Questions aimed at californians(or who ever wants to join in)haha

Sequin

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
415
okay, im heading down to south california in about two weeks for a while, and i was curious what tarantulas thrived there.... I looked on the internet and i found a couple sites saying aphonopelma chalcodes are common there..
1. is this a load of crock? :)
2. How is common defined?
3. Where would i go about looking for these? Like under logs or what?
4. Is there any other species located in southern california?
and then once these questions are answered im going to phone the airline and see if i can bring T's on the plane? haha if not i shall sneek it on...then i will be caught and put on national news as the phsyco who tried to sneak a tarantula on a plane in her underwear. ;P ..jk jk Okay thanx for any help
~Meagan~
 

Paladin

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 20, 2002
Messages
535
um where in socal are u headed? ive found a couple aphonopelmas here in san diego but nothing to write home about. i found a nice female out at dusk in a canyon and a couple smaller ones under rocks. not the best advice but maybe someone else will be more informative

1. dunno if chalcodes is most prominent here...its a possibility but i know we have a couple species running about. i thought chalcodes was more in arizona and east of arizona....
2. cant answer that one.....
3.try open fields under rocks/logs or search for tarantula burrows and try flooding them
4.there are t's down here just not sure on the species

and about the plane. the easiest thing to do would be to ship anything u catch back home. but since your from canada that might be a problem. hm...i dunno buddy we'll see what someone else with more experience has to say
 

mouse

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 3, 2004
Messages
603
i have not seen any... but i heard there are 2 types.
if you get to fresno (there is a 3rd annual meetining at the tarantula ranch)
they'll have a trip into the sierra foothills early in the morning (6am), then lunch, checking out their tarantulas and some info, breeding, BBQ,another trip in the evening where you can collect some locals. then the next morning they might go again (san joaquin vqlly i think, not sure).
i'd like to go, but we got no car....maby next year
just thought if you get down that way you could check out the Tarantula ranch.. it's in fresno and the meeting is september 11th, starting at 6 am.
good luck
 

Crotalus

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
2,433
1. is this a load of crock?

No chalcodes in CA.
A. etylenum are light colored and might be mistaken for chalcodes.

2. How is common defined?

As opposed to rare...

3. Where would i go about looking for these? Like under logs or what?

Finding burrows in slopes.

4. Is there any other species located in southern california?

According to Smith there are 17 species in CA, and most part in southern CA.

/Lelle
 

GQ.

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 12, 2002
Messages
767
I can tell you a bit about San Diego county species. The San Diego Natural History museum lists four species in San Diego county.

Aphonopelma eutylenum
Aphonopelma reversum
Aphonopelma steindachneri
Aphonopelma sp. #1 ('eutylenum' type)

I have found Aphonopelma eutylenum and also Aphonopelma 'eutylenum' type within 5 minutes from my house. A. eutylenum adults are a beautiful, uniform dark chocolate brown color. A. 'eutylenum' type specimens are more multi colored. Their legs are brownish, their abdomen is black with reddish hairs, and the body is brown to dark brown. There are quite a few burrows that I regularly check on during hikes. There are also about a bajillion trap door spider burrows in the area. I will try to photograph one of the T burrows with one of the tarantulas in it this afternoon. I have been told that if you head out further east from San Diego you can find reversum. I have never tried looking for them out there though. Good luck.

Gilbert
 

jesses

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Messages
404
~AnimalQueen~ said:
okay, im heading down to south california in about two weeks for a while, and i was curious what tarantulas thrived there.... I looked on the internet and i found a couple sites saying aphonopelma chalcodes are common there..
1. is this a load of crock? :)
2. How is common defined?
3. Where would i go about looking for these? Like under logs or what?
I've personally only seen A. Iodius in California but probably you could find a lot of others, A. Henzi, Chalcodes, etc.

They are very common. I have seen colonies of hundreds if not thousands of them. Fall seems to be the best time to find them as this is when the males are running about looking for females. If you get a good male, you might even be able to use the male to get some females out of their burrows.

The best place to find them seems to be in the mountain areas on sloping ground, usually in very hot/dry areas, I'm talking over 100 degrees. We've been collecting them by walking along the firelines on the highways that run through the mountains.
 

Sequin

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
415
Okay thanx to all i have printed this info out....hehe...
@mouse... awww i would love to go to that unfortunetly i have to be back for scool on the 9 0r 10 of sept:'(
@lelle ... lol i meant for the common question..like...
they say moose are popular in BC yet i only see them once a month
@GQ... thanx id love to see a pic...
 

GQ.

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 12, 2002
Messages
767
I just took a quick trip out to find some tarantulas. My daughter and I found eight burrows in 30 minutes. She even found three burrows by herself. A first for her! We flushed a couple of them out of their burrows with water. We snapped a few pictures and returned them to their burrows. Sometimes it is tough to get them to go back in so I devised a little trick. I situate the tarantula over the burrow and cover the tarantula with a small butter dish. With nowhere to go they scoot into their burrow all on their own.

The first picture is of me in their habitat. You can see a tarantula at the bottom of my shirt and just above my hand. It is bone dry out! All the grasses are dead. There are hardly any other inverts out. I spotted a few Pepsis wasps and that is about it. We need rain very badly.
 

Attachments

jesses

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Messages
404
GQ. said:
I just took a quick trip out to find some tarantulas. My daughter and I found eight burrows in 30 minutes.
So where is this?
 

Sequin

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
415
GQ. said:
I just took a quick trip out to find some tarantulas. My daughter and I found eight burrows in 30 minutes. She even found three burrows by herself. A first for her! We flushed a couple of them out of their burrows with water. We snapped a few pictures and returned them to their burrows. Sometimes it is tough to get them to go back in so I devised a little trick. I situate the tarantula over the burrow and cover the tarantula with a small butter dish. With nowhere to go they scoot into their burrow all on their own.

The first picture is of me in their habitat. You can see a tarantula at the bottom of my shirt and just above my hand. It is bone dry out! All the grasses are dead. There are hardly any other inverts out. I spotted a few Pepsis wasps and that is about it. We need rain very badly.

oh awesome..... 8 in half an hour!?!?! wow im phsyced now..... is there any other way of getting them out besides flushing them out??? With my luck I'D drown it...haha.... thanx again for the pics ... those are awesome and ill keep my open for em...
~meagan~
 

jesses

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Messages
404
~AnimalQueen~ said:
oh awesome..... 8 in half an hour!?!?! wow im phsyced now..... is there any other way of getting them out besides flushing them out??? With my luck I'D drown it...haha.... thanx again for the pics ... those are awesome and ill keep my open for em...
~meagan~
You can try the tickle method which is to get a really long peice of grass or a small stick and poke at them until they can't take it any more and come to attack whatever's poking them, or sometimes you can poke at their web and they'll come out to investigate, but that can take a while. Really the best way is to put some water in there and they will run out
 

GQ.

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 12, 2002
Messages
767
~AnimalQueen~ said:
oh awesome..... 8 in half an hour!?!?! wow im phsyced now..... is there any other way of getting them out besides flushing them out??? With my luck I'D drown it...haha.... thanx again for the pics ... those are awesome and ill keep my open for em...
~meagan~
I've had some luck teasing some out with a small stick maybe only once or twice. It is definitely not a sure thing. Water is the way to go. The soil is so dry that it sucks all the water up right away. The burrows do not stay filled with water. I think these Ts probably enjoy the moisture since it is so dry right now. I only flush burrows that are not plugged up with dirt. The burrows plugged with dirt contain tarantulas that are either molting or possibly tending to or making an eggsack. I've spotted burrows sealed up and have returned to see a molt outside of the burrow. I have also come back to previously sealed burrows to see them opened up and with a discarded eggsack nearby. If a burrow only has a light web over the entrance then the tarantula is ready for duty. At dusk it will remove the light webbing and wait at the entrance for a meal. They place the light webbing over the entrance during the daytime to keep out ants or other unwanted critters. I suppose you can dig them out, but it trashes their burrow and they can't use it anymore. You might also harm the tarantula while digging. I recommend not to dig. Have fun.

Gilbert
 

Sequin

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
415
Okay... well i hope there is T's like that in Anahiem...if i spelt that right..haha...
@jesses I guess i will try the water method... but you watch ill drown it:p
 

Anansi

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2003
Messages
255
~AnimalQueen~ said:
Okay... well i hope there is T's like that in Anahiem...if i spelt that right..haha...
@jesses I guess i will try the water method... but you watch ill drown it:p
Haha don't think you'll find much in Anahiem except for Disneyland and things owned by Disney...But close by there is a canyon called Carbon Canyon...It's notorious for having tarantula's...If you like you can pm me and I can tell you how to get there from Anahiem (its about 20 minutes from there)...
 

Bearskin10

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Messages
1,405
Anansi said:
Haha don't think you'll find much in Anahiem except for Disneyland and things owned by Disney...
That is pretty much what I was going to say but it looks like Shane beat me to it.... Greg
 

MizM

Arachnoprincess
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 13, 2003
Messages
4,915
GQ. said:
This photo is a close up of the tarantula. As far as I know the tarantula is an Aphonopelma 'eutylenum' type.
All of my eutylenums are a darker brown, with no pattern whatsoever.

For the best information, contact Tom Prentice, University of California, Riverside at: prentice@ucr.edu. He is OUR local expert on Aphonopelma taxonomy, is a great guy, and will be more than happy, no, he will be ENTHUSIASTIC to help you!
 
Last edited:

Sequin

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
415
MizM said:
All of my eutylenums are a darker brown, with no pattern whatsoever.

For the best information, contact Tom Prentice, University of California, Riverside at: prentice@ucr.edu. He is OUR local expert on Aphonopelma taxonomy, is a great guy, and will be more than happy, no, he will be ENTHUSIASTIC to help you!

thank you!...i will write him today... wow everyone is making this so much easier..lol
~meagan~
 

GQ.

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 12, 2002
Messages
767
MizM said:
All of my eutylenums are a darker brown, with no pattern whatsoever.

For the best information, contact Tom Prentice, University of California, Riverside at: prentice@ucr.edu. He is OUR local expert on Aphonopelma taxonomy, is a great guy, and will be more than happy, no, he will be ENTHUSIASTIC to help you!
MizM,

I agree, all the A. eutylenum I have found are uniformly dark chocolate brown with no pattern. They do not look even close, as far as color, as "Aphonopelma 'eutylenum' type". I'm not sure why they are called "Aphonopelma 'eutylenum' type", but I suspect it is simply because no one has seriously taken a look at them. I believe I talked to Tom about this awhile back. I'm aging and my memory is shorter by the minute, so I may be mistaken. Maybe I'll drop him an email about it. Rick West also thought they were probably 'eutylenum' type from a picture I sent to him.
 
Last edited:
Top