Lycosid ID

[LeilaNami]

Hey guys having trouble IDing her. The closest I could get was Hogna sp. though I'm not sure if that is correct. One of four caught in the DFW area. I kept another um...less gravid female (at least I'm assuming she is considering that rear she's dragging around behind her) {D I would have no idea what to do with the egg sac. Three were female and all fairly large. This one was the largest. Found one male a couple feet away from her burrow. Sorry for the blurriness of the pictures.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h29/LeilaNami/wolfspider.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h29/LeilaNami/wolfspider2.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h29/LeilaNami/wolfspider3.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h29/LeilaNami/wolfspider4.jpg

[Widowman10]

yep, hogna. try helluo? maybe... just a guess.

google some pics of that and let us know.

[ScottySalticid]

I can't tell you the species.

I CAN tell you that I'll eat my hat if you keep it and it doesn't lay a sac.

[LeilaNami]

yep, hogna. try helluo? maybe... just a guess.

google some pics of that and let us know.

The appearance is similar but the average leg span I had read was less than an inch and this was obviously much larger {D

Scotty I will join you in that meal if she wasn't gravid. Unfortunately I won't know since I didn't keep this one :}

[Widowman10]

The appearance is similar but the average leg span I had read was less than an inch and this was obviously much larger {D


yeah, bull crap is helluo legspan less than an inch. it's one of the larger/est wolf spiders in the states.

heck, the body size alone is almost an inch...

[LeilaNami]

yeah, bull crap is helluo legspan less than an inch. it's one of the larger/est wolf spiders in the state.

Well then I guess I had suspected right then {D helluo was the closest match I found.

[Widowman10]

Well then I guess I had suspected right then {D helluo was the closest match I found.

helluo is just a guess. it's pretty hard to narrow it down to a species with hogna b/c many of the patterns are so doggone close. and patterns (just like with widows) can vary among individuals. hopefully we got it right though!

[loxoscelesfear]

h. georgicola?

[ScottySalticid]

Scotty I will join you in that meal if she wasn't gravid. Unfortunately I won't know since I didn't keep this one :}

Well that means you gotta pay then. ;P

[LeilaNami]

Well that means you gotta pay then. ;P

Haha ok what's your paypal? ;)

I fed the female I kept and she's an awesome feeder. I've never kept a true spider I enjoy to feed as much as my Ts.

Lox, yeah they're native here too but when I positively IDed one a while back, it didn't seem to look quite like this or quite as big.

Widowman, I found a couple pictures on bugguide that matched the pattern she has but it seems a few different species has the same striping as the others. I narrowed down by the carapace striping but as you said, it's hard to tell them apart with all the variants.

[ScottySalticid]

Haha ok what's your paypal? ;)

I fed the female I kept and she's an awesome feeder. I've never kept a true spider I enjoy to feed as much as my Ts.

You think wolfies are awesome, you should give jumpers a shot too. :cool:

This reminds me of yesterday. My big wolfie laid a sac and was pretty thin. I dropped in a huge cricket to see what would happen and WHAMMO. She nabbed it literally right after it hit the floor. Pretty sure she can go a month without feeding now :D lol.

[LeilaNami]

You think wolfies are awesome, you should give jumpers a shot too. :cool:

This reminds me of yesterday. My big wolfie laid a sac and was pretty thin. I dropped in a huge cricket to see what would happen and WHAMMO. She nabbed it literally right after it hit the floor. Pretty sure she can go a month without feeding now :D lol.

Oh yeah mine ate a biggie too. I think it was gone in 20 minutes. :eek:

[ScottySalticid]

Oh yeah mine ate a biggie too. I think it was gone in 20 minutes. :eek:

wow it took my girl a few hours to down hers! how big is yours anyway?

[Moultmaster]

Hogna carolinensis perhaps. Looks like the big female I have at work.

[LeilaNami]

wow it took my girl a few hours to down hers! how big is yours anyway?

a smidge smaller than the one in the picture,,,just not as fat lol

[Widowman10]

Hogna carolinensis perhaps. Looks like the big female I have at work.

nah, not a caro.

[LeilaNami]

weeeelll the individual I chose specifically because she didn't look gravid...made me an egg sac a few days ago {D

[cacoseraph]

The appearance is similar but the average leg span I had read was less than an inch and this was obviously much larger {D

Scotty I will join you in that meal if she wasn't gravid. Unfortunately I won't know since I didn't keep this one :}

are you sure it was leg span you were reading about? *generally* when i read about true spiders and just one measurement is given it is body length, NOT legspan

[LeilaNami]

are you sure it was leg span you were reading about? *generally* when i read about true spiders and just one measurement is given it is body length, NOT legspan

ah ok that would make sense. The size given was .74" but I guess I assumed legspan :o

[Widowman10]

yeah, bull crap is helluo legspan less than an inch.

heck, the body size alone is almost an inch...

are you sure it was leg span you were reading about? *generally* when i read about true spiders and just one measurement is given it is body length, NOT legspan

exactly ;)

interesting how this varies between T's and trues...

[jsloan]

exactly ;)

interesting how this varies between T's and trues...

How true! My L. parahybana recently molted, for example. Think I measured its body length? No way! I measured its leg span. :)

I agree, though, that usually what is measured is body length. It's more accurate to do so, I think.

[Widowman10]

It's more accurate to do so, I think.

i agree. more accurate in a couple different ways.

[LeilaNami]

Any idea what I should do with my impending spider army? {D

[cacoseraph]

Any idea what I should do with my impending spider army? {D

let them canni to a manageable number and keep the next gen as pets

one thing you should not do is let them go. i know, i know... it seems like such a good idea. but that is how diseases and other pathogens can be spread from the hobby to the wide world... and that should be just about the last thing any of us want to do





as for BL vs DLS and LS.... pretty much they all have dis/advantages. BL can be somewhat variable based on how well or under fed and hydrated a spider is... some species can probably have a 10-20% sway there. the LS measurements are annoying cuz the convention is NOT to have the legs stretched out flat, but ot have them "natural" whatever that is. so there is a 10-40% sway there. for true spiders, there is more of a variation between species in ratio of BL to LS.... consider something like a shorter legged gnaphosidae ground spider, that might have a ratio of 1:2 BL:LS compared to a pholcus sp which might have a ratio passing 1:10

in reality the best bet is probably to always label your own measurements, and always try to be aware of what the context of any text you are reading is

[LeilaNami]

let them canni to a manageable number and keep the next gen as pets

one thing you should not do is let them go. i know, i know... it seems like such a good idea. but that is how diseases and other pathogens can be spread from the hobby to the wide world... and that should be just about the last thing any of us want to do


I'm a firm believer in that if the animal is kept for an extended period. I don't plan on releasing mom so I'll just watch the civil war. {D

[cacoseraph]

well, obviously as the length of time a creature is kept in cap is increased the chance and likelihood of pathogen transmission increases... but any time greater than 0 = a possibility greater than 0.... so unless one has a clean room set up for new arrivals with quite strict and clever protocols in place once one bring something home it really should stay home


a spitball e.g.:
a spider is brought home and fed a cricket. the cricket has a non-native/non-local grain mite infection. (normally this is pretty much harmless to a collection and happens quite often.) the spider feeds on the cricket and is now carrying mites (and they would also be introduced to her substrate). later the spider makes an eggsac... but manages to weave a few mites into the sac. the mites go dormant and thus last the length of ~gestation. the sac hatches into 147 babies.... 3 of which are now carrying mites, which have gone to hypopus phase and are attached in places you can't readily see. the baby spiders are released.... and an invasive species has just been introduced to the local environment. i readily grant... most of the time an invasive species is not going to establish itself, for a variety of reasons. BUT a parthenogenic pathogen/species introduced to an area of compatible environment? something like that is not hard to see establishing itself!

[LeilaNami]

well, obviously as the length of time a creature is kept in cap is increased the chance and likelihood of pathogen transmission increases... but any time greater than 0 = a possibility greater than 0.... so unless one has a clean room set up for new arrivals with quite strict and clever protocols in place once one bring something home it really should stay home


a spitball e.g.:
a spider is brought home and fed a cricket. the cricket has a non-native/non-local grain mite infection. (normally this is pretty much harmless to a collection and happens quite often.) the spider feeds on the cricket and is now carrying mites (and they would also be introduced to her substrate). later the spider makes an eggsac... but manages to weave a few mites into the sac. the mites go dormant and thus last the length of ~gestation. the sac hatches into 147 babies.... 3 of which are now carrying mites, which have gone to hypopus phase and are attached in places you can't readily see. the baby spiders are released.... and an invasive species has just been introduced to the local environment. i readily grant... most of the time an invasive species is not going to establish itself, for a variety of reasons. BUT a parthenogenic pathogen/species introduced to an area of compatible environment? something like that is not hard to see establishing itself!

I understand that which is why I don't release if I can help it. The only animal I've done that with was a copperhead because he wouldn't eat in captivity.

[Craig]

well, obviously as the length of time a creature is kept in cap is increased the chance and likelihood of pathogen transmission increases... but any time greater than 0 = a possibility greater than 0.... so unless one has a clean room set up for new arrivals with quite strict and clever protocols in place once one bring something home it really should stay home


a spitball e.g.:
a spider is brought home and fed a cricket. the cricket has a non-native/non-local grain mite infection. (normally this is pretty much harmless to a collection and happens quite often.) the spider feeds on the cricket and is now carrying mites (and they would also be introduced to her substrate). later the spider makes an eggsac... but manages to weave a few mites into the sac. the mites go dormant and thus last the length of ~gestation. the sac hatches into 147 babies.... 3 of which are now carrying mites, which have gone to hypopus phase and are attached in places you can't readily see. the baby spiders are released.... and an invasive species has just been introduced to the local environment. i readily grant... most of the time an invasive species is not going to establish itself, for a variety of reasons. BUT a parthenogenic pathogen/species introduced to an area of compatible environment? something like that is not hard to see establishing itself!

Not like I ever take animals out of the wild anyways (I think it is wrong) but you have a really excellent point! That is a really smart way of thinking.

[LeilaNami]

OK well my spider army idea is disbanded since she ate her egg sac today...It was kinda flat and brownish so I guess I'm safe to assume it was a dud?