What's Your Favorite Non-Tarantula Arachnid?

[Smokehound714]

Instead of picking a particular favorite, I'll categorize my favorites from each family..

Salticidae- One would think i'd say phidippus is my favorite genus, but actually, my favorite salticids are Habronattus. They're always so curious, i have several species of habro in my backyard: Pyrrithrix, californicus, and oregonensis are just three of several, and they're always easy to find. I'll often see dozens of them all basking on the hose in the afternoon. (great way to collect these btw) I always see them communicating and courting or fighting, and it's always comical to me, because while two are occupied, a third will just barge in on them. and then they all freak out and run away from each other. hahah

Lycosidae- Schizocosa are probably my favorite wolves.. They are masters of grappling, and the largest in the genus- Maxima, reaches impressive sizes, actually surpassing Hogna in size! I personally find them more attractive than hogna, as well.. the males have an amazing high-contrast pattern, and the females often have a beautiful sandstone color to them. I wish there was more data on this species in particular (virtually none), but they get enormous! http://bugguide.net/node/view/659503/bgimage http://bugguide.net/node/view/582285/bgimage

ill edit more in later..

 

[josh_r]

Dipluridae are my favorite above tarantulas and all other inverts right now. They are too cool and too unappreciated.

 

[paassatt]

I mentioned Macrothele of the previous page

Later, Tom

You sure did, Tom. I was viewing the thread through bourbon-tinted glasses when I posted that and missed your post completely.

 

[SeanSYW]

Geolycosa are pretty awesome, too bad there are none in Ontario.

 

[Sonny M]

Hello!

-Megaloremmius leo (Simon, 1903)

-Ctenidae (Keyserling, 1877)

-Eresidae (C. L. Koch, 1850)

 

[klawfran3]

Just to name a few...

Have you ever watched a dump truck lift the front of the bed and unload? It slowly raises to almost vertical and the dirt slides out. This third class lever system is powered by a pump that spins around, slowly building up pressure to a hydraulic cylinder. But suppose instead of a pump you had a reservoir of hydraulic fluid that could deliver the pressure almost instantly like squeezing a water balloon? Now think of not one but eight independent lever and pressure cylinder systems, each delivering the exact required pressure perfectly evenly through an incredibly sophisticated electronic control system which is in turn connected to a trajectory calculation computer with the result of being so accurate it's about equivalent to throwing a basketball through the hoop half a football field away. Salticids.

Run a computer program that draws a circumferential line around a series of radians in a gradually diminishing arc. Now add the flexibility into the program where if some of the radians are missing the program reverses the direction flawlessly, maintaining the precise spacing that would put Lobachevsky through his paces. Every orb weaver that has ever spun a web.

Randomly hurl a pile of cords around the room you are in. A few of them are sticky. A mess that isn't going to win any design awards in anybodies book. Now go sit and wait until the correct roast beef and mashed potatoes gets stuck to one of the sticky cords. Oh yes. Dial down your metabolism. All the way down. WAY down. The roast beef may not get delivered for a year or even longer, the time frame converted to human years, and you want to be in prime condition to eat it when it arrives. Cobweb weavers.

Ever seen someone run to give their frail old granny a hug? How about making that dash, accelerating faster than a 747 at take off speed. But that 747 achieved that speed in around 1/50th of a second or even faster. Now imagine it stopping, perfect and precise, without smacking into granny. Without even bumping her. Lynx and crab spiders.

The Lycosid that accepts remonstration from my other and placidly sits where she placed it out of the way... on her head. It sits perfectly still for nearly a half hour until I finally get the camera working and batteries installed. I turn, focus, aim and zoom, the spider is gone. Mental telepathy combined with a certain something that Machiavelli never even dreamed of.

that is the greatest thing i have ever read. thank you for that.

 

[windscorpions1]

Trapdoor spiders, easily my favorite arachnids. Cant go wrong with that ambush hunting style.

 

[persistent]

Salticids, Opiliones, Amblypygi

 

[Tongue Flicker]

I love those blue and black colored giant orb weavers the size of my hand that we natively have here living on line cables and eating sparrows. They spin uber tough webs that got my shoe stuck in mid-air at some point lol

 

[asiletto]

Salticidae, Sparassidae, Nephilas.

 

[The Spider Faery]

<----- The spider in my avatar, Peucetia viridans, first and foremost.

I also have a soft spot for Latrodectus bishopi (for their beauty), Viridasius sp. Madagascar (for their beauty and active lifestyle, lol, I mean they're fascinating to watch), and Pholcus phalangioides (because they're awkwardly clunky but have that unique defense mechanism of bouncing around in their web until they become a vibrating blur).

 

[Curious jay]

<----- The spider in my avatar, Peucetia viridans, first and foremost.

I also have a soft spot for Latrodectus bishopi (for their beauty), Viridasius sp. Madagascar (for their beauty and active lifestyle, lol, I mean they're fascinating to watch), and Pholcus phalangioides (because they're awkwardly clunky but have that unique defense mechanism of bouncing around in their web until they become a vibrating blur).

What are the Viridasius sp. Madagascar like to keep? See them for sale fairly often but never seen much about them, apart from a few clips on jon3800 YT.

 

[RedbackBreeder]

:d

[video=youtube;dUGtWw0nL80]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUGtWw0nL80[/video]

Redbacks!

 

[PlaidJaguar]

Those ornate harvestmen are pretty darn cool, but my favorite is definitely P. audax (bold jumping spider). They helped me overcome my arachnophobia, so I have a very personal attachment to them.

 

[TheFrankus]

I have two in my collection which i am more happy with than any other. My Tegenaria gigantea is the fastest girl in the world and great to look after but in terms of diverse behaviour it would have to be my Deinopis cornigera.

 

[pannaking22]

Hard to say. I've kept Tegenaria gigantea before and those were fun. My purseweb spider was a mean old girl, but she was entertaining to say the least. I have 3 Olios giganteus slings right now, but I got them not too long ago, so it's hard to say yet. Salticids are always fun to keep, so those are definitely high up on the list.

My favorite that I have right now though would have to be my Damon diadema. That's always up for change though, so who knows once I get some new non-tarantula arachnids

I could also say ticks, but those are what I study, so I think I have a bit of bias there

 

[The Spider Faery]

What are the Viridasius sp. Madagascar like to keep? See them for sale fairly often but never seen much about them, apart from a few clips on jon3800 YT.

They're amazing to keep. They're active, like I mentioned. They're not sit and wait predators like tarantulas...they actively stalk their food and pounce on it. They're absolutely gorgeous. I owned a female and she was 4 inches of black and white majesty. Yes, they get quite large for a true spider, but fishing spiders usually are on the larger side. I got mine as a subadult and had her for about 2.5 years, so they're long lived for a true spider. They're very fast, but adapt comfortably if you create a decent setup. I made mine semi-arboreal. She even gave me a few phantom egg sacs. What more could you ask for?

 

[Curious jay]

They're amazing to keep. They're active, like I mentioned. They're not sit and wait predators like tarantulas...they actively stalk their food and pounce on it. They're absolutely gorgeous. I owned a female and she was 4 inches of black and white majesty. Yes, they get quite large for a true spider, but fishing spiders usually are on the larger side. I got mine as a subadult and had her for about 2.5 years, so they're long lived for a true spider. They're very fast, but adapt comfortably if you create a decent setup. I made mine semi-arboreal. She even gave me a few phantom egg sacs. What more could you ask for?

2.5 years out of a SA.... Impressive. Was expecting a year or so at most (another reason I didn't want to pay for a WC adult).

Thanks for the info ill have to keep my eyes peeled.

 

[Darvid]

I didn't see this one on here yet but i gotta say my favourite are tailless whip spiders of all kinds

 

[MissSary]

Shelob is most likely a mutated giant bird eater. Lol. I love phiddipus audax and watching them up close. It's neat to know how they have the best sight for arachnids and can determine depth better than most humans. Mine can get a fly from anywhere in a five inch radius...in mid air (the fly tried to get away and backed into the jump of the spider). I also think they remind me of an old 80s coin bank called Robbie the Robot, in a cute way.