She's 9 months, fawn Canadian boxer. www.toke2k.tumblr.com 'Grown in the Earth. Nourished by the Water. Powered by the Wind. Burned by the Fire.' - Elements
Another shot of this rare aptostichus. As i had expected, a lengthy return and search of two miles of sediment. (not kidding, two miles.. my back and wrists are killing me!) If my worst fear is reality, this very well might be the only surviving member of her species. The genus aptostichus is well known for being extremely sensitive, many species have been wiped out due to careless development, destruction of dunes and the practice of rock-cutting to make roads in the middle of hills, which fragments their populations. They require loose sandy sediment, some only live alongside the immediate coastline, others are only found in small portions of deserts. Here's her actual size: Still quite small. For some reason, she really likes sitting on my fingers, always heading for high ground, oddly. She refuses food, which is common amongst trapdoor spiders. Her habitat is extremely harsh, being against a west-facing cliff, the sediment she lived in wasnt even a foot deep, so she may prefer high heat. It's so warm at this specific location (the entire cliff is a massive stone, basically), that it will stay warm enough to wear summer clothing, even in the dead of winter! Hopefully i can find a male and get some slings back to her habitat.. I'll have to return and closely monitor this habitat in fall and winter, when male mygalomorphs are on the march for females. Also took a much better shot of my Scolopendra polymorpha "tiger-centipede".. It bit me yesterday, and im still in severe pain. Dont play with centipedes- their venom is loaded with serotonin! I generally dont name my invertebrates, but this one has been named "DESTRUCTOR!! AARRRRRGHGHGHGHGH!" (yes, to pronounce the name correctly, you must yell the second part while shaking your head)
This muh dog "precious plum" and she just had herself a litter of 9 pups last night. All of em big and strong, shes half gsd half husky and we bred her with a gsd
UPDATE: The aptostichus isnt a rare species, at all! I have confirmed her as Aptostichus atomarius, and the reason i failed to find others, was because she was from the top of the hill above where i found her. She likely got washed off the cliff during our last storm.
Babiez! Looks huge, doesn't it? This one's actually just a baby. 2" legspan, however its fuzziness is unusually well-developed for its size. Most I see at this size look naked, with smooth legs. I wanna see this one when it hits 4" in about 5 years from now This one's doing its best impersonation of a carlsbad green. Haha My baby-girl.. (not sure if i posted her here, yet, cant remember, lol) She can be pretty nervous sometimes, but she'll calm down once you hold her, and she'll relax and lay on her belly, and stretch all her legs out. Easily my most-handleable tarantula.. the rest of them want me dead