phormictopus cubensis, auratus or platus???

[Dreamslave]

So to me they all look very similar, which one is it: phormictopus cubensis, platus or auratus???

 

[Dreamslave]

No one has an answer??? wow

 

[GoTerps]

I will rule out P. platus right away.

Nothing in the hobby can rightly be called P. platus.

According to Rudloff's revision, no living material of P. platus has ever been examined. The holotype and paratype are both subadult males. The female of whatever these specimens are is unknown. Even the original collection locale of the male types is questionable.

Rudloff does mention that this species is probably very close to P. auratus, based on the immature males in alcohol only.

P. cubensis (the real one, not what may have been sold as such in the hoby) just doesn't look like this spider... and I'm not sure the real one has ever been in the hobby.

If I had to guess, based on your pictures alone, I would guess P. auratus.

This spider has been sold as all 3 of these species in hobby.... so when you said "to me they all look very similar", that may be due to you looking at differently labeled examples of the same species.

Hope this has helped.

Eric

 

[Dreamslave]

Wow awesome thanks for the info!

 

[rejected1]

I've seen my aquaintance having one of P. Auratus that looks like that, if I recalled correctly. I'd guess P Auratus then.

 

[Bill S]

P. cubensis (the real one, not what may have been sold as such in the hoby) just doesn't look like this spider... and I'm not sure the real one has ever been in the hobby.

Dredging up an old thread here - but what species is being passed off in the hobby as P. cubensis? The reason I'm asking is that someone today told me he could get P. cubensis for me. If this is likely to be P. cancerides - I won't waste my time. If it's likely to be something interestig but misidentified - I might take a chance.

In another thread there was discussion as to whether Phormictopus sp "purple" could really be called "Cuban Purple". While I've gotten different answers to that, nobody has been able to provide convincing evidence linking it to Cuba, or provide solid information on where it might actually have originated. Still - it's a pretty enough animal that I decided to get a couple anyway and try to key them out when they get older. I'm now curious as to whether I should take the same approach with the alleged "cubensis".

 

[metallica]

the whole Phormictopus revision can be found on the homepage of J-P Rudloff:

http://www.entomo-praeparation.de/Rubriken/Projekte/Mygalomorphae/Phormictopus/cubensis.html

 

[Bill S]

the whole Phormictopus revision can be found on the homepage of J-P Rudloff:

Excellent! Thanks for posting the link. That will be helpful in the future.

In the meantime - since I do not have access to adult specimens of the species being sold as either Phormictopus sp "purple" or Phormictopus cubensis - does anyone know what species are being sold under those names?

 

[GoTerps]

Phormictopus sp "purple" or Phormictopus cubensis - does anyone know what species are being sold under those names?

For the purple species, go look at the Genus Phormictopus thread, and look for every spider that's, well, purple. There are a lot of them in that thread.
Also, CLICK HERE.

Over the years, "Hatian browns" have been a very common WC spider to buy cheap here in the states. Often times they are the "normal" looking P. cancerides. Other times they are this purple spider. Both spiders have been exported together and all sold as P. cancerides. The purple ones have also been sold as P. atrichomatus, P. sp. "purple", and (before Rudloff cleaned up the genus and did away the subspecies) some of the previously listed subspecies of P. cancerides. At the end of the Genus Phormictopus thread, you will see some discussion between myself and another user about this speces. This other user mentions that he spoke with Rudloff, who told him the "purple" spiders are simply a form of P. cancerides. I respectfully still disagree with this, but without more solid information to contribute, I am not going to argue about it anymore online. Regardless, they are very pretty spiders

In another thread there was discussion as to whether Phormictopus sp "purple" could really be called "Cuban Purple". While I've gotten different answers to that, nobody has been able to provide convincing evidence linking it to Cuba, or provide solid information on where it might actually have originated.

Our hobby sp. "purple" is not from Cuba. It's from Hispaniola.

Now, could there be a big purple spider on Cuba?... sure. In our PM's we discussed the person I would address questions to regarding the Cuban theraphosids. I don't know how receptive he'll be to answering them right now, but he'd be the person I would try and speak with.

Dredging up an old thread here - but what species is being passed off in the hobby as P. cubensis?

I'm not sure. They're may be real P. cubensis around the hobby somewhere, I don't know. I hope there are. However, the few times someone has showed me a spider they bought as P. cubensis, the spider has looked VERY different from the spider pictured in Rudloff's revision. Different enough that (even based solely on a photo) it would be hard to believe it to be P. cubensis. I'd encourage you to get some of the spiders and try and key them out!

Eric

PS... in addition to Rudloff's revision which was linked to in an above post, another valuable resource of information regarding Phormictopus can be found on Radan Kaderka's webpage...CLICK HERE.

 

[Bill S]

Our hobby sp. "purple" is not from Cuba. It's from Hispaniola.

Now, could there be a big purple spider on Cuba?... sure. In our PM's we discussed the person I would address questions to regarding the Cuban theraphosids. I don't know how receptive he'll be to answering them right now, but he'd be the person I would try and speak with.

One of the sources you had given me showed some "purple-ish" Phormictopus from Cuba, but nothing like the pictures I've seen of the "P. sp Purple". Several people have assured me that the hobby Purple was from Cuba, but were not able to tell me how they knew this or provide any supportive information. I figure the best thing to do is raise a couple and key them out. It's at least a good excuse to get some pretty tarantulas.

I'm not sure. They're may be real P. cubensis around the hobby somewhere, I don't know. I hope there are. However, the few times someone has showed me a spider they bought as P. cubensis, the spider has looked VERY different from the spider pictured in Rudloff's revision. Different enough that (even based solely on a photo) it would be hard to believe it to be P. cubensis. I'd encourage you to get some of the spiders and try and key them out!

I agree. As if I really needed more excuses to get more tarantulas....

PS... in addition to Rudloff's revision which was linked to in an above post, another valuable resource of information regarding Phormictopus can be found on Radan Kaderka's webpage...CLICK HERE.

I've bookmarked both references - they are great. Thanks.

 

[GoTerps]

Hi Bill,

Several people have assured me that the hobby Purple was from Cuba, but were not able to tell me how they knew this or provide any supportive information.

Ha! Go figure. Maybe I can coax these "people" to post in this thread? :liar:

Remember, this is not a "new" species in the hobby. For years you could buy these purple babies for $5 as P. cancerides. You can likely find a WC adult somewhere for half the price of these "new" sp. purple.

Eric

 

[Bill S]

Ha! Go figure. Maybe I can coax these "people" to post in this thread? :liar:

One was an importer who sells tarantulas, another was on a Spanish-language discussion board and may not speak English. The one who posted on the Spanish site lives, I believe, in Mexico, and I get the impression the hobby resources are much more limited there. The poster stated that the species was certainly from Cuba - but offered no reason why they believed this.

The importer/dealer does post here - I'll leave it to him to step forward and join the discussion. This is the same person who said he can get P. cubensis. I suspect he is just going by what the people he buys from tell him, but getting further clarification would be nice.

In any case - first hand experience and observation is probably required at this point. So I'm volunteering to get a few specimens and check them out myself. The worst that will happen is that I'll end up with some pretty but misidentified tarantulas. And maybe one of these days I'll get down to the island and take a serious look at the native tarantulas.

 

[Bill S]

In case anyone is interested in checking out the Spanish forum - here's a link to the forum:
http://www.fororeptiles.org/foros/forumdisplay.php?f=19

And here's a link to the Phormictopus sp "purple" discussion:
http://www.fororeptiles.org/foros/showthread.php?t=40400