| Archive for scabies.myfreeforum.org Southern California Arachnid, Bug, Invertebrate, Entomological Society |
| NBond1986 |
San Diego Adventure on 6/30/2007 (UPDATE: she's molting!)GQ (Gilbert) was kind enough to show us his prime hunting/observing area on our trip down to San Diego.Well, I can confidently speak for all of us when I say that we were not disappointed! What a great trip 
Here are some representations of T burrows in the wild: 
First, we employed the flooding technique. Sometimes that was enough to capture the tarantula.....but in most cases it was only enough to show us that there was actually a tarantula in there! This basically informed us that it was worth digging! So, at least 3 of us had to dig ours out (Me, Warren, David [twirl]), while 2 others had more luck with just flooding (Griffin and Paul). Here's my T after I dug her up: 
And I know that this is the "in situ" thread.....but here's some pics of her after I got her home: 
Goodbye cockroach! 
Anyway, now it's almost a month later, and her bald spot (from kicking so many hairs!) has become quite dark......so I might be getting a molt soon. I'll keep you updated! |
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| lizmotobike |
hey it would be nice if she layed a egg sack before she molts. ask her to wait a bit. | ||
| NBond1986 |
hehehe, i try to convince her.....but she just flips me off.
she's really pissed off at me all the time. I think she's having PMS (pre molting syndrome) |
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| NBond1986 |
when i go home tonight, or tomorrow, I'll post a picture of her.
her bald spot has gone from light colored, to extremely dark black color.......so, i think there's a definite molt on its way. hey, that's still fun though! but, if anyone else's lays down an eggsac (warren!)......I'm calling first dibs!!! ::lol:: 
[man, i hate these emoticons] |
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| Jules |
Hey, if Warren's T has an egg sac i think i should get a few slings for my finders fee!! (hint, hint...) That will teach me to show up for T collecting without a shovel or a lot more water!! 
It was really awesome to see those guys in their enviroment. Totally worth the drive just for that. The tube type homes of the trapdoor spiders were awesome too. i still haven't had time to hike the hills where i keep my horse to look for T burrows - maybe in a couple weeks. i'm kind of hoping there aren't any there because i wouldn't be able to bring in more than one or two people with me to go hunting. It's private property owned by Shea homes but the guy who manages the property can be a real jerk sometimes. If he gets the slightest bit upset about something he just gives people and their horse the boot and i don't know where i would find another local pasture to keep my horse. i have seen MM T's out wandering at a nearby regional park so there may be some T's in my pasture. It's very rocky and hilly. Basically looks identical to where we were in San Diego. |
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| NBond1986 |
sorry Jules.....
i was just at Warren's house, helping him separate the newly arrived P. regalis slings. Turns out that his big T from San Diego molted!!!! So, no egg sac..... 
::lol:: |
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| Jules |
BUMMER!!!  She was a such big girl too!! Actually i guess it kind of makes sense. So many of those T's had discarded egg sacs outside their burrows. i would guess they couldn't have been from too terribly long ago; like last season, but i would guess those that were going to have sacs already did. i have absolutely no real knowledge of this but it seems like the native MM males i've seen are found wandering on a seasonal kind of basis so perhaps the egg sacs follow a similar schedule. Just guessing really. i'm trying to think when it was i used to be most likely to run into MM's out at Casper's park?? It would be cool to go back down to San Diego at dusk sometime in hopes of finding a couple MM's to borrow from nature, let everyone in the group use and even possibly return him if he's still in good shape.
One of these days i am going to scout out the hills of my horse's San Juan Capistrano pasture! TONS of rattle snakes out there that i try to avoid!! Thanks to both of you for helping with the P. regalis!!
jules |
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| izjodei |
Hey guys thanks for posting the pictures.. very nice finding.. | ||
| NBond1986 |
Hey everyone!!!!
My San Diego girl just decided to molt!!!! 
WOOHOO!!!!! |
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| Jules |
Awesome!! My male B. smithi is on his back right now too!! He's under his log so i can't get a pic...
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| NBond1986 |
maybe we'll get lucky, and it will turn out male......and i can breed it with warren's......but maybe that won't happen.
here's to hoping! |
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| lizmotobike |
hey i have a mature f too. i got it from jason on spider talk. i think he goes by J?D on ab. he got out of T's to focus on widows. but he posted that he just bought a few again. | ||
| Johnny |
Nesh,
Is that A. chalcodes or A. hentzi ? |
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| NBond1986 |
oh, i could have sworn that i updated this thread! well, anyway.....turned out female, which both good and bad. Good...cuz, well...it's a female. duh Bad....cuz, well.....we don't have a male to breed within our group! gotta go back down to san diego....::lol:: Johnny, These are Aphonopelma sp. "Eutylenum" type. I believe they are a mostly undescribed or unverified species, so they are just called "Eutylenum" for now, until they are reclassified. |
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| Paradox51483 |
I really need to go with you guys when you go out T hunting. I havent found one in the wild in about 11 years. Let me know when you are planning to go next...maybe I can carpool with someone? | ||
| What |
Nesh, I have an immature male from the Glendora area. It has the exact same color pattern as my (almost) mature female. When he matures I'll let you know.
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| Paradox51483 |
I really need to get together with someone on here and go out and learn what to look for when hunting for T's and trapdoors. I would really like to find some but I dont really know what to look for and where to look. | ||
| NBond1986 |
Well, we will probably return to that same part of the San Diego hills one day soon. Warren has it marked on GPS. We've been there twice already. The female that this thread is about, was found on the first trip. On the second trip, Warren found a wandering male. He bred it with his female, and I have already bred it with mine. On Saturday (at the BBBQ) I passed it onto Paul (Ronin) for him to breed with his female. The spider you have might be A. reversum, if it is from around here. But then again....what do I know? The Aphonopelma genus is so messed up as it is! ::lol:: Could be the very same species for all I know. eddited by FT |
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| Talonawd |
Where is this place in San Diego cause I live there? | ||
| What |
Talonawd, I dont think anyone will give out localities that we have visited just on a whim. You will prolly have to participate and contribute a bit on the forums first.
Or go out on one of our hikes/hunts sometime and get the locality that way... |
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| Talonawd |
Thats cool. I was just invited to this forum and saw this thread and became very interested because I have always wanted to find a tarantula here in San diego. I have seen a dead one but never alive. It would be nice to add it to my collection. | ||
| NBond1986 |
Hey Talonawd,
First off....welcome to the forum. You'll find a lot of cool stuff here. We prefer that members stick around for a bit before locale information is given out. If you would like, you can gain access to our "Locale Color" forum (gives information on location and specific directions to good bug hunting areas) by submitting your own field report. This is roughly the template that you want to follow: http://scabies.myfreeforum.org/about206.html |
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| josh_r |
what! no pic of her after the moult??? what gives 
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| NBond1986 |
oh darn! i guess i forgot. that was a heck of a long time ago!!!
yeah, here are some old pics from after the molt....(could have sworn i posted them somewhere on the Itch) Here's a slideshow Josh! (click on it) 
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| josh_r |
she turned out gorgeous. california sure has some very nice T's. i am going to try to get back out there this summer to collect more dwarf species. | ||
| WBurke17 |
Not without me this time
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| josh_r |
yes, you will be the first person i contact. shoot me your info and ill annoy the heck out of you some time | ||
| Ronin |
Go ahead and annoy Warren but I'd like to tag along. | ||
| josh_r |
sweet i get to annoy 2 people now! | ||