Latouchia batuensis

[Brownsberg]

Lately I was interested in acquiring a trapdoor spider, browsing on the forums I found several species that were interesting. At one of the german online shops I saw Latouchia batuensis (Thai or Burmees black and red trapdoor) amongst species like Stasimopus, Gorgyrella. Then last sunday I was was on on a reptile and invertebrate exhibition and saw a german dealer who coincidentally had a view species of tropical trap door species, he showed me his last Latouchia batuensis, and I was sold. Incredible what a nice little spider, a real looker. The only drawback is that it is incredible aggresive, as soon as I take the lid of it goes in to threat posture even atacking and raising the lid. Altough a small in comparison to a birdspider, The chelicera are huge, it's a bulldog amongst spiders.

Not so much info on this species, anybody got any info on it's toxicity?
From what I understand trapdoors are generally more venemous than tarantulas. B.t.w. is it actually a trapdoor or more of a purseweb spider?

[cacoseraph]

platnick says it is ctenizidae which are more trapdoor afaik

http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/CTENIZIDAE.html

[josh_r]

these guys dont really make a trapdoor. they make a burrow very similar to a tarantula. no trapdoor, no purseweb, no funnel web, no turret. just a hole in the ground with web all over it. i have a good friend who keeps 4 of these and they all show teh exact same characteristic.

[cacoseraph]

really?

i remember reading an article about L. batuensis that was about entophagous mold that pushes open the the Lb's trapdoor. i think i have a link somewhere...
ah.
just a Latouchia but not ID'ed to species
http://www.european-arachnology.org/proceedings/19th/Haupt.PDF

[josh_r]

my buddy says they make a silk matt over their burrow during the day and at night, they push their legs through it and part it like a curtain and sit and wait. i thought it was wierd too. i dunno.

[josh_r]

ahhh ive heard of latouchia making a tube that lays flat agains the ground and they pop out the end. from the pic in the paper, it looks like that is what it is. not quite a trapdoor. we have yet to see the L. batuensis do this or a trapdoor. maybe he just has retarded spiders. :? he has had them for a long time too.... theyre retarded...

[MaartenSFS]

That sounds like a purseweb. :?

[josh_r]

no, not a purse web. a purseweb is a long tube that they bite through. this it more a little flat tube like androdiatus make that they pop out of the end to grab stuff.