Tarantula Tuesday: Venezuelan Suntiger

It has been a while since I did a Tarantula Tuesday post, so this is going to be a fun one (yes, it is still technically Tuesday here in the now frozen Midwest). I recently got lucky enough to see my Venezuelan suntiger (Psasmopoeus irminia), Labyrinth, out and about. Not wasting any time, I grabbed my camera and managed to get some shots. As always, he(?) ran right back down into his tunnel. I wasn’t going to be robbed of my photos though, and since it was a feeding day, I grabbed a cricket and lured him back out with the prospect of food. But seeing as he’s a P. irminia, he decided to teleport out of his tunnel to grab the hapless cricket. It can be a bit startling if you aren’t ready, but I’ve gotten used to his tricks. I initially didn’t let go, so he stayed at the tunnel entrance, allowing me to snap a few more photos before returning to the depths.

Sequence of events:

Caution indeed

Just about to run and hide

Food!

Hopefully I’ll be able to get some better shots of him in the future. Hoping he turns out to be a she, but it’s hard to tell when I can’t get a close-up ventral shot and he shreds all his molts.

As far as care goes, the P. irminia is pretty easy and is considered by many tarantula keepers as the last arboreal stepping stone before keeping ornamentals (Poecilotheria spp.). As slings, they tend to do what they want. Sometimes they act like arboreals and build a nice vertical web tunnel on the side of the enclosure. Or they act like mine and live underground. It doesn’t mean anything is wrong with him; he’s just doing what he wants.

They need to be watered a bit more frequently, but a couple times a week is still adequate. As long as the substrate doesn’t get bone dry for a long period of time (couple weeks), everything should be fine.

And finally, as the name states, the Venezuelan suntiger is a New World species. So the venom isn’t bad, though they tend to have an attitude problem if you annoy them. One of the more fun things they can do though can be found here. That’s right, they can shoot their frass. Quite far at that. And that’s why we love our New World arboreals. =)

Bugs In Cyberspace Review

Recently I got a package from a very good seller, Peter Clausen, owner of the website, Bugs in Cyberspace. I’ve gotten invertebrates from Peter before and have never been disappointed. I was super excited about this because Peter was going to send me some inverts that had been on my wish list for quite a while. The package was filled to the top with cups and vials holding my now prized inverts, seen below.

Three golden huntman spiders (Olios giganteus)

Four velvet ants, though the label says three

Seven harlequin beetle larvae (Gymnetis caseyi). Adults can be seen here

Four sand assassin spiders (Homolonychus spp.)

There were also two warty glowspot roaches (Lucihormetica verrucosa), but I didn’t get pictures. Despite these being sent when it was wickedly cold, all but two things survived. This is a tribute to the amazing packing job that Peter did. He is a credit to the invertebrate hobby and someone that I will continue to do business with in the future. If you want some interesting invertebrate pets, he’s the best person to go to, hands down.

Lub is in the Air

It has become a bit of a tradition for me to bring insects of some sort to Christmas (my little cousin loves them). So this year, I brought along a couple of lubber grasshoppers (Family Romaleidae) for everyone’s enjoyment. I borrowed them from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign insectary so I could do a bit of outreach while home on winter break.

As I enjoyed a drink, I was asked to get one of the lubbers out. I grabbed the male since he was a bit more active and let him crawl around on me. For some reason, he decided he had had enough of my hand and awkwardly hopped to the table. From there, he proceeded to climb right up my drink and relax on top.

I guess he was thirsty…

Turns out he’s quite the climber. But why stop there? I picked the female out of the enclosure and put her on the table as well. It didn’t take her long before she found the bottle and started climbing up.

They’re ready for a hoppin’ good time

Once they both got to the top, they stopped moving and just sat, content to be at the highest point (or they were feeling a bit tipsy since the male fell off a few minutes later). After a few minutes of their antics, I returned the lubbers to their enclosure, with a Christmas feast of broccoli and lettuce.

Closing Out 2013

Another year has passed by and boy, has it been a crazy one. I was fortunate enough to get to travel extensively and collect everywhere I went. Photography will be a fun hobby to further pursue as I learn more about taking good pictures and I’m sure I will be able to snap some pretty sweet shots of insects and other natural wonders.

Seeing as my blog is pretty fresh (I only started in October, after all), I can’t really give you a summary of the year, but I can give you the promise that 2014 will have several fun posts that will undoubtedly contain stories, updates, and just all around good buggy times. To 2014!

We can all drink to a good new year