clue because it wasn’t in the t keeper book or anything I’ve read on spiders . Just noticed my Ts do the same exact thing .

Very interesting...I didn't know tarantulas lay on their sides also. Out of curiosity, have you noticed some leg curl as well when they do that? My mygal looked like it was in the beginning of a death curl. Though looked fine afterwards.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Very interesting...I didn't know tarantulas lay on their sides also. Out of curiosity, have you noticed some leg curl as well when they do that? My mygal looked like it was in the beginning of a death curl. Though looked fine afterwards.

Yea they look the same way .. I worried thinking they were dead or injured …

 

[Wolfram1]

Not all spiders are capable of climbing glass or plastic so it might have tried and fallen, i doubt it got onto its back or side on purpose

some may even have trouble righting themselves on slick surfaces, what exactly is this temporary container? A cookie jar?

do you have any pictures of the animal?

 

[ladyratri]

Could it have been grooming and then paused in that position? I've had a couple T's do that and it can be kind of disconcerting.

 

[dragonblade71]

Not all spiders are capable of climbing glass or plastic so it might have tried and fallen, i doubt it got onto its back or side on purpose

Good point. I have encountered other spiders like this one in the recent past and they can't seem to climb smooth surfaces. Yea it could have tried to climb and failed.

some may even have trouble righting themselves on slick surfaces, what exactly is this temporary container? A cookie jar?

It's a small plastic container with low walls. Only meant to be temporary. But now, Ive just discovered that he's escaped. I had some thick paper covering the top with an air hole. A GoPro in it's underwater housing and a flash command trigger was placed over the thick paper (on either side of the air hole.) That flash command trigger is pretty light but even so, I didn't think that the spider would be strong enough to muscle it's way out.

do you have any pictures of the animal?

Yea I took some photos a few days ago while it was still in my care. They're Raw files though I haven't processed them as yet. It would be good to ID this megalomorph.

 

[dragonblade71]

Could it have been grooming and then paused in that position? I've had a couple T's do that and it can be kind of disconcerting.

Ah I didn't think of that possibility. Though I didn't see any grooming. I don't know how long it was in that position for.

 

[dragonblade71]

I had an interesting experience with this megalomorph during my photo session a number of days ago. This spider is generally very docile and doesn't react much when touched. I was trying to coax it into position on a piece of chopped wood with cotton buds. It wasn't being very cooperative and then it had enough and ran off along the carpet in the living room. It got backed into a corner and did a threat pose. I reached out with the cotton bud and it struck it multiple times. A huge change in character. When I got it back in the container, it calmed down straight away.

Gosh, I wish I had footage of it striking from it's threat pose. It was so dramatic.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I had an interesting experience with this megalomorph during my photo session a number of days ago. This spider is generally very docile and doesn't react much when touched. I was trying to coax it into position on a piece of chopped wood with cotton buds. It wasn't being very cooperative and then it had enough and ran off along the carpet in the living room. It got backed into a corner and did a threat pose. I reached out with the cotton bud and it struck it multiple times. A huge change in character. When I got it back in the container, it calmed down straight away.

Gosh, I wish I had footage of it striking from it's threat pose. It was so dramatic.

Yeah all megalomorphs got a scary threat display ! And most Ts don’t bite until cornered like my 3-4” lp it didn’t Like the superworm it was full already.. wish ida got that on camera also

 

[RezonantVoid]

Where abouts are you located? Might be able to find some possible ID's based on locality if no pics are available

 

[RezonantVoid]

Several nights ago, I found a mygalomorph walking outside (going past my bedroom door.) I collected it and placed it in a temporary container. Ive been giving it water on a regular basis and so far, it seems to be doing well. Currently, I don't know what family, genus or species it is. Though it's definitely a mygal.

Last night, this spider gave me quite a shock. I turned around from my computer to see it on it's side with it's legs beginning to curl inwards. I thought it was on the edge of death. Immediately, I put a few drops of water in there nearby. I then got a tissue and wet it sufficiently and tried to place it against the underside of the spider. While manipulating the tissue, I inadvertently touched one or two of the spider's legs. And it reacted to this by moving them. Then it turned itself the right side up. And straight away, looked like it's normal healthy self.

Ive no idea what it was doing in that other position. It certainly fooled me. I don't think Ive ever seen a healthy living spider on it's side before. Later on, I thought maybe there could be the possibility that it was preparing to moult. But this morning, there was no shed exoskeleton. Still looking normal / healthy.

Also it was simply grooming, all mygs do it, even the non-T's

 

[dragonblade71]

Where abouts are you located? Might be able to find some possible ID's based on locality if no pics are available

Kangaroo Island in South Australia. When I process the Raw photo file, I'll post it here.

After a bit of googling, it looks like there's a species of trapdoor spider (Moggridgea rainbowi) that is unique to Kangaroo Island. The other members of the genus can be found in Africa.

I'm looking at photos of Moggridgea rainbowi right now and it doesn't really look like my spider. For one thing, the carapace on rainbowi looks shiny and smooth. On my mygalomorph, there are hairs on the carapace that radiate outwards from a central point. And there is a bit of a pattern with those hairs as well. Also, the hairs on the abdomen look a bit longer on my spider. And there are minimal isolated hairs on rainbowi's mostly smooth legs and a thicker covering of hairs on my spider's legs. Overall, there's a lot more setae on the mygalomorph that was in my care.

 

[RezonantVoid]

Kangaroo Island in South Australia. When I process the Raw photo file, I'll post it here.

After a bit of googling, it looks like there's a species of trapdoor spider (Moggridgea rainbowi) that is unique to Kangaroo Island. The other members of the genus can be found in Africa.

As soon as I read kangaroo island I immediately thought of Moggridgea. If it is, congrats, you're currently the sole keeper of the species in the entire world, what an incredible find.

I'm not sure if Blakistonia or Idiosoma ever settled on the island before it broke away but seeing how widespread both are across SA, I'd say there's also a possibility of either

 

[dragonblade71]

As soon as I read kangaroo island I immediately thought of Moggridgea. If it is, congrats, you're currently the sole keeper of the species in the entire world, what an incredible find.

Actually, I'm not sure about that now. I edited my post above to include a comparison of my spider and Moggridgea. I doubt it's the same spider as mine is much more hairy. Moggridgea looks mostly smooth in appearance. It's also black whereas mine is a brown spider though I know that colour shouldn't be used as an identifying feature.

 

[dragonblade71]

After searching for "mygalomorph kangaroo island" on google, only Moggridgea comes up in the results. Though surely, there must be some data on my mygalomorph spider as Ive seen a few of them around here over the last year or two. Oddly, Ive never seen them before over here and my family has been coming to this part of the island for many years.

A number of years ago, my father found a mygalomorph elsewhere on the island. And I also saw one in a burrow as well around the same area. So there's a fair chance that they were Moggridgea. I have no decent photographs of those unfortunately. I remember taking a photograph of the mygal that my father found with a 50mm standard lens on my 35mm SLR. I didn't have access to my father's macro lens so the spider is a tiny spec in the photo - useless for identification.

 

[RezonantVoid]

After searching for "mygalomorph kangaroo island" on google, only Moggridgea comes up in the results. Though surely, there must be some data on my mygalomorph spider as Ive seen a few of them around here over the last year or two. Oddly, Ive never seen them before over here and my family has been coming to this part of the island for many years.

A number of years ago, my father found a mygalomorph elsewhere on the island. And I also saw one in a burrow as well around the same area. So there's a fair chance that they were Moggridgea. I have no decent photographs of those unfortunately. I remember taking a photograph of the mygal that my father found with a 50mm standard lens on my 35mm SLR. I didn't have access to my father's macro lens so the spider is a tiny spec in the photo - useless for identification.

Of all these following 7 natives, which do you think is the closest visually to what you've found?

 

[Wolfram1]

Yea I took some photos a few days ago while it was still in my care. They're Raw files though I haven't processed them as yet. It would be good to ID this megalomorph.

this is getting so interesting, now i just have to see them XD

It's a small plastic container with low walls. Only meant to be temporary. But now, Ive just discovered that he's escaped. I had some thick paper covering the top with an air hole. A GoPro in it's underwater housing and a flash command trigger was placed over the thick paper (on either side of the air hole.) That flash command trigger is pretty light but even so, I didn't think that the spider would be strong enough to muscle it's way out.

regrettable that it escaped, they are much stronger than they appear