That Arachnid Keeper

A picture from a journal I’m writing on Hypochilus pococki. Should be finished sometime around summer if I’m lucky enough to find a male between now and then.  Juvenile female Hypochilus pococki showing how well they blend into their natural environment.

Haha! Thank you very much. I’m getting back into the swing of things regarding this, but it’s taken a bit, as things generally tend to die down during the fall and winter months. :)

This is an old collection of information documented by me back in 2013 regarding the species of Brachistosternus negrei. Journal start date is back in April of 2013. 04/18/13, General Brachistosternus negrei information: Today, Thursday, April 18th, 2013, I obtained 7 Brachistosternus negrei, one of which was sexed as a definite male. Brachistosternus negrei is of the Genera Brachistosternus, which is contained within the family: Bothriuridae, which contains Bothriurus, Brachistosternus, Urophonius and many more Genera. Brachistosternus negrei is native to Chile. I housed them on a mixture of substrates to find which are the most suitable ranging from Full Coconut fiber ONLY (Dry.) to 70/30 Sand/Coconut fiber. The adults which were housed in enclosures with a higher percentage of coconut fiber began burrowing immediately, however each which is in an enclosure which has 50% or more Coconut fiber have also begun burrowing a bit after. Very feisty species as well. When unpacking them and taking them out of their small holding containers I exhaled through my nose, which made one go into a stinging frenzy. When more care information is known for this species (I'll be posting care info as I observe them more), I will write a fully detailed journal about them, detailing information on sexing, ideal substrate and much more. 04/22/13, Brachistosternus negrei substrate/sexing information: It's been about Three days since I've housed my B. negrei, and every single one of them is doing perfect. Brachistosternus negrei are a burrowing species, however it's not required so long as they have adequate hides and such (Like all Burrowing species.) Their feeding response is amazing, and they've immediately taken anything offered with no hesitation. I'm keeping my B. negrei at room temperature (72F-74F) as they're from Chile, and I've heard that all Chilean species don't handle temperatures above 85F very well. I housed my B. negrei in 6.5 QT plastic stack-able tubs with varying amounts of mixed substrate ranging from 70%/30% Sand/Coconut fiber to 80%/20% Coconut Fiber/Sand. Specimens which have a coconut fiber content higher than 50% in their substrate have been burrowing and are completely thriving. Specimens which have a Sand content higher than 60% burrow somewhat, but they don't seem to care to and are relying on their hides (Cork Bark in their enclosures.) more than burrowing. Sexing of Brachistosternus species is very easy, as Male specimens have a "Spur" within the inner side of their fixed Pedipalp finger, whereas females of this species do not. This is the easiest way I've found to sex Brachistosternus species, and it works with Brachistosternus negrei and Brachistosternus castroi. Another way of sexing is by observing the Telson, which is densely granulated in male specimens, but very sparsely granulated in female specimens. There's really no need to bother with sexing through checking the granulation of the Telson unless you're purely curious, as the "spur" is well pronounced. I've tried to find information on the full Pectinal tooth count of B. negrei as well, but I've only found the following information: ♀ 31/31, ♂ 34/34 (Left and right Pectines respectively.). If anyone has any information about the full amount of Pectinal teeth a Brachistosternus negrei has, feel free to send me a note or comment. Any additional input is appreciated if I left anything out which should have been covered in this journal, and I'm willing to answer questions as well. 04/23/13, Brachistosternus negrei sexing results: I'm sure anyone who has read this, or my past journal entries on scorpions has wondered why I'm even bothering to keep a journal for their pairing attempts, as they're just scorpions.. Well, scorpions of the genus Brachistosternus are nearly impossible to successfully breed in the U.S., due to how everyone keeps them generally either too hot or too humid, so I'm hoping to keep this journal, and if I'm successful I will show it to them. I'll be doing this with scorpions which haven't had much success being introduced into the U.S., and also with many U.S. species. Early on 4-23-13, around 10:45 A.M. I decided it was a good time to sex my Brachistosternus negrei and see what their genders are. The ideal female to male ratio would have most likely been 5/2, however, so long as there are more females than males it doesn't exactly matter too much. I determined their sex through checking for the "spur" on their fixed Pedipalp finger, and as a result of this, I found out the amount of females to males I have was still extremely favorable. Four females and Three Males, which is still a very good result, considering that their sex wasn't guaranteed when purchased from the stock from my friends import. I'm going to be introducing the males into the females enclosures one at a time, and watching them in case any fighting were to occur. I'll introduce each male after one has mated or has needed separation from the female he is with. I'm trying to decide whether I should record my mating attempts in case of failure/success so I may turn to them for reference in case some of the other pairing attempts fail. Brachistosternus negrei are either extremely skittish or extremely confrontational from what I've observed from these specimens, which may mean I'll have a very hard time with pairing these; an example of this would be how I've breathed on these when exhaling through my nose, making them either become extremely agitated or extremely skittish. Gender results are extremely favorable, as I've mentioned above, so here's to hoping that everything goes smoothly. 04/26/13, Brachistosternus negrei feeding response information: I'm writing this while I'm rather sleepy, so my apologies if I seem as though I'm rambling. As of today (4-26-13), I have fed my Brachistosternus negrei, and their feeding response was amazing and also very amusing. As I've mentioned before in other journals, they're very aggressive/confrontational, and when one of the roaches so much as touched one, it would chase it if need be. Two of my Brachistosternus negrei ended up latching onto a small clump of Coconut fiber and flipping themselves and the roach over in a stinging frenzy while they grabbed them, which was rather amusing. I've kept specimens in the past which haven't been fed roaches even once throughout their entire life cycle, and it's always a very hard road getting them to take Blatta lateralis roaches, but these seem to have absolutely no problem taking them from the get-go. I would normally never say that a non-Buthid species has an aggressive feeding response, as I've kept very easily agitated Leiurus quinquestriatus, Buthus malhommei, Androctonus australis/bicolor/mauritanicus and many more buthids, but these seem to top those even due to the fact that they'll give chase to their prey when they've noticed it or the prey has touched them. Aside from their feeding response, each specimen is doing incredibly well! Even though a few were rather weak due to the ride over, after I got them situated, their strength seemed to return very slowly, and they're now back to their easily agitated selves. I know this journal isn't as good as my others when it comes to facts, however I'm trying to keep track of everything I've observed about them, be it substrate, sexing methods, feeding habits, etc. 04/30/13, Brachistosternus negrei mating attempt failure 1: Today, 4-30-13, I attempted pairing my Brachistosternus negrei pair, which ended about as bad as a scorpion pairing can. Male was interested and locked pedipalps with my female and was slowly moving into position, and when he had finally gotten near an object in the females enclosure, she began to sting him, which made me swiftly separate them, moving them apart with tongs and then swiftly moving the male to a holding deli cup. I suppose they could have fought over territory until one was left, however it still sucked.. Ah well.. Try again later. 04/30/13, Brachistosternus negrei mating attempt failure 2: So, I decided to risk another mating attempt, and it seems as though B. negrei are aggressive maters.. I've recorded a video that anyone may view at any time if they would like. Brachistosternus negrei males approach females slowly and cautiously, showing obvious interest by vibrating his body repeatedly. He then did something I've never seen, but I've heard of Androctonus doing.. He stung her, subdued her, and then clasped her pedipalps, so that's something new on the mating behavior of B. negrei. As he was moving the female, he approached some cork bark in the enclosure, however the female broke up the mating attempt. Was rather nice to see progress at the very least, so hopefully tomorrow it goes better. 05/05/13, Brachistosternus negrei pairing information: Since I haven't wrote a journal lately about how my Brachistosternus negrei behave or anything, I figured I may as well post some information about them. While having two enclosures with males and open lids around a female, they have elevated their body in what is called "Stilting", it's generally a means of elevating the body off flat surfaces to allow for cooling of their bodies, however it only happens if they're near the female, so I have to assume that it's a way to pick up pheromones or another alternative. I've noticed that they're aggressive breeders, and do things akin to Androctonus, such as the male approaching the female, doing what I can only describe as "juddering" until he gets close to the female, in which event he will subdue the female by stinging her once and lock his pedipalps to whatever he's able to clasp, he will then move his pedipalps from appendage up to the females and lock with them, then slowly drag her around, looking for a suitable spot to drop a spermatophore. Females of this species seem to be very finicky, as they've ended all mating attempts made by my male, even though they are adults and confirmed females. I have recorded two attempts by my male to mate with my female, and they're ready to be uploaded if anyone is interested.

Loxosceles species native to the United States are: Loxosceles apachea, Loxosceles blanda, Loxosceles reclusa, Loxosceles russelli, Loxosceles sabina, Loxosceles palma, Loxosceles martha, Loxosceles kaiba, Loxosceles devia, Loxosceles deserta, and Loxosceles arizonica. There are two species of Loxosceles which are non-native to the United States that now reside within specific areas; these two species are Loxosceles laeta and Loxosceles rufescens. Loxosceles spiders can be easily identified by the Fiddle-like shape on the Cephalothorax, they also do not construct any form of webbing, aside from when depositing eggs, they also possess a close pairing of 6 eyes, unlike that of Traditional true spiders. Venom toxicity of Loxosceles spiders is generally rather low, with VERY FEW deaths recorded which are affiliated with any species of Loxosceles, however spiders of the genus Sicarius are known to be quite a lot more venomous, and have several deaths affiliated with them, as well as much worse necrotic wounds. A study was done by an Arachnologist (Whose name escapes me currently) where he asked anyone within the United States to send him Loxosceles specimens, and anyone who sent in Loxosceles spiders would be rewarded with 100$. Among the hundreds of specimens sent in, only about 4% were actually true Loxosceles. (This says a lot about how few people actually know how to identify Loxosceles spiders) Spiders commonly misidentified as Loxosceles reclusa: Scytodes species spitting spider: While these spiders do possess a rather similar eye formation, the general body shape, abdomen, and cephalothorax are generally a dead giveaway in regards to identification. Pholcus species spiders: The common cellar spider which does construct a web (Unlike Loxosceles or Sicarius). These are a common misidentification due to the large legs and the very small abdomen and cephalothorax. Dysdera crocata, the woodlouse hunter: While these may look scary, with their fangs specially constructed to pierce that of Isopod shells, they are definitely not Loxosceles, as they do not possess the same Eye formation or tell-tale signs of a Loxosceles. They are also a cool neon-green coloration as juveniles. However, do not let this fool you into thinking these are blood-sucking monsters out to destroy you and your family, as they are generally a gentle spider that is not known to bite. They also make great additions to any Arachnid-enthusiasts collection, however they are to be kept with the utmost care and respect, as even though they are not inclined to bite, it is best not to take chances. (Pictures are of an adult female Loxosceles reclusa that I possessed in July of 2013. Care is easy, and if you have any questions or comments as to this article, please do not hesitate to message me. Thank you for reading!)

Facts about Hypochilidae spiders: Lampshade spiders, which belong to the two genera’s known as Ectatosticta, and Hypochilus, belong to the Superfamily Hypochoilidae, and the basal family Hypochilidae. Hypochilid spiders are the only known True spiders to possess two book lungs, which are generally only possessed by spiders within the designation Mygalomorphae (Primitive spiders possessing two book lungs and downwards functioning fangs, which act as downward swung pickaxes), such as Trap door spiders, Tarantulas, etc.  Unlike Mygalomorphs however they do not possess downwards functioning fangs, but instead possess intersecting fangs such as a typical Araneomorph (Which is why they are not within the classification of Mygalomorphae). Hypochilid spiders are generally found within several hundred feet of water sources, such as streams, waterfalls, and so on. Hypochilus have been observed up to 500 feet away from a water source by me, however they are TYPICALLY found more often within 300 feet of a water source. Hypochilid spiders generally construct a web which has been likened to that of a “Lampshade” which they TYPICALLY construct within crevices between rocks and on underhangs of rock faces, however they have been observed upon vertical rock faces and tree roots (This provides information on opportunities as to captive hobby rearing and also rearing them for laboratory studies). Generally Hypochilid spiders (From my observations) typically prefer to make webs near waterfalls, as they feed upon small invertebrates, including the glowing fungus Orfelia gnat (Which glows during the larval stage to attract prey) found around them, and they may possibly feed upon small vertebrates including juvenile Salamanders and the like. The family Hypochilidae possesses two genera’s (Went over this above), which are Hypochilus and Ectatosticta. Ectatosticta are found within China, whereas Hypochilus are found within the Eastern and Western United States. Ten species are found within the United States, whereas only two are found within China. These spiders are also Cribellates, which possess a “Cribellum” (Such as Kukulcania spiders and the like) which is a non-typical silk spinning organ unlike that of the Spinneret (Possessed by a larger majority of spiders). It is considered a possibility that Hypochilus spiders possess the ability to camouflage themselves upon their background through the process of molting (A camouflaged Hypochilus is pictured above). I am currently raising a test group of the species native to North Carolina in captivity and have had success keeping them in enclosures with vertical wood, and currently have one specimen that has taken to captivity by making a web and taking prey (To my knowledge, I am the first to do this, or at the very least the first to document it). (All photographs are mine. Do not use them without permission.)

So, I felt it would be appropriate to use my Tumblr to talk about Cupiennius salei, or "The Tree Frog Hunting spider". These are commonly referred to as "The American Wandering Spider" as well, and they are housed within the same grouping as Phoneutria (The Brazilian Wandering spider Genus which is within another subfamily known as Phoneutriinae. BWS's are known to cause very odd problems with male anatomy), the "Wandering Spiders". These are typically the spiders that you generally see associated with eggsacs planted on Banana's, and they have been introduced into Germany through imported Banana's from Central America. Along with being one of the quickest spiders, rivaling that of Sparassidae (Huntsman spiders, some of which are generally known to be the fastest in the world), they seem to rely heavily on transportation through small jumps, along with their running speed (This is observed due to personal observations whilst rehousing them). Among hobbyists, Cupiennius are generally believed to be the least venomous of any Ctenidae. They do not construct any form of webbing, and rely heavily upon their speed and their small jumping ability to capture prey. (Pictured is a Juvenile Cupiennius salei that I came into possession of on 07-02-2014.)

Collected 11 specimens yesterday, and one died on the way home. 10 remaining specimens will be used in husbandry research on how to raise these within captivity.

An adult female Loxosceles reclusa (Brown recluse) which I kept about a year ago. Originally had two of these, as I started keeping spiders within the Sicariidae family (Sicarius terrosus, too!) Was kept on dry substrate with an upside down sauce cup, and fed roaches weekly.. Great species to work with, and ridiculously calm!

Three Compsobuthus schmiedeknechti's sharing a Blatta lateralis roach within a communal enclosure. Compsobuthus schmiedeknechti are a species from the family Buthidae which are found in Israel. They're a dwarf species which are communal to some extent, and there are two separate forms of them within Israel.

Adult male Sicarius terrosus (Six-eyed sand spider) the day I rehomed him. This particular specimen, along with my other four were collected in Chile. Sand spiders bury themselves, lying in wait to ambush prey once spotted. They belong in the same family (Sicariidae) as the genus Loxosceles (Recluse spiders), and possess a necrotic compound which is quite stronger than that of a Loxosceles spider. Accompanying video of one of my adult females taking prey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hxxbNwhIz4

Might as well start this off with a picture of an adult female Liocheles australasiae with fresh 2nd instar scorplings. Liocheles australasiae is a harmless species within the family Hemiscorpiidae that lives within several high humidity countries, including the Philippines. They are a parthenogenetic species (asexual), that reaches about 3cm maximum size.