Phormictopus cancerides and Phormictopus auratus difference

[antinous]

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[Vanisher]

Goopyguy56 No as people said! It was not blue. The only speicies that are blue as slings are P cancerides and P atrichomatus i believe!? There may be other speicies that are blue as slings, but i think not?

 

[c.h.esteban]

none of cuban species have blue colored juveniles.

that´s why RUDLOFF states just for P. atrichomatus and P. cancerides,
"Besonderheiten: Die Jungtiere sind während der ersten Stadien tief blau gefärbt. / Particularities: The juveniles are colored deep blue during the first stages." (RUDLOFF, 2008).

another greater difference between the species from Cuba and Hispaniola is the shape of spermathecae.
the species from Hispaniola have a more triangular shape.
the species from Cuba have receptaculas with a distal constriction and a more circular tip.

 

[Goopyguy56]

Well i guess i probably have a cancerides cus it looked bluish as a sling.

 

[Goopyguy56]

Thanks for the link. Very interesting stuff!

I noticed in reading the paper that it specifically mentioned P. cubensis as having brown and not blue spiderlings, but the part where it mentions this for other Cuban Phormictopus is ambiguous... it basically says other Cuban Phormictopus have brown slings, not necessarily that ALL Cuban Phormictopus do? And the brown sling color isn't mentioned in the P. auratus section. Apologies for my ignorance if this is already a known fact, but I'm certainly curious given that I purchased my first ever Phormictopus a few months ago from a reputable dealer and it now looks like this:

Hopefully someone who has raised P. auratus slings will weigh in!

I bet we probably purchased from the same dealer. My supposed p auratus looks similar to yours. I guess time will truly tell

 

[Vanisher]

I know there are speicies of the genus on South american mainland like Phormictopus australis and Phormictopus brailiensis. Dont know the revision of those speicies though? What shape of spermatheca does those have?
It would be nice if some knollaged person would put up a list of Phormictopus speicies, where they live and such!

 

[Olan]

Thanks for the link. Very interesting stuff!

I noticed in reading the paper that it specifically mentioned P. cubensis as having brown and not blue spiderlings, but the part where it mentions this for other Cuban Phormictopus is ambiguous... it basically says other Cuban Phormictopus have brown slings, not necessarily that ALL Cuban Phormictopus do? And the brown sling color isn't mentioned in the P. auratus section. Apologies for my ignorance if this is already a known fact, but I'm certainly curious given that I purchased my first ever Phormictopus a few months ago from a reputable dealer and it now looks like this:

Hopefully someone who has raised P. auratus slings will weigh in!

Yeah, my auratus was never really blue as a sling:

Maybe a slight bluish tinge on the legs and abdomen, but it’s carapace was always brown, with increasing gold highlights each molt.

 

[LV-426]

Here are my two girls (old pics). In my experience the P. cancerides is a bit bigger and more defensive than auratus.

 

[MikeyD]

It can help a lot to investigate the etymology of species names too. Auratus means gold/golden. The etymology of cancerides is a bit more interesting. In Latin Cancer is the word for crab and the suffix ides means son of or descendant of, so the species names cancerides means son of the crab? Or allied to the family/tribe/group of the crabs? And that is in the etymological sense and not the taxonomical sense.

 

[Goopyguy56]

Well i dont think I am going to be able to get a shot of mine anytime soon. Too shy for now. If it molts and is blue i will assume it isnt auratus

 

[Goopyguy56]

Either way I wanted a phormictopus and will buy more in the future. I was looking for a large terrestrial with a mean streak thats easy to take care of

 

[korg]

none of cuban species have blue colored juveniles.

Yeah, my auratus was never really blue as a sling

Appreciate the additional comments... sounds like I may not have P. auratus, then. Frustrating to not get what you're expecting, but it happens sometimes. I'll keep an eye on how its color develops with time.

 

[LV-426]

P. auratus
P. cancerides

 

[Goopyguy56]

Well i loved reading the bts article. In some ways it has made me more nervous about purchasing phormics. There also more fascinating to me because of the muddy identifications. They are seriously under appreciated. If reputable dealers cant get id's right, what hope is there for the rest of us. At the same time it is intriguing to think about the number of unclassified species circulating in the hobby.

 

[Vanisher]

Well i loved reading the bts article. In some ways it has made me more nervous about purchasing phormics. There also more fascinating to me because of the muddy identifications. They are seriously under appreciated. If reputable dealers cant get id's right, what hope is there for the rest of us. At the same time it is intriguing to think about the number of unclassified species circulating in the hobby.

What article are you referring to?

 

[Goopyguy56]

What article are you referring to?

http://www.macilacispiders.hu/wp-co...TS_journal_31_2-only-phormictopus-article.pdf

 

[Vanisher]

http://www.macilacispiders.hu/wp-co...TS_journal_31_2-only-phormictopus-article.pdf

Aha! Yes, intresting article

 

[antinous]

Here are my two girls (old pics). In my experience the P. cancerides is a bit bigger and more defensive than auratus. View attachment 299020 View attachment 299019

Question, regarding your auratus, how larger is your auratus and what size was it when it started to gain the ‘gold sheen’?

 

[LV-426]

Question, regarding your auratus, how larger is your auratus and what size was it when it started to gain the ‘gold sheen’?

When I got her about 7-8 years ago she was already around 3in and had the gold already if I remember correctly.

 

[Goopyguy56]

Well I just ordered a few more auratus from a different dealer. I also purchased 2 sp south hispaniola. Lets hope these are true auratus this time.