Well this was entertaining.....

pavel

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 18, 2008
Messages
390
So here we have one of my newest additions -- a Psalmopoeus irminia sling. Got the little bugger from John Apple at the last Taylor show. (Darn the man! I was only supposed to come back with 1 new T!)

Psalmopoeus irminia sling Oct 2011.JPG

Anyway, upon my return from visiting the parental units upstate, I picked up some crickets to feed the hungry masses.

I tossed a small cricket (though it was still large compared to the sling -- the cricket's body was at least as big as the sling's body) in with the sling figuring if it was bigger than the sling wanted to deal with, then I would feed it to another critter. Well the sling, which was originally on the substrate, quickly scrambled up to a position approximately a centimeter above the media. The cricket, stupid thing that it is, stands on its hind legs and drums on the sling with its antennae before finally moving a centimeter or two away toward the center of the cube. The sling just sat there so I thought perhaps the cricket was too intimidating.

Here's where I really wish I could have filmed the sling in slow motion as what happened next was kind of a blur. I'm not sure if the sling grabbed the cricket, bounced up and off the back wall of the cube, and then landed with the cricket back on the substrate. Or if the sling jumped to the back wall of the cube, ricocheted off the back wall of the cube, to land/tackle the cricket. All I know I saw was a blur of motion ending with the sling standing on its head with its hindmost legs sticking up in the air while it gripped the cricket in a headlock.

 

cnapple

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
152
LOL, I love when they do that. :) P. irminia slings tend to be big scaredy-cats when it comes to feeding on large crickets IME. I guess he just figured "screw it, I'm going to conquer my fears". ;)
 

stewstew8282

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 16, 2011
Messages
166
i found my p irminia sling was a very vicious eater too, the way he tackled his prey sometimes was just wow
 
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