White Lady Spider!

Tarantula_Tamer

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 23, 2011
Messages
83
So, today i just so happened to get ahold of what looks like a "white lady spider" (leucorchestris arenicola)? I'm not exactly an expert on true spiders..

I was told that the spider was brought in from Africa or the Middle East, and that the people had no clue what it was... So i bought it.

I'll post better pics ASAP.

whitelady.jpg
 

Ciphor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Messages
1,640
It is definitely a white lady spider, but which one...

Could be: Leucorchestris arenicola (white lady spider)
Or could be: Carparachne aureoflava (white lady spider, wheel spider)

I think the easiest way to tell the two apart are the hairs. I believe, but not 100% certain, that L. arenicola has white hairs on legs, while C. aureoflava has black hairs.

I think the eye arrangement looks more like L. arenicola too.

---------- Post added 05-25-2012 at 01:06 PM ----------

Here is a reference if you would like to compare. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/211/5/816.figures-only

The anterior eye row on your spider looks procurved instead of recurved, which makes it not looks like L. arenicola however, I have a feeling that is the camera playing tricks.

You can get a much better look yourself then I ever could from a photo.

Hope that link helps confirm!
 

Tarantula_Tamer

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 23, 2011
Messages
83
---------- Post added 05-25-2012 at 11:26 AM ----------

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It is definitely a white lady spider, but which one...

Could be: Leucorchestris arenicola (white lady spider)
Or could be: Carparachne aureoflava (white lady spider, wheel spider)

I think the easiest way to tell the two apart are the hairs. I believe, but not 100% certain, that L. arenicola has white hairs on legs, while C. aureoflava has black hairs.

I think the eye arrangement looks more like L. arenicola too.

---------- Post added 05-25-2012 at 01:06 PM ----------

Here is a reference if you would like to compare. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/211/5/816.figures-only

The anterior eye row on your spider looks procurved instead of recurved, which makes it not looks like L. arenicola however, I have a feeling that is the camera playing tricks.

You can get a much better look yourself then I ever could from a photo.

Hope that link helps confirm!

Thanks for the info! When i get home from work i'll take a closer look. I wondered the same thing but didn't see much on Carparachne aureoflava, so figured it may be a dead latin name, or inaccurate.

Hopefully i can get some better pictures soon, also.
 

Ciphor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Messages
1,640
Carparachne & Leucorchestris are both found in Namibia. They are pretty closely related and are known as the lady spiders of Namibia. There are quite a few unique species of huntsman in Namibia. I wouldn't mind going there some day :)
 

Entomancer

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Messages
351
Wow, nice!

How did you manage to get one of these?

Did you get one from somebody that somehow imported them or brought one back?
 

Tarantula_Hawk

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
445
Just wanna point out thats not either of the "white lady spiders".
It's a Sparassidae of the genus Cerbalus, a genus distributed Northern Africa and the Middle East. They are occasionally found in the hobby, as opposed to the the namibian ones which i have never seen anywhere. :)
 

Ciphor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Messages
1,640
Just wanna point out thats not either of the "white lady spiders".
It's a Sparassidae of the genus Cerbalus, a genus distributed Northern Africa and the Middle East. They are occasionally found in the hobby, as opposed to the the namibian ones which i have never seen anywhere. :)
Ya theres that one too, good catch, didn't even remember that guy.

When looking at the morphology & eye arrangment, I'm curious how you ruled out these two genera, especially Leucorchestris as that eye arrangement looks like a very close match, as does the morphology. (AME's larger then ALE's, Posterior eyes evenly distributed & slightly procurved.)

I honestly cannot say for sure which species it is, or is not. Not enough research available to me.

I'm still about 90% certain that the setae color are diagnostic to one of the genera.

You know after reading tho, that faint abdominal strip might be diagnostic too.
 

Tarantula_Hawk

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
445
Without having to go in smaller less noticeable feature, overall coloration is actually diagnostic of the genus Cerbalus.
Both Carparachne and Leucorchestris are completely white. The first one has a more "ghost like/transparent" coloration with a slight golden/yellowish tone. The second one has a more true and distinct white coloration. However, both of them are homogeneous througout the whole body.
Here are some valid pictures of these two species:
C. aureoflava
http://www.visualphotos.com/photo/1...parachne_aureoflava_eating_a_namib_510560.jpg
http://www.inado.de/2010/images/living_desert_6617_800.jpg

L. arenicola
http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/373698/530wm/Z4300609-Dancing_white_lady_spider-SPL.jpg
http://content62.eol.org/content/2011/11/01/18/15812_580_360.jpg

Cerbalus, on the other hand, is different and appears heterogeneous in terms of its coloration. Typical are the distinctively dark patella and chelicerae. The prosoma is white while opistosoma and legs appear more cream colored. Also, the cardiac mark is generally more noticeable. The cephalic region appears less "squared off" and rounder compared to that of L. arenicola, and therefore the disposition of the eye rows is slightly different. These features are noticeable in this specimen.
Here are several pictures:
http://www.naturamediterraneo.com/Public/data6/amir/Cerbalus-1aa.jpg_200825152347_Cerbalus-1aa.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t306/arachnoporium/Cerbalus-hand-1-800.gif
http://www.firstnews.co.uk/site_data/images/cerbalus_aravensis_4b7afdaf33a40.jpg
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?111187-Leucorchestris-arenicola-and-Sicarius-terrosus (this is an example of a mistaken ID :))

The Nambian species basically do not exist in the european truespider pet trade, and as such I strongly believe they could appear in US one. They are extremely inaccessible compared to Cerbalus.They are endemic to Namibia where they additionally have a quite limited distribution.
Cerbalus species, while still being rare, have been around the trade for several years now. This is probably due to their geographic distribution (N. Africa and Middle East) which makes them much easier to obtain. It is also coherent to what the seller of the specimen told the OT. Specimens of this genus sold in the pet trade are more often than not mistakenly id'ed as one of the two namibian species, and are often just labeled as "White Lady Spider" (something which probably attracts more buyers).

Hope all of this helped.


PS: I apologize if I sounded rude in my previous post. :)
 

Ciphor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Messages
1,640
TH,

Zero offense taken in the face of facts (u were polite anyway), and very appreciative of the images and explanations, as I am certain the OP is as well.

Looks like I was misinformed on the setae too. Had one part right! "White" lol.

Thanks for clearing all the BS up! (mostly from me lol)
 

EXOPET

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 19, 2009
Messages
127
If I remember correctly Peter Grabowitz had Cerbalus last year, lovely looking spiders
 
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