Stichoplastoris elusinus Info needed!

[Kat Maehl]

I have three Stichoplastoris elusinus. Two females and one male. Lucky dude.

I just bred one of the females with him, but realized that I can't find any info on the species...

Does anyone have any info!

 

[korg]

Just checked the World Spider Catalog because you got me curious. Never heard of this species before... they're essentially non-existent in the US hobby. They're native to the Valle Central of Costa Rica, as I'm sure you already know. Sounds like they're brown, medium sized terrestrial tarantulas, females live in burrows, males are out roaming early in the rainy season (right around now, actually). Not much more than that available in the scientific literature on the species. If you're raising and breeding them you're probably far and away the most qualified person here to be offering practical information, as opposed to asking for it... are these WC spiders? What size are they? Care to share some pictures?

 

[Philth]

You are from Costa Rica and don't know how to breed Costa Rican spiders lol? I don't think a American based board like this will help much. Although, I'm very interested in seeing pics of them , and habitat photo's and anything other from CR that you can share

Later, Tom

 

[Kat Maehl]

I'd be happy to explain.
Both my females were found within 5 feet of each other in deep burrows. On mild inclines.

My male looks completely different from what I'd have thought he'd look. But after looking it up with my friend @CoALovett.

Here are a couple photos of the females and the male.

The first 3 are my females, the 4th is my male.

 

[korg]

How did the pairing go? What's the size of the MM relative to the females? If you have any success you should write up a breeding report or follow up on this thread... It would probably be the first written account of mating this species. Like, ever.

 

[JoshDM020]

Can you say "sexual dimorphism"? At least i hope that's all it is. If its not, you may have a batch of hybrids

 

[Kat Maehl]

Can you say "sexual dimorphism"? At least i hope that's all it is. If its not, you may have a batch of hybrids

I'm not sure why hybridization is a bad thing.

Technically these two spiders were found a bit more than 50 feet apart, so if they mated, it's likely they'd have done it in the wild.
Besides I'm not really breeding them to add to the market, since, I'm in Costa Rica and that'd be freaking expensive to ship them to the states.
I'm likely, if I get a sack, to keep ten and release the rest.

 

[JoshDM020]

I'm not sure why hybridization is a bad thing.

Technically these two spiders were found a bit more than 50 feet apart, so if they mated, it's likely they'd have done it in the wild.
Besides I'm not really breeding them to add to the market, since, I'm in Costa Rica and that'd be freaking expensive to ship them to the states.
I'm likely, if I get a sack, to keep ten and release the rest.

Short answer: keeping tarantulas in captivity is a conservation effort of sorts. Keeps species from going extinct because of deforestation. Hybrids dont help save the species, they change two into a whole new one. A new species with unknown venom/natural habits. Would it burrow? Would it like trees? Itd take a while to figure out and would distract from the species that already exist. Also, different species will kill eachother 9/10 times if they get close enough to breed in the wild. Natural hybrids are extremely rare and risking releasing them into the wild is a little... risky, for lack of a better word (edit: irresponsible is a better word). They may not interact very well with other species at all and kill all of them.

 

[Kat Maehl]

I would like to point out these spiders were found less than 50 feet from each other. So I highly doubly theyre a different species.
However.

Tarantulas are a dime a dozen here. Yeah, I don't have any Pokies, or any cool giant ones. But all mine are wild caught. 6 in total now. So that's only after 3 weeks in the hobby.
Given that, and the fact that a single egg sac cannot destroy the whole country's tarantula population. I'll taken the risk. If only because I'm very curious what will come of them.

It is now my mission to breed a specific hybrid to look like the most amazing, drop dead goregous tarantula ever. It is my life's mission now.

 

[JoshDM020]

I would like to point out these spiders were found less than 50 feet from each other. So I highly doubly theyre a different species.
However.

Tarantulas are a dime a dozen here. Yeah, I don't have any Pokies, or any cool giant ones. But all mine are wild caught. 6 in total now. So that's only after 3 weeks in the hobby.
Given that, and the fact that a single egg sac cannot destroy the whole country's tarantula population. I'll taken the risk. If only because I'm very curious what will come of them.

It is now my mission to breed a specific hybrid to look like the most amazing, drop dead goregous tarantula ever. It is my life's mission now.

The whole country? Thats not what i was implying, and im sorry i was too vague. I was referring to your area. Theres no way to know how much of an impact a new species could have on a certain area. Also, I wasnt telling you to do/not to do anything as there is quite a bit of land stopping me from being able to make you do anything. I was simply trying to inform you of possible negative outcomes and why the majority of people do not like hybrids or breeders who produce them, as it was explained to me by people who have been in the hobby for multiple years, possibly a decade or more. However, you're going to do as you please so i wish you the best of luck and a good day!

 

[Kat Maehl]

Thank you for clarifying that. I'm sorry I was defensive. I've gotten bombarded the last day about this to the point of leaving a group.

I'll run it down very quickly for anyone who reads this benefit.

I don't have breeders at my fingertips like people in the states do.

I only have what I come across in the wild.

I also want to see what I can accomplish with regards to tarantulas.

Yesterday I was freaking ecstatic that my male got full insertion with my female, Celeste. I was over the moon!
I shared it with some people on a Facebook group and I got ripped a new asshole didn't make me feel like being a part of that community, and if my friend. Who's also on this site. Hadn't told me. "Kat, that's great! I'm really happy for you" I might have just gone into a depressed couple hours.

I'm not experienced like a lot of you guys, nor do I have the tools at my disposal to better further my hobby how most of the people who don't understand living in Costa Rica with one guy who breeds them is like.

So, I'm just explaining myself. Why? Because I still stupidly care too much about what people think.

Thank you again for clarifying. I wish you a good day as well!

 

[JoshDM020]

Thank you for clarifying that. I'm sorry I was defensive. I've gotten bombarded the last day about this to the point of leaving a group.

I'll run it down very quickly for anyone who reads this benefit.

I don't have breeders at my fingertips like people in the states do.

I only have what I come across in the wild.

I also want to see what I can accomplish with regards to tarantulas.

Yesterday I was freaking ecstatic that my male got full insertion with my female, Celeste. I was over the moon!
I shared it with some people on a Facebook group and I got ripped a new asshole didn't make me feel like being a part of that community, and if my friend. Who's also on this site. Hadn't told me. "Kat, that's great! I'm really happy for you" I might have just gone into a depressed couple hours.

I'm not experienced like a lot of you guys, nor do I have the tools at my disposal to better further my hobby how most of the people who don't understand living in Costa Rica with one guy who breeds them is like.

So, I'm just explaining myself. Why? Because I still stupidly care too much about what people think.

Thank you again for clarifying. I wish you a good day as well!

Im sorry that happened to you! Thats truly awful it wasnt my intention to do the same at all. But, from what ive learned, if you do produce hybrids, the best course of action is to either keep them or euthanize them for reasons ive already talked about. Its just the safest and least risky thing you could possibly do. Read this with the voice of someone who isnt angry, but just concerned for the safety of the hobby and your area. Anything could happen. But it sounds like youre pretty certain they are the same species so it should be fine. Especially seeing as you seem to have more info on this species than most of the people here probably do! Congrats on that, its most likely a pretty big deal

 

[Arachnomaniac19]

Short answer: keeping tarantulas in captivity is a conservation effort of sorts. Keeps species from going extinct because of deforestation. Hybrids dont help save the species, they change two into a whole new one. A new species with unknown venom/natural habits. Would it burrow? Would it like trees? Itd take a while to figure out and would distract from the species that already exist. Also, different species will kill eachother 9/10 times if they get close enough to breed in the wild. Natural hybrids are extremely rare and risking releasing them into the wild is a little... risky, for lack of a better word (edit: irresponsible is a better word). They may not interact very well with other species at all and kill all of them.

Long story short, conservationists don't use CB animals with ANY questionable genetic history (ie hobby animals) in conservation. This is due to the possibility of hybrids (looking at you Brachypelma spp.) and the possibility of inbreeding (literally most tarantula species in the hobby). Also, in regards to the natural hybridization, it is FAR more common than most people might think. This is likely due to our definitions of species (consider the avic revision), and that many different species are still incredibly closely related (take dogs, wolves, and coyotes). That's not to say go ahead and start making hybrids left and right. Just look at guppies with endler's livebearers, and carpet pythons with chandra pythons (possibly different species). It's almost impossible to find any pure specimens anymore. Although at the same time I disagree with killing hybrids just because they're hybrids, which many people seem to think is acceptable. Since these guys were found so close, it's pretty likely that they're the same species, or at least already a hybrid.

 

[JoshDM020]

Long story short, conservationists don't use CB animals with ANY questionable genetic history (ie hobby animals) in conservation. This is due to the possibility of hybrids (looking at you Brachypelma spp.) and the possibility of inbreeding (literally most tarantula species in the hobby). Also, in regards to the natural hybridization, it is FAR more common than most people might think. This is likely due to our definitions of species (consider the avic revision), and that many different species are still incredibly closely related (take dogs, wolves, and coyotes). That's not to say go ahead and start making hybrids left and right. Just look at guppies with endler's livebearers, and carpet pythons with chandra pythons (possibly different species). It's almost impossible to find any pure specimens anymore. Although at the same time I disagree with killing hybrids just because they're hybrids, which many people seem to think is acceptable. Since these guys were found so close, it's pretty likely that they're the same species, or at least already a hybrid.

Interesting! The way ive heard it discussed, natural hybridization isnt all that common, but what you said makes sense. To be fair, i wasnt trying to just imply that they were separate species, i was just informing based on what ive learned since getting involved on the risk of said (possible) hybridization. I agree that being so close does lead to the general conclusion that they're the same species, amd its a very pretty species indeed. Im actually a little jealous that there doesnt seem to be much access in the hobby world. The dimorphism alone is fascinating. Id almost say going through the paperwork and dropping the cash to ship internationally would be worth it. Almost.

 

[Arachnomaniac19]

Interesting! The way ive heard it discussed, natural hybridization isnt all that common, but what you said makes sense. To be fair, i wasnt trying to just imply that they were separate species, i was just informing based on what ive learned since getting involved on the risk of said (possible) hybridization. I agree that being so close does lead to the general conclusion that they're the same species, amd its a very pretty species indeed. Im actually a little jealous that there doesnt seem to be much access in the hobby world. The dimorphism alone is fascinating. Id almost say going through the paperwork and dropping the cash to ship internationally would be worth it. Almost.

Although they are beautiful, I highly doubt anyone would pay enough money to make the shipment worthwhile. They kind of look like a Pamphobeteus and Pseudhapalopus hybrid. Conspiracy confirmed?

 

[JoshDM020]

Conspiracy confirmed?

Hmmm... that sounds like a question for someone with experience in those genus.

 

[Philth]

I was also doubtful of the ID, I'm curious how or if the ID was confirmed @Kat Maehl

Later, Tom

 

[Kat Maehl]

I was also doubtful of the ID, I'm curious how or if the ID was confirmed @Kat Maehl

Later, Tom

The id has not been confirmed. We're assuming they're S. elusinus.

 

[Kat Maehl]

Interesting! The way ive heard it discussed, natural hybridization isnt all that common, but what you said makes sense. To be fair, i wasnt trying to just imply that they were separate species, i was just informing based on what ive learned since getting involved on the risk of said (possible) hybridization. I agree that being so close does lead to the general conclusion that they're the same species, amd its a very pretty species indeed. Im actually a little jealous that there doesnt seem to be much access in the hobby world. The dimorphism alone is fascinating. Id almost say going through the paperwork and dropping the cash to ship internationally would be worth it. Almost.

Well, if I did get slings, and anyone was interested. If they could help get that status I can ship em, if I got the means to ship em.

 

[Kat Maehl]

Here is the size comparison between the two.
Forgot I had it.