Is this a tarantula?

[Elizabeth]

OK, so then why is it not a tarantula, but it is a C. longitarsus? When I googled for C. longitarsus (arachnid), this came up:

"Aphonopelma eutylenum California woods tarantula

C. longitarsus is a medium/small sized tarantula with hairy longs legs and a span of nearly three and a half inches. As with most tarantulas, this species hunts down small insects like crickets and chews them up. This species is only found in CA, USA"


next to a picture that doesn't quite look like the spiky leg guy up top...

http://www.angelfire.com/oh3/elytraa...rthropods.html





OK. I think I found better info. There are more sites willing to call that spiky leg spider a tarantula, but the best explanation of how it is like a tarantula, but not a tarantula, is this blurb from insect hobbyist:

I sent an email message to a Dr. Vincent (a professor at Fullerton College) and he was kind enough to reply. I also found some additional links based on his information. Here's his reply:

"How nice, and unusual, to get a good physical and behavioral description. I am sure that your spider is in the genus Calisoga (formerly Brachythele) and in the family Nemesiidae (formerly Dipluridae). I mention the old names in case you have an opportunity to look up the spider in older yet common spider books (American Spiders by Gertsch and How to Know the Spiders by Kaston). I too remember how aggressive Calisoga is. You should not try to pick it up with your hands, it will bite. Although the common name is funnel-web tarantula, it is not a true tarantula. California tarantulas are docile and can be picked up by hand.

"Your find is a significant new location record for this spider. If convenient and you could collect them safely, I would appreciate a few pickled specimens (rubbing alcohol would work). I would see to it that they got sent to the right museum.

Cheers,
Lenny Vincent

(Link for picture.)

http://forum.insecthobbyist.com/tara...ages/3217.html



Interestingly, the message was from a person near Santa Cruz. I live near SC, too, and we have these Calisoga longitarsis here, too. I just assumed they were the local Ts without looking closely at the spiky (v. hairy) legs. Novak, you could just hunt over the hill, here. These are definitely around!

[cacoseraph]

OK, so then why is it not a tarantula, but it is a C. longitarsus? When I googled for C. longitarsus (arachnid), this came up:

"Aphonopelma eutylenum California woods tarantula

C. longitarsus is a medium/small sized tarantula with hairy longs legs and a span of nearly three and a half inches. As with most tarantulas, this species hunts down small insects like crickets and chews them up. This species is only found in CA, USA"

this comes down to defintions, as SO MANY of the sticky topics seem to.

basically there is no magic "tarantula" spiders. there is a group of spiders "scientifically" called myglamorphs that tend to be larger, live longer, and be hairy looking. this includes the australian funnel webs, trapdoors, tarantulas.

some ppl call all myglas tarantulas
there is a specific family in the myglamorphas called Theraphosidae that is traditionally called tarantula in the USA and maybe europe.

as far as i can tell, neither camp is "correct" as it is all a bastardization of a name given to a freakin non-myglamorph spider in the Italy area of the world. i tend to use the theraphosidae = tarantula and call the rest of the myglas "myglas" or something like that

as long as definitions are considered and/or provided things can be relatively simple. i swear half the time there are arguments on here is it because the definitions of the words being use are not agreed on by both sides.

[diadematus]

basically there is no magic "tarantula" spiders. there is a group of spiders "scientifically" called myglamorphs that tend to be larger, live longer, and be hairy looking. this includes the australian funnel webs, trapdoors, tarantulas.

To make matters worse for you:

The most famous wolf spider is certainly the Mediterranean tarantula (the name being derived from the Italian town of Taranto). True tarantulas (Lycosa, Hogna) can reach an impressive 30mm of body length, but they are not related to the big tropical "tarantulas", the mygalomorphs, also known as bird spiders.

-- Rainer Foelix, The Biology of Spiders

So, use the Latin name. (IMO)

-Kevin

[ShadowBlade]

To make matters worse for you:
-- Rainer Foelix, The Biology of Spiders

So, use the Latin name. (IMO)

-Kevin

I'd hate to see people come on the boards here and get scared away because everyone was saying 'Hairy mygalamorph' as opposed to 'Tarantula'. Nobody gets the two confused. Atleast as much as I've seen.

They're scientific, not always latin, names.

[cacoseraph]

To make matters worse for you:
-- Rainer Foelix, The Biology of Spiders

So, use the Latin name. (IMO)

-Kevin

the Lycosa tarantula has a pretty cool story attached to it. in the middle ages (or renaissance but back aways) peasants believed that when the Lycosa bit them they would either 1) be compelled to dance to exhaustion from the bite or 2) the would die unless they danced to exhaustion to somehow quell the power of the venom. there is a lively dance and/or music style called the tarentella (or something, it is a variation on tarantula at any rate) that arose from these crazy spider dances. personally i think the peasants liked to party by the Roman Catholic church wouldn't let them have any fun so this phenomenon sort of arouse as a like, social outlet for them.

these lycosa (what we call wolf spiders now) were pretty large (`3" legspan, i think) and heavy bodied. when the old world explorers saw the new world theraphosidae they called them tarantulas, after the largest spiders they knew (yes, i know there are tarantulas in the old world... i don't know why they didn't know about the, except National Geographic(r) wasn't around yet =P ).

so, really and truly, the most historically accurate use of tarantula is *NOT*


so longish story short... i totally agree, only use scientific names, as common names are just horrible

[cacoseraph]

I'd hate to see people come on the boards here and get scared away because everyone was saying 'Hairy mygalamorph' as opposed to 'Tarantula'. Nobody gets the two confused. Atleast as much as I've seen.

They're scientific, not always latin, names.

most USA'ers don't seem to have too many problems, but some of our foreign friends have commented on this practice before, so there are some problems.

but Theraphosid isn't that much longer than tarantula to type... not that i do hehehe. hell, i type tara more than tarantula, and tarantula WAY more than theraphosid

[diadematus]

I like local names, too. Here in Germany they have some wonderful spider names: Kreuzspinnen, i.e., "cross" spiders (Araneus diadematus); Kugelspinnen (Theridion), which I would translate as "ball" or "BB" spiders; "bridge cross" spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius); and Vogelspinnen -- which you probably already are familiar with.

But I like it, too, when people also mention the scientific names, because then I can be sure I know what they are talking about and also look it up.

Meanwhile I am still learning the lingo here. (slings, Ts, etc.)

-Kevin