Not a true spider, but not a tarantula either

[Mr. Mordax]

Antrodiaetus pacificus. Found under a piece of wood in Troutdale, Oregon.

http://mrmordax.net/albums/trapdoor/trapdoor_01.sized.jpg (http://mrmordax.net/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=trapdoor)

Click above photo to see the rest. Pics courtesy FunnyLori, camera courtesy DragonTears.

I showed this to a few entomologists -- definitely an adult female, and potentially gravid.

[Hamburglar]

Great find... what is the approximate size?

[Rick McJimsey]

Very cool!
This is my Fav sp. of non-T mygalomorphs, they are very underrated
@ hamburgalar, they are quite small, with adults seldom reaching over 1", however I did find a molt over 1.5".
Good luck with the breeding Mike, I've just got one sling left from my breeding last year.
Here's a thread I made with some more pics and such CLICK (http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=136837&highlight=Antrodiaetus).

[Mr. Mordax]

The legspan of this one is a little under an inch. The entomologists I spoke with said there's other species in the area that are large enough to tackle vertebrate prey -- they were actually a little surprised at how small this girl was.

[jsloan]

Antrodiaetus pacificus. Found under a piece of wood in Troutdale, Oregon.

Interesting. I lived in Corvallis about 30 years ago. I, too, found A. pacificus under boards; mine were in a drainage ditch off the side of a city road. The males will be out in the fall, wandering around looking for females.

What was the larger spider the entomologist was talking about (species name)? I never found any others while I was there.

[Hamburglar]

Very cool... thanks for the info.

[Mr. Mordax]

Jsloan, I didn't get a species name from the entomologists. I'll have to ask them next time I stop by (they wanted me to bring her by when she's settled into her habitat so they can get some "natural"-looking photos of her).

I didn't know this species occured in Corvallis! I'll have to look more carefully then. I knew of at least one researcher who was looking for an elusive species and finally found it here.

A slight update, I set her up in a mini habitat yesterday (damp soil, leaf litter, and a piece of very spongey dead wood) and have since not seen her. I'll keep an eye out for a turret in the next couple of days and then offer her some food.

[upwith inverts!]

Looks premolt. Unless that's different from Ts too.

[Mr. Mordax]

These guys don't have the fur that tarantulas do, so bald spots or darkening isn't a good indicator . . . if you're referring to the dark spot on the abdomen that's visible in the photo, that would be the single tergite females of this species posess (males have three).