T. Apophysis (round 2)

[Greg Wolfe]

Took this photo today of my monster apophysis. She shed last month and scarfed down 11 superworms last Sunday so she is fattened up some.
David Richards (Knoxville Zoo) has been patient with me as I have his stud muffin male here. Round 2 this weekend David!! Then he's off to you!

 

[aaronrefalo]

had you mated her yet then?

and bdw whats the size of that monster?

Aaron

 

[BEN-V]

The Theraphosa on this picture is definitly not an apophysis... It' s a T. blondi. I' ve been keeping and breeding the two species for several years.

 

[Arachnoking]

I could be and probably am totaly wrong about this so please dont take offence but compared to my female T.apophysis that does look very heavy bodied in comparison therefore pointing towards T.blondi. Please can someone correct me if im wrong in saying that

 

[Greg Wolfe]

Apophysis/Blondi

Sorry to burst your bubble but this one is T. Apophysis. If she was a blondi then her boyfriend would have been consumed long ago.
To the untrained eye these two can appear similar.

 

[Arachnoking]

I didnt say she wasnt T.apophysis ;P but have u ever heard of spiders of different species within the same Genus hybridizing? for example Brachypelma vagans x Brachypelma albopilosum? the males have survived too.

Nice spider all the same :clap:

T.apophysis and T.blondi look totaly different

 

[Arachnoking]

Ii seriously doubt that is T.apophysis.

these pics say it all. There is a huge difference


Theraphosa apophysis

 

[Arachnoking]

Theraphosa blondi

 

[king7]

my first thought was it looks just like my blondi.

 

[David Richards]

OK, what is this, goliath or blondi

I would be interested in what everyone that has posted so far thinks this is just out of curiousity. dave

ps, i will tell you its identity later

 

[Arachnoking]

Looks very much like Theraphosa blondi to me. its certainly not T.apophysis.

I keep both species but hey,what do i know ???????? :?

 

[Steve Nunn]

Hi Greg,
Nice spider, which I believe could certainly be T.apophysis, a very large one, and secondly I'm lost as to how someone could write that species off opposed to T.blondi??? Particularly if you other guys are keeping them, you should know the only difference you might pick up from a photo is that T.apophysis are a little leggier, more obvious in younger specimens. Size is probably irrelevant otherwise, T.apophysis most likely get larger overall then T.blondi. Wild observations seem to confirm this (just ask the guys who spend time in their natural habitat )

So, I'm still left wondering, how do you guys differentiate the two??? Because to my untrained eye, this could and probably is T.apophysis,particularly if breeding is going off without a hitch, considering one species has tibial spurs, the other does not??? This I would imagine could be a big problem should the species get mixed up???

Hmmm,
Steve

 

[FryLock]

I can answer and give positive id's on all these spider's Steve , il just need to able to see there spermathecae ah oh yes have all the moult to check the leg measurements and relation factors (femur width is very important with these two so the T.apophysis paper says) .




Oh and can i have there brother's while im on .

 

[BEN-V]

you should know the only difference you might pick up from a photo is that T.apophysis are a little leggier, more obvious in younger specimens. Size is probably irrelevant otherwise, T.apophysis most likely get larger overall then T.blondi. Wild observations seem to confirm this (just ask the guys who spend time in their natural habitat )

So, I'm still left wondering, how do you guys differentiate the two???

I' ve been keeping and breeding the two species for several years, Steve. When you have seen lot of apophysis, they don' t look like blondi. Ultimate male and spiderling are very easy to differentiata. But female are so with a little practice.

- femurs are very different, particulary in legs 1 & 2
- prosoma is very more roundness in T. blondi
- Big specimens T. blondi have some pink streacks on the patella. These streaks are brown in T. apophysis
- hairs : they are slightly curly in T. blondi

Here is a picture :



BEN

 

[Anthony]

That is a excellent and informative photo comparison. Thank you

 

[metallica]

more info >>>here<<<

 

[FryLock]

more info >>>here<<<

Your to fast for me Eddy (Motorhead jk there ), the paper at GEA looks like it is gone sadly.

Small difference only a mm or two on femur width which we can see in Ben's pic's, but im still not 100% how easy that is judge without them side by side and both of same leg span? is that consent in all specimens? and at all age’s? (eh Steve ).

 

[Steve Nunn]

Hello Ben,
Thankyou for posting comparison of same sized specimens. I understand what you are saying, but I'm still curious as to how you rule this spider out?? It seems to have the thick legs, yes, it seems to have a rounded carapace, but do you understand ontogeny?? (there it is again Bill, familiar word) Have you seen old females of this species?? You are aware that the carapace broadens (along with leg width) in older specimens and how can you accurately age this spider?? I know and understand similar sized spiders of each species may be easier to define, as you showed, but there is no comparison here for you to refer to, other then what you know of the variation in older specimens. You said you have kept both species, how many adult female T.apophysis do you have?? Of those, how many exceed the size of your T.blondi??

Your points are applicable, don't get me wrong and I certainly don't mean any offense, (Tinter also pointed out leg variation, no?) but any guess based on images like this are totally unsupported IMO. Without viewing rellevant characters that are more stable in older specimens (IMO leg length/width and carapace measurements are not), one could easily argue that to say "without a doubt" or any other hard line approach may be a little presumptive.

Just my opinion
Steve

 

[arachnoking1234]

Sorry to burst your bubble but this one is T. Apophysis. If she was a blondi then her boyfriend would have been consumed long ago.
To the untrained eye these two can appear similar.

lets set them strait dude it have pink feet when you got it

 

[AfterTheAsylum]

Sorry to burst your bubble but this one is T. Apophysis. If she was a blondi then her boyfriend would have been consumed long ago.
To the untrained eye these two can appear similar.

That is very untrue. They can still hybridize. And anyone here who thinks they can tell the difference between the two sheerly by looking at a picture is overconfident and is jumping the gun. By the way, that male T. apophysis - isn't that Todd's?

D