Yet another spider identification thread...this one eats other spiders.

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
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No, nothing other than he's received the male and female specimens I sent him.
 

dr.salticid

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I have received and examined specimens of this find, and can confirm that the species is indeed Cithaeron praedonius, and the first record for North America. Thanks to Tarantula Hawk for the lead. We'll be putting out a full report soon. Incidentally, the eggsac sent to me hatched, with 15 spiderlings.
 
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revilo

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hallo,

:clap:

this really was exciting to me - thanks to all and specially to "dr. salticid" !

bye, oli
 

Silberrücken

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Wow, this is incredible!

I must say, this thread probably was the most exciting I have seen yet!

Congrats, xhexdx, on this amazing find! Keen eyes you have, and thanks to your interest and sharing with us here, we learned something new and exciting! :D

I have followed this thread with avid interest, as I am unfamiliar with this species. Quite fascinating all around!

TH, dr. salticid, and everyone... thank you so much for helping with this-great work!!!! :worship:

to xhexdx- out of curiousity, are you keeping a record for this? For example, prey preferrence, habits, etc.? Just curious... :? Compliments for the great pics, too! :D

Fascinating...

S.
 

xhexdx

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It was really great that Dr. Edwards was able to take a look into this for us, and I was quite fortunate to be able to get two live specimens to him for analysis.

Silberrücken - Dr. Edwards has a pretty good record of collection dates that I provided him, and they're also in a .pdf that he and his colleagues put together and e-mailed to me regarding this new record.

Dr. Edwards is going to be (hopefully) swinging by this coming Wednesday, so we'll see if we can find any more of these guys while he's here.

:D

Incidentally, the eggsac sent to me hatched, with 15 spiderlings.
That's great news!

So the next question...do we actually know if this species' primary food source is other spiders?
 

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
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Dr. Edwards was here yesterday, and we collected several more specimens, as well as several other species of spider.

It was a fun afternoon. :)

Still waiting to hear anyone's thoughts on their primary food source.
 

John Koerner

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Hey Joe;

Here are the photos of your Cithaeron praedonius that you asked me about:



Female (w/ motling web)



Male



Male (close-up of eyes)​


Hope this helps!

Jack




.
 

Venom

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Amazing! Congratulations to everyone involved. Original research from the AB crew is always great to see! :D
 

The Snark

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Anyone else notice that the environs of sp. xhexdxx is up to it's eyeballs in arachs? A chance latro in the garage?

Anyway, congrats and a fascinating report!
 

Tarantula_Hawk

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Ahh i had missed these last updates. Thanks for sharing the work (i'm glad i was mentioned). :)
 

lunashimmer

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That is awesome, Joe! And neat that the other contributors were mentioned in the article, too.

We've caught a couple of similar-looking spiders a few days apart here in Tallahassee in our house too. One I let go immediately outside, and the other I kept for a few hours in a deli cup, and it had very similar markings on the abdomen as the female in your pics, Joe. After I was done studying it, I let it go outside. It's either lived happily and possibly found its mate or become food for one of the many Mediterranean house geckos we have around here.

Did Dr. Edwards think the only thing possible for their introduction here in FL would be the crickets you buy or the Repticons? I just have to think that the way we as a society travel and ship merchandise globally would be a possible mode of transport for all kinds of critters.
 

xhexdx

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Amy,

I think Dr. Edwards thinks of those two options (crickets and Repticon) as the most likely methods for introduction. As you mentioned, there are certainly other ways they could have arrived here.

Next time you collect one of those spiders, please record the date and where it was collected, and try to get some decent pictures of it. :)

Here's another, much smaller, article:

http://www.freshfromflorida.com/pi/enpp/triology/5002/triology_5002_entomology.html#Cithaeron
 

Shrike

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This is a great thread with some really excellent results. Congratulations Joe. Software engineer? I think you might have missed your calling.
 

Oreo

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Very cool! Looks like you had a lot of fun in the process. Also, fantastic photos John. :)
 
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