Your pets

[old pudd fisher]

Nice pets guys. Hey smokehound got a photo of these guys in my backyard today, what are they doing ? Fighting or mating.

[Which Way Out]

Nice pets guys. Hey smokehound got a photo of these guys in my backyard today, what are they doing ? Fighting or mating.

Its a dog eat dog world.

Well its Spring time so I am going with a little hanky panky.

[smokehound]

Those are two males killing each other. Males grab the female's head firmly in their mouth, and she generally lets him. Looks brutal, but it gets their wimmenz in the mood.

Ventral bites are an attempt to mutilate a rival male's hemipenes, rendering him unable to mate.

[old pudd fisher]

Thanks their still at today.

[Marley]

Those are two males killing each other. Males grab the female's head firmly in their mouth, and she generally lets him. Looks brutal, but it gets their wimmenz in the mood.

Ventral bites are an attempt to mutilate a rival male's hemipenes, rendering him unable to mate.

Kinda reminds me of a frat party I once heard about.

[DarkShadow]

Ventral bites are an attempt to mutilate a rival male's hemipenes, rendering him unable to mate.

I've taken a line drive in the hemipenes before. Hurt like a mother.

Rendered me unable to walk for a few days, I can only imagine what a bite would do.

[DockRat]

[old pudd fisher]

Yep! that's how it was DR I guess they killed each other. Gone now.

[DEVOREFLYER]

Yep! that's how it was DR I guess they killed each other. Gone now.

Naw they have left and are now singing in a "Boy's Choir".

[smokehound]

Perhaps one of the rarest spiders in the world...

this unidentified Aptostichus species came from a very distinct habitat type- finely eroded sediment at the base of a west-facing cliff- thorough sampling of the entire site (nearly two miles) failed to produce another specimen. Im sure there are at least two more somewhere in the vicinity, however as i failed to find an additional specimen in the entire area, the outlook for this species' survival seems bleak.

I'll try to find wandering males come fall, but if that fails, I'll have to consider this yet another doomed species of aptostichus :(


EDIT: Yay! Not bleak the slightest! This turned out to be Aptostichus atomarius the "San-bernadino hills" trapdoor spider. However as common as it is, it prefers very steep hillsides.. so collection will be difficult if I want more. The good news is males are quite easy to find!