World Reptile: Arachnid

Showing posts with label Arachnid. Show all posts

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Seven Fun Facts About Spiders

Seven Fun Facts About Spiders
By Hong Brandon

A lot of people fear spiders because some of them are poisonous. Other people fear the thought of being bitten. Let's explore spiders in general and give you some facts about common spiders.

Though spiders have simple eyes, they usually are not well developed. Instead, spiders use vibrations, which they can sense on the surface of their web. The tiny bristles distributed all over a spider's body surface, are actually sensitive tactile receptors. These bristles are sensitive to a variety of stimuli including touch, vibration, and airflow.

Spiders are arthropods, so their skeletal system of their body is the outermost layer. The hard exoskeleton helps the spider maintain moisture and not dry out. The bristles are not hair, but actually part of their exoskeleton.

The word spider is from an Old English verb spinnan, meaning "to spin." Web weavers use the tiny claws at the base of each leg, in addition to their notched hairs, to walk on their webs without sticking to them.

Spiders digest their food outside their body. After the prey is captured, spiders release digestive enzymes from their intestinal tract and cover the insect. These enzymes break down the body, which allows the spider suck up the liquid prey.

The feared tarantula isn't poisonous. A tarantula's bite can be painful, but it isn't any more dangerous than a bee sting.

A Daddy-long-legs isn't a spider, though it looks a lot like one. It doesn't have a waist between its front body part and its abdomen. Its legs are longer and thinner than a spider's, and it carries its body hung low.

Under a spider's abdomen, near the rear, are tiny stubs called spinnerets. The spider uses its legs to pull liquid silk made in its abdomen from the spinnerets. The silk hardens as it stretches. Since silk is made out of protein, a spider eats the used silk of an old web before spinning a new one.

Not all spiders spin webs, but many use silk in other ways. Some protect their eggs in silken egg sacs. The Wolf Spider carries her egg sac attached to her spinnerets. Many tarantulas line their burrows with silk. Some trap-door spiders make silken lids for their burrows.

On an American one-dollar bill, there is an owl in the upper left-hand corner of the "1" encased in the "shield" and a spider hidden in the front upper right-hand corner. Most spiders belong to the orb weaver spider family, Family Aranidae. This is pronounced "A Rainy Day."

A strand from the web of a golden spider is as strong as a steel wire of the same size. In the 1960s, animal behavior researchers studied the effects of various substances on spiders.

When spiders were fed flies that had been injected with caffeine, they spun very "nervous" webs. When spiders ate flies injected with LSD, they spun webs with wild, abstract patterns. Spiders that were given sedatives fell asleep before completing their webs.

Cure your fear about spiders. Overcome arachnophobia and other fears with our proven anxiety and fear management methods and techniques. Fast and safe. http://www.overcomefearofspiders.info/blog

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hong_Brandon

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Breeding Pterinochilus murinus

Breeding Pterinochilus murinus

By Michal Toran

This defensive spider Pterinochilus murinus Pocock, 1897 is native to Africa (Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzany, Uganda and Zambia). It belongs to the subfamily Harpactiriinae and its fundamental coulouring is auburn, but it can be also foxy, as far as grizzly and, that is to say, pretty variable in colouration. Body size can be up to 7 cm, but I think, that in captivity, females can get this size only rarely. Males are generally smaller.

I bought a female, which is the main participant in this stage, as a spiderling after two moults from a breeder from Brno on 25 July 1998. I initially placed the spiderling into a plastic box 8 cm high where it fed willingly, food mainly composed of micro-crickets. Sometimes the spider was offered some shredded meal worm, but crickets predominated as prey. The container was sprayed sligthly every day. The spiderling spinned a small nest in the top part of the container and then another moult followed on 13 September 1998, 13 December 1998 and 7 February 1999. After this fifth moult, the spider lost his right leg iv, due to my careless manipulation, when I pinched his leg by a top of box. However, as future development showed, today this leg has re-grown and is indistinguishable from the other legs. Further moults followed on 18 July 1999 and 5 August 1999 - after this moult, I determined the sex as female and placed the spider into an all-glass terrarium with dimension 25 x 25 x 30 cm (length x high x width). I used about 5 cm of substrate, which had high-quality at that time, as a flooring. The back wall was created by sanded polystyrene and I placed two bigger pieces of branch from a fruit tree into the terrarium (I think it was from a plum tree). Further I put a shallow water dish and the spider immediately started to nestle in the terrarium. Next moults: 18 September 1999, 10 January 2000, 22 February 2000, 3 July 2000, 24 January 2001, 13 June 2001 and finally the last one on 20 April 2002. At that time, the female was already nestled in her terrarium. Her body size was about 6 cm and after this exuviation, I started to look for a male.

I got hold of an older male and I put him into the female's terrarium at 21:35 on 9 April 2002. but the male didn't even respond to the courtship of the female and so he was soon killed. On 20 July 2002, I acquired another male. He was young (adult from 5 July 2002), but abnormally small. He built a sperm-web during the evening hours on 18 July 2002 so I placed him into the female's terrarium at 22:50 on 21 July 2002. The female drummed excessively on her web and she is vibrating in courtship. This lasted approximately 10 minutes. However, the male was afraid of the female and was flinching from the female all the time (she was actively chasing him). The male climbed up the wall of the terrarium, from which he fell, and the female killed him. On 5 August 2002, I again bought an older male from my colleague Karel Chwistek. The male was very active, although he was advanced in years. On 13 August 2002, I placed the male into the female's container during the evening hours. The female visibly wanted to mate, but the male was apathetic and he didn't answer to the females advances. The female didn't try to attack the male this time. I took him out from the terrarium. Another attempt was made with the same male on 18 September 2002 and this time the courtship lasted approximately 45 minutes, during which both participants were vibrating and drumming loudly. The male was evidently afraid, as though he was keeping his distance from actual mating. Nevertheless, the male was courting, the female was drumming and stood in a position to allow the male to push his embolus into her epigynum. The male tried to do this during the courtship three times eventually succeeding the fourth time, pushing his embolus into the female's genital opening. At that moment, both of them remained in the entry to female's nest, in a very disadvantageous position for the male. The female started to expel him from the nest and afterwards, she attacked and bit the male. I left him for her as her last meal, because at that time, I was persuaded that this pairing was successful.

On 14 October 2002, I managed to identify the eggsac for a certainty, which the female classically nestled in her retreat. I tried not to disturb the female, because she responded to every small interruption and she immediately took a defensive posture in such a way that she nearly overturned. Also when I disturbed her a little, she hit with her front legs to the ground. At that time, the female spent most of her time in contact with her eggsac. On 23 November 2002, I saw that mites were starting to appear around the sac and that they were moving close to the female. I therefore enticed the female away using A wooden stick in the corner of terrarium, and meanwhile took the eggsac away. There were about 150 nymphs in the second stage of development inside the sac with an average size of 3 cm. I placed the sac with the nymphs into a plastic box and I used damped cotton wool as flooring. I gave two smaller pinkie mice to the female after a few days of rest and she relished both of them. The nymphs were quite large and on 3 December 2002, they started to darken notably. On 11 December 2002, they went through their first moult. After about 10 days, I tried to feed the spiderlings for the first time. Some of them took pre-killed crickets and meal worms. On 20 January, the spiderlings moulted for the second time. I placed about 30 spiderlings separately into film pots and left the rest together. Pterinochilus murinus spiderlings can be left together for a long time, because they are not agressive with one another at all. I plan to leave them together until their fifth moult.

Author: Michal Toran, arachnomania@seznam.cz , www.arachnomania.com

Literature used: František Kovarík, Sklípkani, Madagaskar, Jihlava 1998.

www.giantspiders.com

Breeding attempt of Brachypelma smithi

Breeding attempt of Brachypelma smithi

By Michal Toran

Brachypelma smithi (Cambridge, 1897) is one of the most attractive and most beautiful species of tarantula. Its native country is Mexico and, in the past, the areas of habitation of this species have been fairly plundered (all the more reason to breed them at home). I think that any detailed descriptions of this kind would be a waste of time because an overwhelming majority of breeders know B. smithi very well.

I managed to find an older, fresh mature male (which had already successfully mated 3 times) after two months after our female's last moult. On 13 March 2004, I placed the male into a plastic perforated box and put him into the female's terrarium during evening hours, at about 6 pm. Nothing important happened during the first moments, the female stood on the box and at first she didn't emit any signals, which could show evidence of her appetite to mating. The male was vibrating and courting for a while, however, he didn't drum. After one hour, I let the male out from his box. The female went towards him very carefully, the male was still vibrating and he was also approaching. The female moved towards the male and he pushed her up carefully with his tibial hooks. However, he didn't reach the female's genital opening with his bulbs in this position and so we had to help the female by pushing her abdomen over to the male. Afterwards, the male successfully pushed his left embolus into the female's genital opening four times. After the end of this act, the female started to go out of this position but she behaved calmly. The male was caught and put back into his own terrarium. The day after, the male re-charged his palps in his terrarium during the afternoon hours. On 16 March 2004, the male was again let into the female's terrarium. As nothing was happening and both participants were apathetic, I was forced to separate them. I again placed the male into the female's terrarium in the evening on 17 March. This time she responded very quickly to the male. However, this time the male was scared of her although he tried to hold her up with his tibial hooks several times. The female was calm during this act, sometimes she even raised her front legs but the male didn't manage to pair with her. And so they were again separated. Then I returned the male to its original keeper. There was no choice but to wait. The female was fed a middle-sized pinkie mouse after mating and her behaviour was not unusual.

May 2005: nothing strange occured to the female. I kept the terrarium slightly humid. Temperature is always about 25oC, at times about 28oC (a heating stone is in a nearby terrarium). The female is darker, she still stays on the top of her hiding place and sometimes she eats a large cricket.

June 2005: the female starts to darken on her abdomen. Unfortunately, everything indicates that the mating didn't turn out well. If the female moults, I will try to repeat the pairing and breeding.

Author: Michal Toran, arachnomania@seznam.cz , www.arachnomania.com

Literature used: František Kovarík, Sklípkani, Madagaskar Jihlava, 1998

www.giantspiders.com

Infertile eggsac of Haplopelma lividum

Infertile eggsac of Haplopelma lividum

by Michal Toran

Haplopelma lividum Smith,1996 is a beautiful tarantula species that is native to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Burma. It occupies tropical rain forests in its native country where it builds hiding places in root systems.

Colouring: the abdomen and carapace are brown with thin lines, the legs are cobalt blue with reddish little hairs on the inside of the femur. The male is brown-purple, the abdomen is brightly brown and mature specimens posses tibial hooks. The female body size can be about 5 cm in length.

I keep my female in a terrarium 20 x 25x 30 cm (width x high x length). I placed a layer of 6-7 cm deep mixture of peat and vermiculite into a terrarium as this species likes to excavate burrows in the substrate. I also placed a living plant (Scindapsus) into the terrarium and the female excavated a deep burrow under the retreat in which she stays all day. This is a very reclusive species which is active mainly during the night. I keep a higher temperature, 26 - 27 °C, humidity about 70-80 %. When there are relatively good conditions during breeding, this tarantula can be extremely gluttonous. I feed the spider with crickets and the occasional pinkie mouse.

My female, which moulted for the last time in May 2004 (9th moult), hid in her hiding place in the middle of February, she blocked both of the openings to her burrow and I haven't seen her from that time. Of course, I suspected what was going to happen from this behaviour.

I saw the female on 1 March with a sterile eggsac in her chelicerae and she stayed with her sac in her hiding place all the time, which she had broadened into two connected corridors. On 19th March, I again had the chance to photo her with her cocoon next to the mouth of the burrow.The next day, the female discarded her eggsac outside of her hiding place. Inside the coccon, there were only wet, mouldy and rather bad smelling eggs. Despite this, I was glad because this was a proof of her sexual maturity.

As the female was very weak after this sterile eggsac, I gave her a few crickets and grasshoppers. Now is the time to wait until her next moult, to feed the female and to get hold of a male.

Author: Michal Toran, arachnomania@seznam.cz , www.arachnomania.com

Literature used: František Kovarík, Chov sklípkanu, Madagaskar, Jihlava 2001

www.giantspiders.com

Mating and breeding P. cambridgei

Mating and breeding P. cambridgei

by Michal Toran

On 11 June 1999, I got hold of a female P. cambridgei after her 2nd moult when she was a spiderling. The spiderling was initially very gluttonous, like most kinds of a genus Psalmopoeus and the female grew relatively quickly. The third moult followed on 18 November 1999. Next exuviations followed: 13.8.1999, 13.12.1999, 24.1.2000, 11.4.2000, 25.6.2000, 20.12.2000, 21.3.2001, 1.8.2001 and the last moult into an adult, was on 11 February 2002. I kept the female until her 8 moult in a high plastic container, with average of 8 cm in size. Afterwards, I placed her into a glass terrarium with dimensions 50 x 50 x 20 cm (height x width x length). I stuck over the back wall with pine wood cortex, with the help of silicone and, as a substrate, I used about 8 cm of lignocel. I also placed a plant of (genus Scindapsus), which likes dampness, and a beautifully formed branch of a corky oak tree. Temperature was kept about 24 degrees and the air humidity about 80%.

Some may say that I make too much fuss about an ordinary P. cambridgei. However, this female was very vital and well grown so, simply put, I would have been very sorry for oppressing her in some plain terrarium.

After 12 moults (on 11 Ferbuary 2002), her legspan measured 17 cm. I was persuaded that this moult was adult and therefore, I decided to get a male, because I didn't own any adult males at that time. I recieved a male on 22 March 2002. In the evening on 24 March 2002, I placed the female and the male into a mating terrarium. The next day at about 22:00, I could see movement of the female and also of the male so I decided to open the partition, which was between them.
Nothing happened for the first 15 minutes but soon, both participants started to get closer to each other. Suddenly, without any signs of wanting to mate, the female attacked the male so I decided to separate them with the partition again. I still kept them in the mating terrarium, however. When the female attacked the male, one ordinary wooden spoon proved useful, holding the female with it so the male had the chance to escape. Just to make sure, I gave one pinkie mouse to the female, which she ate with appetite.

I tried to mate them again on 31 March 2002. I opened the partition at about 21:00 and waited for what was going to happen. The female and the male were not interested in mating and were apathetic to each other. This state lasted for about hour and a half. Afterwards, I push in the partition in again and decided to let both of them into the mating terrarium for some time so they could get used to one another.

I tried to mate them one more time on 9 April 2002. However, nothing was still happening during 2 hours after pushing out partition again so I decided to place both of them into the female's terrarium. She immediatelly ran to her nest and the male stayed dumbfounded outside for a while. After 5 minutes, he started to move towards the female's nest, he was vibrating and drumming with his front legs onto the substrate. After a while, the female emerged out of the nest and waited in the entrance. After about 20 minutes the courtship that consisted of light touches of front legs of both partners, the male managed to lift up the female and then push in his right embolus into the female's genital opening for 5 minutes. Afterwards, the male quickly retreated but the female didn't follow him and remained still for

several minutes and later returned to her retreat. One day after, on 10 April 2002, the female sealed herself in her nest and didn't emerge again, even during the night.
She created her nest in a corner of the terrarium and therefore, I sealed up this side with a black lightproof card so I could observe what was happening in the retreat. The female heavily silked the wall of the terrarium, which handicaped my observation. Despite this, on 27 May 2002, I could see that the female was holdig an eggsac that measured about 3 cm on average. I sprayed the cage surroundings slightly and carefully until on 11 July 2002, I uncovered the card on the corner of the terrarium and saw that the wall was inhabited by small spiders. I caught the female and then I counted exactly 40 nymphs in the second larval stage. They measured approximately 0,5 cm. I didn't find any dead nymphs or unfertilized eggs. The sac was also not there, there were even no marks for it. I placed the nymphs onto a slightly dampened cotton pulp inside a plastic box. On 17 July 2002, the nymphs started to darken and on 21 July 2002, the first one moulted into a spiderling. By 23 July 2002, already 35 nymphs were spiderlings. 5 nymphs didn't moult and they died.

I was surprised that there were only 40 spiderlings as with this species, more are usually produced. Compared to this, the spiders that survived were large enough and they were extremely active from the first time and they started to feed voraciously. Their food consisted of shredded meal worms and crickets.

Afterward, I let the female have a rest and gave her a smaller pinkie mouse. On the present, she occupies her newly created retreat in her own terrarium and she in an excellent condition (2002).

Author:Michal Toran, arachnomania@seznam.cz , www.arachnomania.com

www.giantspiders.com

Pamphobeteus antinous

Pamphobeteus antinous

by Michal Toran

This beautiful terrestrial spider lives in Peru and Bolivia, predominantly in tropical forests. Its basic coloration is brown, but freshly moulted specimens are velvety black and the abdomen is partly covered with pale hairs. The colours of extremities range from brown to black, but in some cases they can even be bluish. The adult female that I keep is 7.5cm (about 2 inches) big but since it's a young specimen, this size may not be final. The size of a spider may also be dependent on the place where it comes from. Spiders from some areas in Bolivia are often larger than those from Peru. The size of a Bolivian adult female can reach up to 11cm (2.5 inches), which means they come very close to the size of Theraphosa blondi. Under the right conditions, males grow mature after some 2.5 years, females after 4 years. The terrarium for this species is made of glass, of dimension of 30x30x25 cm (width x length x height). After moulting, I'll understandably move the female to a terrarium of a bigger size. For the bottom, I used lignocel, which is a coconut grit similar to peat or soil, making an approximately 5cm depth. Other equipment for the terrarium is a shallow earthenware water dish and a hiding place made of an earthenware flower pot of appropriate size. The temperature is around 25 or 26°C (locally, it reaches 28°C, because there's a heating electric cord 30W on the right side of the terrarium). Air humidity is lower, about 65% - 75%. Half of the terrarium is completely dry, the other has condensation when needed. For feeding, I mostly use large crickets and locusts. This female is afraid of new born mice, but sometimes, it accepts a dead one. Taking care of the young ones is not very different from any other tarantula. Being disturbed, this species holds its abdomen against the aggressor and kicks its hairs, which, in contact with skin, cause disagreeable itching. Obviously, it's not an highly defensive species, although some sources mention its alleged aggressiveness. Throughout the day, they spend most of the time hidden in its retreat and are more active during the night. It very often drinks from the water dish, and so it's necessary to regularly change the water. Spiderlings and juveniles are pale and they have a ‚'Christmas tree' design on the abdomen, which is actually true for most of the young ones belonging to this genus. I have no personal experience with breeding, because I haven't found an adult male for pairing but some foreign colleagues say the number of eggs in one cocoon can be counted in tens, but it exceptionally reaches hundreds.

P. antinous is a splendid species, which will always become a pride of every collection. I wish you successful breeding!

Author: Michal Toran, arachnomania@seznam.cz , www.arachnomania.com

www.giantspiders.com

Breeding Haplopelma albostriatum

I only started keeping H. albostriatum (Simon, 1886) in recent years so when I was offered a mature male (from Chris Sainsbury), I checked my three specimens to find them all female and probably large enough to attempt a pairing.

All Haplopelma spp. in captivity are fossorial in nature requiring enough substrate in their enclosures to allow them to dig their deep burrows. Of the three females, one was housed in custom-made fossorial tank based on an original idea by von Wirth and Huber (VON WIRTH, V. & M. HUBER (2004): Housing specimens of Haplopelma and other tube-dwelling tarantulas. British Tarantula Society Journal 19(4): 107-113), the second was in an adapted sweet jar and the third in a cereal tub. Due to their defensive temperament, caution is advised when attempting to pair members of this genus as often males are misidentified resulting in either death of the male or hybridisation between species. H. albostriatum, from Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, is easily distinguished from others in the genus by characteristic white stripes to the patella and tibia of all the legs. There can be some colour variation and some specimens can be quite dark. Males are similar in colour but overall slimmer in appearance.

Female A, housed in a custom-made tank:

28/08/05: Moulted.

11/09/05: Mated. Courtship was a very deliberate affair with the male beginning courtship almost immediately on contact with the females silk. The female responded by appearing at her burrow entrance and drumming her first pair of legs in response to the male. They remained calm throughout as the male secured the females chelicerae (H. albostriatum don't have tibial hooks or spurs but rather a blunt-ended protrusion that sits at the base of the females' fang in order to lift her into position). Palp insertions were brief and followed by characteristic epigynum rubbing by the female. The reason Ornithoctoninae females show this post-mating behaviour is somewhat of a mystery. After mating the female is often seen to frantically rub her underside (around the epigastric furrow) with her third and fourth pair of legs while moving the chelicerae in a 'chewing' motion (much like a speeded up version of cleaning). Explanations include massaging the uterus externus back into position or displacement activity - a conflict between mating behaviour and prey capture (the male as prey). In such a case the behaviour "jumps over" to a completely other behaviour complex (cleaning), because she is not only rubbing her genital region but the complete abdomen, spinnerets and the chelicerae (von Wirth, 1996).

Over the following four months, temperatures remained on average around 70-75oF and the substrate remained moist at lower levels of the enclosure and dry at ground level. Feeding wasn't increased and prey was offered approx. once a month consisting of crickets and lobster cockroaches Nauphoeta cinerea with the occasional deaths head cockroach Blaberus discoidales.

28/01/06: Found with eggsac. Burrow entrance left open (no noticeable silk or substrate across the entrance). As with most females that are incubating an egg-sac, feeding was suspended and the container disturbed as little as possible. The egg-sac could clearly be seen through the side of the enclosure (fossorial tanks are ideal for viewing the spider inside its burrow chamber). The female was often seen to move the egg-sac up and down the burrow and sometimes at the front of the container at ground level (warming the egg-sac at the point closest to the heat source).

13/04/06: Found with nymphs that spent their time at ground level, again, probably at the warmest part of the enclosure (they would bolt down the females burrow at the slightest disturbance). The egg-sac had been discarded at burrow entrance and was opened to find several black eggs and moulted skins of the surviving nymphs. These eventually moulted into spiderlings - some at ground level, some in the females' burrow chamber.
01/05/06: Separated spiderlings, 50 in total.

The other two breedings were similar:

Female B, housed in a sweet jar:

19/09/05: Mated - this was the smallest female but very eager to mate, male using both palps.

14/04/06: Found with egg-sac.

01/05/06: Egg-sac discarded, destroyed by mould.

Lack of adequate air-flow through the lower section (the only air holes were in the lid) of this container probably resulted in the egg-sac being destroyed by mould. Lack of visibility into the container so no evidence of the female moving and warming the egg-sac at the burrow surface.

15/09/05: Mated (similar to female A).

23/01/06: Found with eggsac - again, burrow entrance un-silked and no traces of it being plugged by substrate. Due to poor visibility of the cereal tub, it was difficult to note if the female spent any time on the surface with the egg-sac.

18/03/06: Nymphs were discovered in the container (burrow chamber). These were seen to gather on the surface but would quickly run down the burrow if disturbed.

13/04/06: Found all nymphs had moulted into spiderlings. These would gather at the far reaches of the container, probably warming themselves at the point closest to the heat source.

01/05/06: Spiderlings separated, 113 in total (no bad eggs found).

This was the most successful of the three egg-sacs without any apparent losses. No doubt, there are slight environmental differences between the three enclosures (temperature but, more importantly, humidity and air-flow) which are contributing factors to a successful egg-sac.

In conclusion I would guess that the taller the enclosure for this species (and indeed, all similar species) is beneficial to egg-sac production. A deeper substrate within a taller tank gives a much wider range of environmental conditions (cooler and more humid in the burrow chamber, warmer and drier at the burrow surface). This gives the female a choice of incubation position for the egg-sac and this is something that only she can sense - an advantage of leaving the eggsac with the female for the full term.

www.giantspiders.com

Does breeding tarantulas reduce their lifespan?

Over the past 10 or so years, the authors have bred many species but there seems to be a pattern emerging when it comes to certain African species, particularly Ceratogyrus and Pterinochilus spp. This pattern involves the adult female spiders dying not long after they have successfully produced spiderlings.

On average in captivity, females of Ceratogyrus and Pterinochilus live around 8 - 10 years but we have noticed on many occasions that once the female has produced her offspring, it is not uncommon for them to die within the next few months (or even weeks). This has even been noted in relatively young, yet sexually mature, females of around 2 - 3 years.

Diary notes (G. Tansley):

P. murinus (rcf): During 2003, 3 captive bred females were successfully mated. 1 seemingly healthy female died within four weeks of mating, never producing an eggsac, 1 female died within 8 weeks after the spiderlings were separated from the female (all food was refused and the spider spent many hours sitting hunched in one corner). Female 3 has recently moulted and is doing well after producing a successful eggsac during February '04.

P. murinus: During 2003 and 2004, 3 captive bred females were mated and all produced successful eggsacs. No eggsacs were removed from the females but all eventually died in the following months after the spiderlings were separated. 2 of the 3 females were around 3" legspan and would be considered young adults. In both cases, the females refused to eat and died before their next moult.

Diary notes (P. Messenger):

C. meridionalis: 2 females mated both resulting in spiderlings, female 1 refused to feed after spiderlings emerged and died 8 weeks later.

C. marshalli and 2 C. darlingi, all wild caught. All produced eggsacs but the only one still alive is one C. darlingi that ate the eggsac. The other 3 died with in 8 weeks of the eggsacs developing into spiderlings.

P. murinus: Since January 2003, 6 produced spiderlings. 2 out of the 6 females died, one at 8 weeks after the nymphs moulted into spiderlings and the other at 10 weeks after nymphs moulted into spiderlings. These were all captive bred specimens ranging from 2 years old at 2.5" legspan to 4 years old at 4 - 5" legspan yet it was one small and one large female that died.

P. murinus (rcf): Since January 2003, 2 young (3" legspan), captive bred females produced spiderlings, 1 died within 10 weeks of the nymphs moulting into spiderlings.

So why is this happening? Maybe with young females (though sexually mature), maybe they are being bred too young and it takes too much effort out of them and weakens them to the point of death (Some of the oldest and largest specimens in the authors' collections have never been mated). This could also be the case for older females. Often when the females begin refusing food and then die, the eggsac has been removed from them for artificial incubation. Does the spider become over-stressed at this intervention and then simply give up? Or does the female die to maybe help her offspring somehow? Maybe in the wild, where prey is scarce, the absence of the female will benefit the spiderlings? Symptoms seem to appear after the eggs have developed into spiderlings, the adult female will be reluctant to feed or moult. Is this a sign of inbreeding our stock over many years? Maybe tarantulas become weaker over the course of many generations and are less able to resist complications and problems that may occur after eggsac production. Or are these observations simply coincidence? There seems to be no common denominator for the results listed above, a combination of old and young specimens, captive bred and wild caught females dying with no real explanation.

www.giantspiders.com

Observations of Chaetopelma gracile by Yinnon Dolev

Observations of Chaetopelma gracile by Yinnon Dolev

Chaetopelma gracile is found throughout the middle east (including Cyprus) and the following observations are based on specimens collected in Israel.

Adult females commonly reach a 12cm legspan and are highly variable in colouration, several colour forms of C. gracile can be found throughout Israel; specimens from the cooler northern regions (forest and plantation regions) are light brown contrasting with the mid and southern (desert regions) specimens which are grey to velvet black in colouration, especially following a moult.

Opportunistic in it's habits, C. gracile is often found in scrapes under stones but is not an extensive web builder and due to extensive building in Israel that is invading the spiders natural habitat, it is often seen in first floor apartments and basements. Local people often mistake this species for Latrodectus spp. (also present in the area). Most sightings are during the spring (April through to May) when the males are in search of females and during the autumn (September through to November) when in search of winter housing. During these active months, specimens can be found in parks, nature trails and on roads, especially during the early hours of the morning. There are reports of C. gracile living in large colonies and I have seen this behaviour in the burial caves around Jerusalem. In the Jordan Valley there have been reports of large communal groups living in dried up wells. Specimens found in the Jordan Valley are much smaller than specimens found in the central regions of Israel (sub-species?).

Captive care: Average temperatures are suitable with relatively low humidity, a shallow water dish and a light misting once a week is sufficient. The cage shouldn't be allowed to dry out completely and the water dish filled at all times. Growth rate in captivity will vary depending on conditions but on average, females will be sexually mature in three years (similar times are recorded for males to reach their final moult). Being an opportunistic burrowing species, C. gracile should be provided with a typical terrestrial set-up. It will construct its simple retreat under any suitable object (cork bark slab or well secured rock, for example). Specimens will use silk to close the retreat entrance but won't web up the entire enclosure. A rather nervous species, it is rather defensive so is not recommended for handling and caution is advise when doing cage maintenance as they can sometimes escape quickly once disturbed.

A cricket-based diet will suffice but this can be varied with the addition of cockroaches and mealworms etc. In their natural habitat they are known to take lizards (geckos and skinks etc). C. gracile breed readily in captivity producing mobile eggsacs. On emergence, spiderlings will feed communally.

This is the only tarantula found in the holy-land, and it is not a protected species yet. Their numbers are decreasing due to extensive building and the destruction of its natural habitat (not so true for the Jordan Valley). Some of the sub-species will probably adapt to co-existence with humans (the signs are all around), but others are facing a difficult future.

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Nematode worms and tarantulas

Introduction. This article is intended as a 'what to look for' guide to tarantulas suffering from nematode (family Panagrolaimidae, probably a Panagrolaimus sp.) worms. At the time of writing there is no effective cure for this problem and although several treatments were made available to the author, none proved successful. It is not the intention of this article to go into great detail of tested treatments and/or dosages but to simply make the keeper aware of the symptoms and procedures that should be undertaken to prevent further infestation and spread of this particularly devastating ailment.

Over the 15 years that I have been collecting tarantulas, I have had many successes and many losses. Most of these losses I can explain (or at least take an educated guess at); bad moults, premature moults, mould, injury, old age, dehydration etc., but it wasn't until last year (2002) that I discovered something new about tarantula ailments.

A few of these deaths I put down to a 'bacterial infection' as the spiders all displayed the same symptoms; legs curled slightly under, shrunken abdomen, restlessness and an unusual white sticky mass around the mouth. I tried to help the afflicted spiders as much as I could by providing extra heat/humidity and ensuring they had access to an open water dish at all times but all attempts failed and they eventually died.

Most recently I acquired a large wild caught adult female C. huahini and two female A. purpurea that displayed these symptoms within a week of purchase and, putting this down to yet another 'bacterial infection' (more common in wild caught spiders), they were duly disposed of.

Several uneventful months passed but then another spider, this time a long-term captive female B. emilia, came down with the same symptoms. Now at the time there was a brief discussion on tarantula ailments on the internet arachnid mailing lists and this included problems with nematode worms. I'd heard of nematodes over the years but never (or so I thought at the time) been affected by them. A few photos were posted of afflicted spiders, which prompted me to inspect my latest 'bacterial infection' case further.

On inspection I found the spiders' sternum to be very wet, spreading down the vent and to the sides of the abdomen to some extent. The spider became more restless as time went on, spending more time around its water dish and spinning more silk than usual. The palps were constantly held curled under the chelicerae and very rarely placed flat on the floor (in the normal stance). Even when the spider walked or when the cage was disturbed, the palps always remained elevated. There was a strange sweet odour coming from the cage also. Turning the spider over, there was a viscous white mass around the mouth and samples of this were gently removed using a small pin and dropped into a vial containing alcohol. The vial was shook and thousands of tiny worms could easily be seen. Clearing the mouth as much as possible, I flushed the mouth area with water and placed the spider in a quarantined container (a clean, well ventilated container lined with dry tissue and a small water dish).

At this point I contacted Romain Pizzi (a veterinarian with a keen interest in arthropods) to ask his advice on the problem. He was eager to receive swabs from the spiders' mouth and sent the first of two treatments for me to try (Baytril). He also recommended isolating the spider from the rest of my collection and using separate tools (forceps etc) to prevent cross-contamination.

Several days later, a second spider was discovered with the same symptoms as the B. emilia, this time an adult female P. chordatus (see Plate 1). Following the same procedure as before, the spiders' mouth was cleaned and was re-housed and isolated from the rest of my collection. A second, different treatment (Panacur) was tested on this spider and I crossed my fingers that there would be some good news.

Over the next few days, both spiders were still restless and still spinning copious amounts of silk. Their mouths were cleaned daily to remove any remaining worms and the treatments administered but after approximately two weeks, the B. emilia eventually died followed by the P. chordatus (from initial symptoms to death was approximately 10-12 days). Both spiders were dropped into alcohol and sent to Romain for a post mortem and he discovered "…nematodes infecting the mouth. Even those with none visible externally, had large numbers present in the deep folds between the chelicerae and the mouth." After several weeks, Romain reviewed the histopathology slides and concluded that "…nematodes are not just affecting the mouth, I have also seen them in section in much deeper tissues in the cephalothorax, and some also have very severely affected book lungs that are very damaged. Some also show signs of an accompanying bacterial infection."

Meanwhile I had another spider with the same problem (another adult female B. emilia) but by this time I knew the suggested treatments were unsuccessful so decided to simply flush the spiders mouth with water daily. Posting my findings on the arachnid mailing lists, several people suggested treatments (including garlic and diluted disinfectant) and possible causes but as the weeks passed by, more and more of my collection was falling foul to these worms. One case was particularly disturbing. A recently mature male B. vagans was seen with extremely large worms trailing from its mouth (see plate 2) and from that point, all infected spiders were either frozen or dropped into alcohol immediately in an attempt to stop the spread.

There was much discussion over possible causes of infestation and these included crickets, phorid flies and substrate. Perhaps the worms were coming from infested crickets and the worms were moving host and entering the spider via the book lungs or the anus (the mouth, the most obvious point of entry, contains a very fine filtering system preventing even microscopic worms from entering and this would also explain the damaged book lungs). Phorid flies. These flies were present in my spider room at the time of infestation and could easily be vectors of the worms and their eggs, spreading them as they moved freely between containers. Attempts were made to eradicate these pests with some success and all feeding of suspected crickets was suspended until further information could be gathered. My cricket supplier assured me that their crickets had been checked and they found no signs of nematodes and my own tests (agar plates) showed inconclusive evidence also. Nematode worms are present in all commonly used substrates (there is a lot of research done into so-called beneficial nematode worms for agricultural purposes) but these species are causing tarantula keepers major problems.

By this time I had no choice but to take drastic action and decided to thoroughly clean out all of my spiders' containers and re-house them on vermiculite in the hope of preventing further contamination. A mammoth task to say the least, it took three days before all cages were disinfected, thoroughly rinsed, dried and filled with clean substrate. There were one or two isolated cases afterwards but I anticipated this as these were already affected at the time of the clean out. This was June 2002 and since then I have gladly been nematode worm free (in total I lost around ten adult spiders and several juveniles).

Conclusion. Although devastating when present, nematode worms are relatively rare in collections and by taking the right precautions and procedures, we can at least limit the amount of damage they do. In summary, typical symptoms to watch out for are; restlessness, spinning unusual amounts of silk, spending long periods around the water dish, any unusual sweet smell coming from the container, a very wet sternum caused by the spider drooling (not to be confused with normal cleaning behaviour) and, most importantly, a white sticky mass around the mouth and holding the palps permanently under the chelicerae. For some reason the chelicerae become paralysed, making it impossible for the spider to clean itself and making feeding impossible. A quick test is to gently shake the spiders' container. Under normal circumstances, the spider will steady itself with all the legs and this includes placing the palps on the floor also. Infected spiders won't do this. You can also try feeding, as affected spiders cannot attack prey. If your spider accepts prey, chances are worms aren't present. Inspect new spiders carefully especially wild caught ones; paying particular attention to the underside (I noticed an affected A. avicularia for sale at this years BTS show) and to be safe, any new additions should be quarantined for at least three months away from the rest of your collection (ideally in a different room). Use separate tools for these in quarantine and, if found to be infected, it is recommended that the spider be disposed of as quickly as possible. Romain and others are eager to receive samples of nematode affected spiders so ideally specimens should be placed into formalin (alcohol is considered too damaging to the worms) and passed on for further research.
The key lies in finding a treatment that kills the worms but leaves the spider unharmed. I'm confident that there will eventually be a successful treatment available but until then awareness and caution are the best method of prevention against these 'no legged-freaks'.

Acknowledgements.
I am indebted to Romain Pizzi for his dedication and help with specimens and treatments. Kerry Gowin for her help and polarization photographs. Lynn Carta for help with samples and to Ray Gabriel, Andy Mathews, Richard Gallon and Søren Rafn for all their advice over the past year.

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Captive breeding of the funnel web spider,Macrothele calpeiana

Captive breeding of the funnel web spider,Macrothele calpeiana by Luke Perry

Introduction : As the only European representative of the Mygalomorph family Hexathelidae, the Gibraltar Funnelweb Spider has been the subject of some interest amongst Tarantula keepers in the UK (Hancock & Hancock, 1992; Gallon, 1994; Perry & Luing 2002), although limited work has been carried out on captive breeding to date. Whilst locally abundant in areas of cork oak and pine forests, as well as in citrus groves, Macrothele calpeiana is very restricted in its' distribution to mainly Gibraltar and the nearby range of hills which stretch just 100km from Tarifa to Ronda in Southern Andalucía, Spain (Blasco & Ferrández, 1986; Snazell & Allison, 1989; Santos Lobatón, 1996, Ferrández, Fernández de Céspides & Perucho, 1998). Consequently, it is now protected by the EU Habitats Directive (Helsdingen & Decae, 1992) and although new data points towards small but isolated populations elsewhere (Díaz Rodríguez & García-Villanueva, 2000), captive breeding still represents an important initiative to promote better understanding of the behaviour and life-cycle of this impressive spider and minimise the need for its' collection in the wild.

Description : M. calpeiana is considered to be Europe's largest spider, with a body length of up to 3.5cm and a leg span reaching 8cm. Its' carapace and legs are glossy black in appearance, with the abdomen coloration varying from a uniform velvety black to purple/violet with a marked cardiac line, depending upon the moult stage and nutritional state. Flexible finger-like spinnerets up to 1.5cm in length make this spider unmistakable. Its' home consists of a retreat tube, constructed in a suitable enclosed space, extending outwards to form a sheet-like capture web which is firmly attached to surrounding stones, roots or twigs with strong silken struts, covering an area of around 150-300cm²(sometimes more, as neighbouring webs can be contiguous if ground cover is limited).

Habitat Requirements : With distribution limited to a small geographic area characterised by hot summers, warm winters, relatively high rainfall and a localised moist easterly wind known as the Levanter, understanding of temperature and humidity requirements is essential for the maintenance of M. calpeiana in captivity. As can be seen in table 1, temperature varies significantly throughout the year and will undoubtedly be linked closely to some of the key events in the spider's life, such as egg-sac production. Rainfall also shows some considerable variation with distinct wet and dry seasons. Despite this, humidity averages 65% at midday, increasing to around 85% at night all year round. The silken retreat of M. calpeiana, typically constructed in a scrape under a rock, amongst tree roots or in the gaps of dry stone walls, often extends into a burrow in excess of 50cm deep and plays an important role in regulating temperature and humidity. At midday in summer, temperature within the retreat is usually 3-5°C lower and humidity 20-25% higher than prevailing external conditions. Distribution of larger populations of this spider also corresponds with lower elevations, approximately 50-200m above sea level. This probably reflects a moisture gradient in the soil, as indicated by the increased amount of ground cover from various plants, bushes and trees at this level.

Sex Determination : Sexing can be positive from the sixth moult onwards using x30 magnification, although the exuviae should be viewed against a dark background with angled, overhead lighting as the sexual organs are transparent. The female has paired elongate spermathecae, coiled into twin spirals, but which may unfurl when the abdomen skin is soaked. The internal view of the male's genital area is unremarkable, with just a tiny gonopore present and no obvious accessory organs. Both sexes have interesting slit sensilla and arthordial membranes. Externally, the female epigynum area is sclerotised throughout, whilst the male is only lightly and partially so with the amount of sclerotisation decreasing anteriorly. Sexing is therefore possible in larger specimens by examining the ventral surface with a hand lens, but this method is not so reliable with juveniles. In adults, size alone can be used to differentiate the sexes, with body length in the slender male being approximately two-thirds that of the female, although leg span is similar. The male palpal bulb is simple in form, with a very long straight tapering embolus. Tibial spurs are absent.

Mating : Subadult males undergo their final moult in the late autumn but it is not until the spring, with the onset of more clement weather that they commence actively seeking a receptive female. Between March and May, males can easily be located after dusk outside of their webs, wandering the vicinity. It is believed the female is located through detection of pheromones present within her silk. The male entices her out of her retreat by plucking at trip lines at the edge of her capture web with his palps and by shaking his entire body very slightly and only briefly, pausing and then repeating this action. He must be very cautious, as the female usually responds to any vibration information in her capture web aggressively. To avoid having his presence misinterpreted as a meal, the male continues his courtship signals and is also very likely stridulating subaudibly throughout, by opposing stout spines on the posterior face of the palpal trochanter against a dense patch of highly modified paddle-shaped spines on the anterior surface of the coxa on leg 1. Not exactly flowers and chocolates, but for the receptive female it is irresistible!

Once she emerges, he begins to approach with both pedipalps raised, whereupon she rears up into a defensive posture, baring her fangs and rapidly moves her own palps up and down alternately, making a clearly audible hiss with her stridulatory organs. On initial contact, the male strikes her with legs 1 and 2 after which a period of wrestling ensues as the male attempts to push her back further into an arched position. Once this goal is achieved, the female typically becomes quiescent and the male then proceeds to tap under her sternal plate briefly, before reaching for her epigynum with his palps. As the embolus is long and inflexible, he has to reach well beyond her epigynum and rotate his palp outwards through a 90° angle to bring it into a position where it can be inserted. After a sharp backward tug to discharge his sperm, he repeats the process with the other palp. In approximately 75% of observed pairings, the male inserts his emboli repeatedly, with each insertion lasting 30-60 seconds and the average mating lasting ten minutes. This period is interspersed with breaks lasting a couple of minutes, during which the male slides out from under the female but maintains touch contact with her using legs 1 and 2. Whilst in this position, he cleans each palp and embolus with his mouthparts - this action seems to straighten out his emboli which may have been bent during contact with the hard sclerotised female epigynum. During these breaks, the female can be observed to lay down silk, moving her abdomen and spinnerets in a side to side motion. Mating is initiated again by the male tapping his palps on the web surface and she responds with the same flurry of palp movements seen previously. Following successful mating, the male typically disengages first and beats a hasty exit. Occasionally he may be attacked and killed, but more often he is not pursued as the female either remains motionless or returns promptly to her retreat.

Captive breeding is made difficult by the fact that the female will rapidly fill any container with layer after layer of dense webbing, with multiple convergent retreat tubes. A male cannot be safely introduced directly into this without causing significant movement of the web and he will most likely be attacked before he can initiate courtship signals. Moving the female into a new container a few days beforehand appears to remedy this problem. She has time to lay down some silk and form a retreat, but does not have the opportunity to make an extensive web structure. After ensuring the male has charged his palps (sperm web production can be artificially triggered by placing a small piece of her silk in his container), he should be enticed into a camera film pot and this can then be placed at the very edge of her capture web during the day, providing him with a temporary artificial retreat. He is unlikely to leave this until darkness falls, which allows him to make the necessary advances at his own pace. Even with these precautions, there are no guarantees. Sometimes the male will meet his demise anyway but very occasionally, he will attack and kill his intended mate.

One interesting observation is that following successful breeding, the male can often be left to cohabit with the female in her web. This has been recorded for not only M. calpeiana, but also other closely related funnelwebs (Simon-Brunet, 1994) both in the wild and in captivity. Why this should occur in what are otherwise non-social spiders is unclear. However, as the male can often be seen to add his own silk to the females web, it is possible that he is creating confusing chemical signals for other potential suitors, thus ensuring his paternity of the offspring. Whatever the reason for choosing to stay rather than attempting to locate another receptive female, one thing is clear - this is a risky strategy. His body is often found outside of the retreat a few days or weeks later, having been dispatched with a bite through the cephalothorax.

Egg-Sac Production : Over the following weeks, very few prey items are declined by the female. In July, she seals herself into her retreat to produce her egg-sac, which measures 1-1.5cm in diameter. She carries this in her palps through most of the incubation period, turning it at frequent intervals. Temperature of the developing young is probably regulated in the wild by the female moving the egg-sac up or down her burrow at different times of the day, whilst in captivity, she can often be seen suspending it in her web near to the heat source. After four to five weeks of guarding the egg-sac, intensified movement from within following the spiderlings' first moult probably triggers the female into making a small hole in its' surface with her fangs and her offspring begin to emerge. Data from captive breeding is presented below and it can be seen that brood size is quite variable.

Rearing of Spiderlings : Emergence of offspring coincides with a period of extended drought and high temperatures. It is very difficult to locate any spiderlings outside of the maternal retreat throughout August and September and it is likely they remain with her until the rains commence in October, taking small prey items from her capture web in the meantime. One reason for this may be that M. calpeiana does not possess a digging rastellum and consequently would be unable to excavate a burrow in the dry baked soil, leaving spiderlings vulnerable to excessive heat, low humidity and easy predation. As large numbers of offspring are produced, this makes for a very crowded burrow and after a couple of moults, dispersal is eventually triggered by lack of space, onset of cannibalism and seasonal change in external conditions. In captivity, this means that separation is not an immediate need and spiderlings can be left together until the third moult as long as adequate nutrition is provided. Microcrickets are readily taken, but group feeding can also be observed with larger prey items which have been discarded by the mother. Given the small size of spiderlings and relatively slow growth rate, separation is initially into 30ml containers, increasing to 90ml at four months and 250ml at six. By one year, transfer to 500ml jars becomes necessary to accommodate increased size and extensive webbing. Larger juveniles are housed in plastic containers measuring 30x18x12cm to give adequate space for the capture web. A cork oak bark shelter should be provided, with peat or coconut fibre being a suitable medium for burrowing and web anchorage. Moisture requirements are met by lightly spraying one end of the container on a weekly basis and providing a night time drop in temperature to allow dew to form. Variation in diet is probably important, given that M. calpeiana is an opportunistic feeder and takes advantage of whatever prey is locally abundant. Analysis of web contents has revealed the remains of millipedes, beetles, weevils, caterpillars, bees, earwigs, ants, flies and even snails. These can be supplemented in captivity with crickets, mealworms and locusts, along with other insects found around the home.

Growth Rates : On emerging from the egg-sac, spiderlings have a leg span of just 3-4mm. After six moults over increasing intervals in the first twelve months, they eventually attain an average leg span of 3.5cm. Captive bred males mature at 15-18 months, after a further two moults, although data from other related genera (e.g. Atrax and Hadronyche) seem to suggest this may take longer in the wild (Scott, 1980), given that food availability is more variable that it would be in any captive breeding programme. Male life expectancy is limited to an average of six months (range 2-10 months) following the final moult. Females by comparison take 4-5 years to mature, moulting twice in their second year and annually thereafter. They can live for several more years, producing a new brood of offspring in every year of their adult lives.

Conclusion : This active spider is interesting to observe at all stages of its' life. It makes a good addition to any collection and is quite easy to maintain in captivity. The survival rate of offspring is good, provided habitat requirements are fully considered.

References

Scott, G. (1980)
'The Funnelweb'
Darling Downs Institute Press, Toowoomba

Blasco, A. & Ferrández, M.A. (1986)
'El género Macrothele Ausserer 1871 (Araneae : Dipluridae) en la Península Ibérica'
Actas X Congr. Int. Aracnol. Jaca/España.1:311-320

Snazell, R. & Allison. R. (1989)
'The genus Macrothele Ausserer (Aranaea : Hexathelidae) in Europe'
Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society, 8(3), 65-72

Hancock, K. & Hancock, J. (1992)
'Tarantulas : Keeping and Breeding Arachnids in Captivity'
R&A Publishing Ltd, Taunton

Helsdingen, P.J. Van, & Decae, A. (1992)
'Ecology, distribution and vulnerability of Macrothele calpeiana (Walckenaer)'
Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 135 : 169-178

Gallon, R.C. (1994)
'Observations on Macrothele calpeiana (Walckenaer, 1805) in Southern Iberia'
Journal of the British Tarantula Society Study Group, (1):1-12

Simon-Brunet, B. (1994)
'The Silken Web : A Natural History of Australian Spiders'
Reed Books, Sydney

Santos-Lobatón, M.C. (1996)
'Estudio sobre Macrothele calpeiana Walckenaer 1805 (Araneae, Hexathelidae) en dos pinares de la provincia de Cádiz (España)
Aracnología 24:1-10

Ferrandez, M.A., Fernandez de Cespides, H. & Perucho, A. (1998)
'Macrothele calpeiana, la araña negra de los alcornocales'
Quercus, 1998 ABR; (146) 14-19

Díaz Rodríguez, E. & García-Villanueva, V. (2000)
'Primeros datos sobre la presencia de Macrothele calpeiana (Walckenaer, 1805) en Extremadura, España'
Revista Ibérica de Aracnología, Vol 1, 57-58

Perry, L. & Luing, M. (2002)
'Come into my parlour : a look inside the home of Gibraltar's Funnelweb Spider'
Journal of the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society, Occasional Paper No 1 (April)

Acknowledgements : Warm thanks are extended to John Cortés, Terence Ocaña and Eric Shaw of the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society for their interest in this study; Malcolm Luing for his practical assistance on numerous collecting trips; Belinda Gonzalez and family for their friendship, hospitality and local knowledge; John Stanney & Chris Felton of the British Arachnological Society library and Antonio Melic of the Grupo Ibérico de Aracnología for providing reprints of previous research papers; Guy Tansley for his generous help in photographing sex organs; finally to John Hancock* and Richard Gallon of the British Tarantula Society for sharing their observations, data and great enthusiasm for this spider. Macrothele calpeiana is now included in the BTS National Collection Scheme, the purpose of which is to maintain a viable captive breeding programme without further need to deplete wild populations and to promote research.

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Scuttle flies and their relationship with tarantulas

In Vol. 7 No. 1 of the American Tarantula Society Forum, there appeared an article on scuttle flies (Phoridae) which associate with large tarantulas from South America. This article became of interest recently, as I have since acquired a large female Goliath (Theraphosa blondi) and noticed several small flies gathered on the spiders carapace and abdomen

The flies (six in total) were reluctant to leave the spider and ran (hence the common name) rather than flew to evade capture. With the aid of a pooter, all of the flies were collected, but on closer inspection of the spider I noticed there were several empty pupal cases surrounding and attached to the foveal region of the carapace. The short, velvet-like hairs on the carapace also looked as though they had been "grazed" upon. Despite this, the spider seemed unaware of the presence of the flies and the pupae, they being attached to the only part of the spider it couldn't reach when cleaning itself.

As time passed I kept a close eye on the spider and over the following two weeks, a total of nine fly larvae were collected from it and it's container. These were quite large and easily visible on the carapace and simply removed with a pair of forceps (a very long pair!), the spider even allowing me to clear it's foveal groove of empty pupal cases and larvae.

Two adult flies were preserved in alcohol and sent to Dr. Henry Disney at Dept. Zoology, University of Cambridge, England and these he identified as one of three recently discovered and described species whose larvae live on tarantulas. This species was Megaselia dimorphica which is host-specific to Theraphosa blondi. The other two species, M. preadafura and M. tinteri being host-specific to Megaphobema robustum and Pamphobeteus vespertinus respectively.

Observation shows that the larvae and subsequent adult flies feed primarily on the decaying prey of their host. This became apparent after the spider was fed large piece of raw meat. The spider spent several hours consuming the meat and fly larvae were collected on and around the discarded remains and these larvae had taken on a distinctly red appearance caused by the blood in the meat. One larva was collected from the foveal groove in the process of pupation, having gorged itself. It can be assumed that the flies also stay on the spider when they emerge and also feed on prey remains, exuvial fluid, etc. They also mate and lay eggs on the host, repeating the process all over. It seems the fly larvae do not actually harm the spider (the worst case would be larvae in the spiders chitinous skin or stray larvae entering an egg sac during construction). The larvae have been reported to be able to fast for up to two months, which would relate to the spiders fluctuating food supply, but well-fed larvae usually pupate within a month. Larvae of related species are known to possess a pair of sucker-like structures near the mouth and several rows of hooks on the underside of the rear end. This helps the larvae stay attached to the short hairs of the spider and, if groomed off, enable them to climb back easily.

These host-specific Megaselia should not be confused with related species (many Phoridae species occur in England) which feed on decaying organic material, and the only real problem is infestation of same-species hosts within a collection. My specimen is now clear of these intruders and hopefully there will be no sign of them in the future. However, if you do acquire imported spiders, it's always a good idea to check the thoroughly either before purchase or immediately afterward. If they're present, keep the spider isolated and slowly but surely the larvae can be removed.

The fruit fly-like Phoridae sub-order contains some amazing species, all recognisable by their rapid scuttling gait and humpbacked appearance. Of the British species, some are know to be parasites on invertebrates; millipedes, beetles and other larger flies. One species, Pseudoacteon formicarum, has a truly fascinating relationship with ants - the fly hovers over the ant and even chases it, laying its eggs on the soft exposed parts of the ants body, attracted initially by the scent of the ants acid.

These flies represent the close relationship between parasite and host, and make clear what can happen if a certain species becomes threatened in its natural environment. We tend to concentrate our concerns on the large host species and fail to notice the intricate interdependence of parasites which have evolved to live on one particular host. It also highlights the fact that many more connected species of insect are lost when a host species becomes extinct. In their natural environment these flies may play an important role in the spider lifestyle, keeping the burrow free from decaying material resulting in a reduction of mould growth, etc.

Dr. Disney is eager to receive further specimens of scuttle flies, especially flies from spider species other than those mentioned above. As these are relatively new discoveries to science, there may be several more types just waiting to be described.

Adult flies, pupae and larvae should be preserved in alcohol and labelled with the relevant information (name of host, date and collection site if known) and sent to : Dr. H. Disney, Dept. of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, England.

References

Two new species of Phoridae (Diptera) whose larvae associate with large spiders (Araneae: Theraphosidae)
D. Weinmann and R. H. L. Disney. J. Zool. Lond. (1977) 243, 319 - 328.

A further new species of Phoridae (Diptera) whose larvae associate with large spiders (Araneae:
Theraphosidae) R. H. L. Disney and D. Weinmann. Ent. Scand. Vol. 29:1 (1998).

Flies take advantage of tarantulas Samuel D. Marshall and R. H. L. Disney. America Tarantula Society
Forum Vol. 7 No. 1 : 3 - 4 (1998)

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Captive care of the red trapdoor spider (Idiopidae)

Description
The mygalomorph trapdoor spider belongs to the family Ctenizidae (Araneae, Idiopidae). These are all large spiders that have short spines on the lateral surface of the anterior legs but lack the hairy appearance of the theraphosidae or tarantulas. Trapdoor spiders have what is known as a rastellum on their chelicerae and they use this to dig their deep, tubular burrows. The legs are quite short but rather robust with an overall colouration of rust red / orange with a definite dark brown line that circles the outer most edges of the carapace. The fovea is deeply procurved and the dorsal abdomen area clearly shows the dark patch of the heart known as the thoracic mark. An adult female has a body length of approximately 3cms with a leg span around 6cms. This is a widespread genus and is reported from Africa, south and Central America, India and even Asia. Trapdoor spiders inhabit very specific environments and once one burrow is located, several more are usually to be found nearby but surprisingly little is known about trapdoor spider behaviour because of their secluded lifestyle. This is a particularly aggressive species and handling isn't recommended as the spider will assume the threat posture and attack repeatedly especially when it has been removed from its burrow.

Housing
As this species likes to dig deep burrows, a taller container is preferred. A size of approximately 15 X 15 X 30cms tall will be ideal. Substrate should consist of a mix of slightly damp peat-free compost, sand and vermiculite and on top of this there should be a scattering of leaf litter (dried leaves and twigs etc). The substrate should be at least 15cms deep to allow for burrowing as this species cannot survive out in the open. A small hole can be made in the substrate to give the spider a starting point and once introduced, it should begin excavations under the cover of darkness. Ideal temperatures are between 21oC and 30oC with a humidity of around 65%.

Burrow Construction
Over the following few nights, the spider will deepen its burrow and slowly begin to form the trapdoor. By gathering pieces of the surrounding substrate and leaf litter, the spider will spin these together to form a thin, hinged door. Over time, this door becomes gradually thicker until it is almost impossible to see when tightly closed. Pieces of leaves and twigs are incorporated into the burrow entrance and door and used by the spider to increase the prey-sensing area. The depth and shape of the burrow varies depending on the container used but is usually a simple slightly curving shape with no definite chamber at its base. The inside walls of the burrow are heavily lined with silk, as is the underside of the door. Attempts to open the trapdoor are usually resisted by the spider which pulls the door tightly shut upon detection of intrusion. Further attempts result in the door being pulled further into the burrow, the spider using the claws of the first two pair of legs.

Feeding and Prey Capture
Prey items consist of any suitably sized insects (crickets, mealworms, flies etc) and these can simply be dropped into the container. A small surface area means the prey will come into contact with the spiders' retreat more frequently, giving it a greater chance of success. The spider will sit just inside the burrow entrance with the door held slightly open, waiting the vibration of passing prey and once it comes within range, will emerge with lightening speed to grab the prey with its chelicerae, palps and front legs. The rear legs and abdomen never leave the safety of the burrow and within a split second the spider and prey are gone. The trapdoor is securely closed while feeding and the discarded remains will be ejected some distance from the burrow entrance. Excrement is also deposited outside the retreat by means of squirting.

Longevity
Exact longevity is unknown but may be as long as 10 - 15 years (similar to tarantulas) in captivity.

References
Retreat architecture and construction behavior of an East African Idiopidae trapdoor spider (Araneae, Idiopidae)
Frederick A Coyle, Robert E Dellinger and Robert G Bennet. Bull. Br. arachnol. Soc. (1992) 9 (3), 99-104.

Southern African Spiders - An identification Guide. Martin R Filmer. Struik 1991.

Notes on the trapdoor spider Idiopis. Randy J Mercurio. Journal of the British Tarantula Society Vol.15, No.4 (2000).

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Rearing the Mediterranean thorn back spider Cyrtophora citricola

Collecting
As its name suggests, C. citricola can be found throughout the Mediterranean region and I was on holiday when I collected the egg sacs in the Algarve (Portugal). Large numbers of adult females can usually be found living communally on bushes during the summer months and collecting the eggs is a simple affair as they are laid in the centre of their large webs.

Description
The adult female is about the size of our garden spider (Araneus diadematus) and colour varies from very dark brown (almost black) and white to a very pale cream and white zigzag pattern with six thorn-like protrusions. The carapace is covered with grey/brown tufted hairs and legs are cream banded with brown, again similar to A. diadematus. The spinnerets are circled with a star-like pattern and there is a striking orange/red stripe running through the centre of the sternum. The male is much smaller than the female, so much so that it could easily sit on the females' carapace. The protrusions on the abdomen are not as obvious on the male and the colour is generally black. Along with the sternum stripe, the pattern around the spinnerets is also bright orange/red with the carapace and legs being very dark grey to black.

Web Construction
An adult female will build a web reaching a diameter in excess of 12" in its natural habitat which can cause a problem in captivity if space is at a minimum. Fortunately, a specimen will adapt quite easily to the amount of space given for web building. A few basic requirements should be met and this consists of a container that is taller than wide and they seem to prefer round rather than square. Food storage jars are ideal as long as a new lid is made to prevent damage to the web whilst feeding. No substrate is required but a thin leafed twig should be firmly fixed to the side of the container and be arched across the top to aid construction. The web itself is a beautiful cage-like structure and the spider is always view as it sits underneath the tent-like centre of the large spiral. This resembles a horizontal orb web and is surrounded by an irregular mesh of threads. The web is not as efficient as the vertical orb web when it comes to prey capture as the spiral is not sticky, and C. citricola relies on insects becoming entangled in the above mesh threads and falling onto main spiral. Nevertheless a great deal of success is achieved due to the spiders amazing speed and agility underneath the web. After being introduced into the container C. citricola will spin the mesh of construction lines within the first few nights but actual building of the spiral is not usually triggered unless prey is known to exist in the given area. Therefore, small insects should be dropped onto the web and spiral construction will take place the following night. Kullman (1972) suggested that the Cyrtophora web represented an immediate seep between the sheet web of the Linyphiids and the orb web of the Araneids with the tilting of the central sheet. However, Lubin (1973) believed that the web is derived from the orb web which is more likely as Cyrtophora is known to he an Araneid. If too little space is allowed for adult female web building it will sometimes only spin a section and sit off-centre so it is advisable to keep at least one adult in a large enough container to observe web structures. As mentioned earlier, web making takes place during the night and is a very frantic affair compared to that of the average orb weavers (the average number of split radii is much higher, around 200). Only on rare occasions will a specimen actually replace an existing web if enough food is available and web repair seems to be more favourable. Repairing does not follow the pattern of most orb weavers that join the radii, instead holes are filled with a mesh of irregular threads and eventually the whole web may be an untidy mass of patched holes. If web replacement does occur, it is obvious with the appearance of a lump of wool-like web below the spiral. Again, this is unlike other orb weavers which eat their dismantled web.

Web efficiency and feeding behaviour
The web of C. citricola is not as efficient as that of any orb weaver but nevertheless, a great deal of success is achieved depending on the prey item offered. When the spiders first hatch the webs they build are small (approx. 50 mm in diameter), and finding food items which are small enough is a problem. Even tiny prey such as semolina creatures (Liposcelis bostrychophilic) are prone to falling through the un-sticky web of C. citricola but, as the spider grows, it will take a variety of food such as crickets, blow flies, waxworms and mealworms, etc.

Moulting
C. citricola moults in the usual Araneid fashion in the mesh of construction lines above or below the main spiral and the exuvium is left there while the spider returns to the web. Apolysis (pre-moult) is short (around 2 days) with feeding usually resuming approximately 2-3 days and in the early stages moulting can be quite rapid, sometimes as quick as 3 days apart. On average, it takes eight moults to reach maturity.

Water requirements
The web should be sprayed lightly with tepid water for drinking purposes, but C. citricola will use the water to eagerly clean itself as well as to drink. As a rule, however, spraying should be avoided until the spiders are of a reasonable size as many drown in the small drops of condensation that can occur.

Sex determination and mating behaviour
With a number of individuals of C. citricola determining the sex is an easy affair as the size differences are obvious from an early stage. If the adult female is ready to mate when the male is introduced, she will eagerly advance towards him (almost chasing) then he jumps to the ventral side of the female's abdomen and fixes one palp into the epigynum. The male then falls backwards and his abdomen rests underneath the female's prosoma. Then she seizes the males' abdomen with her chelicerae and starts feeding on him. This process is necessary because of the size differences between the sexes and if the female didn't grab the male, he would most certainly fall off, making copulation impossible.

Egg sac construction
When the female's abdomen is swollen with eggs, she will hang in the centre of the web with all of her legs stretched out approximately 3-4 days prior to egg case production. The egg sac is laid during the night in the mesh of construction lines above the main spiral which begins with a flat circular disc of fluffy orange/tan threads which the spider spins from underneath. Next, a small circular depression is formed in the centre and a cylindrical wall is added. The eggs are deposited inside and the outer covering is finished with a mesh of loose threads. The female guards the egg case adamantly and if the container is opened at any time, she will run to protect it, wrapping her legs tightly around it.

Longevity

Adult female's life span is around twelve months and death occurs after mated females have produced two, sometimes three egg cases. Unmated females, however, may live 18 months or more waiting for a male to appear.

References: Biology of Spiders - Rainer Foelix - Harvard University Press, 1982.

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The trouble with males (some advice on buying tarantulas)

A few years ago, any arachnologist could have told you that the male tarantula was a somewhat elusive creature. There were a select number 'doing the rounds' and finding a matured male for your prize female was difficult, to say the least. These days, however, we are seeing a reversal of these circumstances. One would expect approximately a 50/50 share of males in any collection of reasonable size but recently I seem to have had more than my fair share.

I put this down to the increasing number of entomological shows which are appearing across the country. A sense of excitement fills the atmosphere when you enter one of these large shows and there is nothing more tantalising than to come across a table bearing large specimens of a relatively new species to the hobby. It is here where the danger lies.

On inspection of the various sized tubs (and the excess money in your pocket), you seem to lose all powers of common sense and gleefully part with your hard earned on a particularly large juvenile. But, as the months of tender loving care pass, you are increasingly concerned with the spiders moulting rate and it's apparently small size. Yes, you've guessed it! It's a male!

Now the fun really starts! What do you do? Do you frantically telephone round your friends, desperately trying to find a suitable mate or do you spend even more money on an elusive mature female, opting to try a pairing yourself? Chances are that it's both. But what soon becomes apparent is that everyone who has a female is unwilling to part with her and those same few people have "all the males they need".

So remember when you visit one of these shows (there's practically one a week these days!) and are told by the table holder, "Sorry mate, I haven't had time to sex them." - steer clear. More often than not the tubs are full of immature males imported or bred by the trader and sexed as soon as it is possible. The males are sold and when they've matured, guess who has most of the females in the country? The certain trader who will either sell you one of his females at a high price or willingly accept your male for breeding after you've paid him for the privilege of raising it for him!

My advice when it comes to buying at shows is to resist temptation (hard, I know) and either only buy from a reputable dealer (John and Kathleen Hancock guarantee the sex of their spiders) or simply buy a handful of spiderlings of the species at a lower price. This way you will probably end up with at least one male but do try to but unrelated spiderling stock to prevent sibling breeding (easy with more common species). It should be remembered, though, that spiders can be successfully sexed as young as four months so the younger the better.

I'm sure many people (myself included) would be grateful if traders would come clean and label their stock as immature male or female, many people would buy one or the other depending on their needs. Plenty of people want immature males for breeding and with a 50/50 ratio out there, I'm sure sales of pre-determined sex spiders would be beneficial. What we're ending up with is a group of amateur arachnologists who are forced into the breeding game when they are either not ready to do so or simply don't want to. There are people with large collections who simply don't want to breed their spiders and their views should be respected.

This brings me to the next problem. Small males. Increasingly we are seeing an unusual number of small or undersized males maturing and my concern arose when I tried a pairing with my large female Lasiodora parahybana. The female is around five years old now and is by no means a small spider but on this occasion (the second breeding attempt) I was unsuccessful due to a small male. Many attempts were made to pair these willing spiders but the male was simply too small and not nearly strong enough to lift the large female into the correct position. Try as hard as he may he couldn't reach the females epigynum with his palps and this eventually resulted in him losing his front tarsus due to it being bent backwards and literally snapped off altogether this didn't render him useless to smaller females, there was no way he was going to be able to mate with my female.

In their natural environment small individuals would probably not survive but in the safe predator-free habitat of captivity, nearly all of the spiders reach maturity. Spiders are gorged on a never-ending supply of food and therefore longevity is speeded up and males mature much faster than normal. Are these small males the result of excessive in breeding of a particular species and should these under-sized males be used for breeding if, as I've mentioned, they cannot even mate in the first place? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we should only breed from the largest and healthiest spiders but there has to be a line drawn somewhere to avoid producing poor stock. After all, with more and more countries banning the export of native wildlife, these spiders may be our only hope of maintaining the species in captivity.

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Rearing the large orb-web spider Argiope lobata

Collecting
Egg sacs were collected whilst on holiday in Southern mainland Greece. Small isolated colonies can be found throughout the Mediterranean region, moving south as far as Southern Africa where the species is relatively common inhabiting suburban gardens. The adults were found along the quieter roadsides in Greece usually building their large webs in tall grass or low base vegetation. The surrounding area was a mixture of maquis and garrigue.

Description
A mature female measures up to 7O mm with the male being much smaller. In their natural environment where they receive prolonged amounts of direct sunlight they are vividly marked. The legs are pale yellow to white banded with black; the carapace is covered with silky silvery grey hairs; the large, lobed abdomen has a distinctive colour pattern of silver, yellow and black and the underside is circled with a star-like pattern of black and yellow.

Web Construction
Even spiderlings of A. lobata build large orb-webs - the first are approx. 50 - 100 mm in diameter and crossed with the usual zigzag stabilimentum which is a typical feature of the Argiopinae web. This diameter increases until the mature web may measure in excess of 600 mm but for some reason the stabilimentum becomes less obvious in captive specimens. There are many theories as to the use d the stabilimentum such as parasols (for thermoregulation); as an aid to collect water from early morning dew or as web strengtheners but they are most often considered to be used as anti-predator devices. This may explain why the captive specimens don't use stabilimenta in their webs built in a 'safe' environment. Once the web is built, the spider always assumes a characteristic position in the centre with the legs stretched along the lines of the stabilimentum known as the 'aligned posture'. The Argiope orb-web is extremely efficient in catching prey and as with all orb-web spiders, has amazing agility within it. The catching threads are very strong and capable of holding large prey with ease. This was demonstrated while a Greece when an adult female was observed wrapping a large cicada (Tibicen plebejus), an insect over twice the size of the spider. Spiderling webs are just as effective and will successfully secure second instar crickets. Web construction usually takes place under the cover of darkness and this is performed at a very slow and graceful pace which is an amazing sight if observed under a red light. If prey related damage is slight, then the spider will simply do running repairs to the web but complete re-spinning only occurs either after web destruction or when the web sight is unfavourable (e.g. due to disturbance or lack prey etc).

Food and Water Requirements
A. lobata will take a wide variety of prey which can be easily dropped into the web. Appropriate sized insects should be used relating to the size of the spider, i.e. spiderlings will accept fruit flies, micro crickets and hatchling mealworms; adults can be fed anything as large as adult crickets, locusts and large moths. When the prey is caught, the spider will first locate it by tugging on the web then quickly approach it, wrap it up by drawing out wide sheets of silk with the rear legs and finally bite. Once subdued the prey is cut free and hauled back up to the centre where it is consumed while the spider resumes it's position in the hub. Eventually the food is reduced to a small ball of indigestible matter and discarded. If further insects become caught in the web while the spider is feeding, these will also be taken, wrapped and subdued but will be left slung in the web for future consumption. If, however, the spider refuses food due to being well fed, has entered apolysis (pre-moult) or the prey is too large, it will react in a number of ways. Often it will try to escape from the web via one of the many construction lines or simply let go of the web altogether and drop to a safe distance on a 'life line' of silk, only returning to the hub sometime after the disturbance is over. Another method of defence is by the rapid vibration of the web as it sits in the centre. This enables the spider to shake free any unwanted prey and also may be used to deter flying predators such as birds - vibrating in this manner reduces the spider to a blur making it impossible for it to be picked from the web. Water can be provided approx. twice a week after feeding and increased during times of moulting. This can be done using a house plant spray, lightly misting the web with tepid water. The spider will eagerly drink from the web or surrounding vegetation as well as collecting the small drops from its abdomen and legs.

Housing
When the spiderlings begin to disperse from the egg sac, any large, tall container can be used to house them. Large sweet jars or food storage containers are ideal and this should be covered with a piece of fine netting to allow any excess moisture to evaporate as the small spiders can easily become trapped in the tiny droplets of condensation and drown. The spiderlings can be kept communally at any size or stage providing there is enough room for them to build their webs. The container should be furnished with a few firmly fixed twigs to aid web construction although no substrate is needed. As they grow they can either be moved into separate containers or into specially built wooden 'orb-frames'. These frames provide an ideal space saving alternative as well as an excellent means of display. They should be at least 24" square and for the best results, a piece of black nylon netting should be stretched across the front and back for viewing. A hole can be drilled at either end to give access when feeding, watering and cleaning.

Moulting
The female requires approx. 5 - 6 moults to reach sexual maturity while the male matures in only 4. Ecdysis always occurs in the hub of the web where the spider spends most of its life. Predicting a moult is more difficult than with tarantulas as no darkening is noticeable during apolysis. Definite signs of an approaching moult are lack of appetite three to four days from moulting and the spider will spin a mesh of threads slightly behind the main web centre. This mesh acts as the spiders only means of defence when moulting and guards it against predators during this vulnerable time. Moulting occurs under the cover and safety of darkness and only takes 10 to 15 minutes. Once complete, the exuvium (cast skin) is discarded from the web and drying out time is brief, feeding resuming as early as within the following 48 hours. Spraying with water should be increased when the silk protection mesh is noticed to aid successful ecdysis and following moulting the spider will be extremely thirsty so water should be provided using a plant spray.

Sex Determination
If several specimens are being kept, sex determination is a simple affair. Immature males are easily distinguished at a very early stage as their large bulbous palps are noticeable after their second moult. The males' abdomen never achieves the unusual shape or vivid colour of the female and he is, in comparison, much smaller with a leg span of approx. 14 mm, in relation to the females 45 mm span. If successful breeding is to be achieved the males growth must be slowed down in order to coincide with the maturing of the female and simply reducing the temperature of its surroundings and decreasing the amount of food given can do this.

Breeding
Once the female is mature she should be allowed to feed up for a few weeks before mating and the same goes for the mature male although he will probably only take one or two items before beginning to wander in search of a mate. When the male is introduced into the females' container, he will almost certainly be eager to mate. First he will spend some time on the outskirts of the web, testing it with his forelegs and vibrating his body occasionally. Moving further towards the centre he then cuts a hole near the hub and secures his mating line. Sitting on this line he begins to pluck out his courtship message and eventually persuades the female to climb onto his mating thread. If she is willing to mate, she will follow him onto the line and the male approaches slowly until he touches her with his first pair of legs, vibrating his body continuously. When close enough, he jumps towards her and she responds by quickly grabbing him and pulling him close to her sternum with the tips of her legs. The male then inserts his palps very briefly and if he's lucky, jumps free of the females grasp whom by this time has decided that he'd probably make a better meal than a mate! The male usually escapes after the first couple of pairings except for the loss of a leg or two but old or severely handicapped males tend to fall victim to the female. Another method of pairing A. lobata is possible which reduces the risk to the male and this involves predicting the time of the females maturing moult. If this can he successfully determined, the male should be introduced approx. 24 hours preceding the moult and he will sense that she's not mature and simply wait near her until she moults. As she begins to moult, the male moves in and mates with the vulnerable female who is in no position to do him any harm.

Egg sac construction and incubation
The females appetite will be ferocious after mating, tackling almost anything, which falls into her web; adult crickets, locusts and even large moths will be eagerly taken. Soon, depending on the conditions of warmth etc., the egg sac will be laid. If the spider is housed in an 'orb frame', the sac will be constructed on the outskirts of the web near one of the top corners. Construction takes place at night and is a lengthy affair, the final product being a cup-like structure made up of several types of silk. Inside the egg case is filled with wool-like silk to give the eggs maximum protection and the outer covering is made up of tough, waterproof silk. The top is finally covered with more wool-like silk. In the natural environment the egg sac would be attached to nearby vegetation but in captivity, the sac is suspended from a mesh of several construction threads. A female will produce up to three egg cases, each one becoming progressively smaller and they will all be built close to each other in the same corner. In the wild the eggs spend the winter months within the sac and emerge as the weather becomes warmer but incubation times in captivity can he reduced easily to as little as four months. The eggs should be left with female (or until after she has died) then they should be removed and stored at a lower temperature for the following four weeks. After this simulated 'winter' period, simply place the egg sac in a large ventilated box returning it to the warmer conditions and after one to two weeks later, the spiderlings will begin to hatch. They should be sprayed regularly upon emerging and after a further week or so, they will moult and can be separated.

Longevity
A. lobata females can live up to 13 months in captivity but the males die soon after maturing. Infertile egg cases will be laid by unmated females, but for some unknown reason, the spider tends to drop all the eggs onto the floor of the cage, something which doesn't happen when the eggs are fertile.

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