Recent content by Eighth Eye Blind

I have an A. chalcodes who goes to her water dish and takes a long slurp every time I fill it. Only T I've ever seen with a drinking problem.

I know this is as exciting as a webbed-in fossorial to most people here, but there's some big news in T biology that's sure to stir the hearts of the lab nerds. The first fully annotated genome of a tarantula has been published! A group in China has sequenced the DNA from the entire genome of...

I 100% agree with Trooper. In the wild, both B. hamorii and B. smithi tend to adopt burrows close to water sources. We don't know whether that's because they like it a little wet or because that's where the juciest insects live but either way they don't mind the damp. Their range is along the...

It's a perfectly normal defensive behavior. Half of my T's do it too. Nobody likes to have unexpected dinner guests show up during a meal . . . especially when your primary weapons system is otherwise occupied.

100% agree. I have literally watched two tenured professors with decades of experience looking at T's sit at a microscope and argue over the sex of an adult molt. I've also seen some species with demonstrated sexual dimorphism not show any differences under certain environmental conditions...

Actually there is. PetSmart in the US will surrender "unsellable" animals to rescues. I acquired two older juvenile T's that way. One (an A. seemanni) had lost a leg and the other (an A. avicularia) seemed fine but just didn't sell for six months so PetSmart gave them to a local rescue. I...

LOL. That's (unintentionally) geo-specific. 90% of Americans have never seen a rediator except in a car.

Maybe I should have said blessed instead of lucky. 60+ years with nary an itch to complain of. :cool:

Slings absolutely have urticating setae. T's use them as a defense against phorid flies and other parasites, not just against large attackers. All of that webbing that your GBB is laying down will be coated with urticating hairs to keep the flies and other nasties away. Ditto with molting mats...

I was born on O'ahu. Grew up in Arizona. Now I live in Wisconsin. I am the dumbest person on earth for leaving home. I put in some time in labs at Cambridge and down near Salisbury so I have a small bit of the football bug in me. The recent endearment of Wrexham to people in America makes...

My great apologies for the unintended slight. I will undoubtedly hear you screaming for joy if Liverpool goes astray this Sunday.

I bet I'll hear you screaming if they lose to Man City at Anfield on Sunday. Or are you a Blue?

Oh! Why didn't you say so? Your new friends are the same gift as an OBT but in a different colored wrapper. You'll love them just as much. I'm serious about the bite, though. It's looking to be way nastier than people have previously thought. The Singapore Blue's venom is currently subject to...

And these are the two you start with? LOL! Both of those are faster than my dogs when they hear kibble hit the food dish. Having a large catch cup (or even a bucket) at the ready is a must whenever you open the enclosure. Omothymus typically aren't shy and if they decide to go they'll be up the...

Current view out of my window in the Northern Great Plains of the US: