Sparassidae, Stasina saetosa

Sparassidae

Stasina saetosa Bryant, 1948 

Male

Female

Thomisidae, Isaloides touissantii

Thomisidae

Isaloides touissantii, Banks, 1903:343.

Bryant, 1948:416; Penney & Perez-Gelabert, 2002:215

Male 3mm

Theraphosidae, Phormictopus cancerides

Theraphosidae

Subfamily Theraphosinae

Juvenile

Female

Male

Other Arachnids...

WHIP SPIDERS

Class: Arachnida

Order: Amblypygi

Family: Phrynidae

Phrynus longipes (Pocock, 1894)

Eating a frog (Eleutherodactylus flavescens)

Phrynus marginemaculatus (C. L. Koch, 1841)

WHIP SCORPIONS

Class: Arachnida

Order: Thelyphonida

Family: Mastigoproctinae

Mastigoproctus proscorpio (Latreille, 1806) 

SCORPIONS

Order: Scorpiones

Family: Hemiscorpiidae

Subfamily: Liochelinae

Opisthacanthus lepturus (Beauvois, 1805) 

 

Family: Buthidae

Rhopalurus princeps (Karsch, 1879)

Centruroides bani (Armas & Marcano Fondeur 1987)

Female

 Male

Theraphosidae, Avicularia sp.

Theraphosidae

Subfamily: Aviculariinae

Possibly this is a new species of arboreal tarantula, 

very similar to Avicularia rickwesti.

Both species are in a dubious genus along with
Avicularia laeta from Puerto Rico.

This species have a particular habit, the juveniles lives together,
then separate from each other, probably before sexual maturity.

Juveniles between 2nd and 3rd instar 

Juvenile 6th instar, 22mm

Adult Female 32mm

Scytodidae, Scytodes fusca

Spitting spiders are members of the family Scytodidae.

There are several genera, of which Scytodes is the best-known.

Over 150 species of scytodids have been described worldwide.

Scytodidae are related to the family Sicariidae commonly known

as Recluse spiders being that they are part of the same superfamily,

Scytodoidea.

The fluid produced by the poison glands contains both venom and

spider silk in liquid form.

The venom-impregnated silk not only immobilizes their prey by

tying it down, but has a venomous effect as well.

Female

Male

Sparassidae, Olios antiguensis

Females 20mm, males 12mm, with over 9 cm legspan.

I have found this species for the first time in 1989.

They live inside the leaves of big trees and have nocturnal habits.

Segestriidae, Ariadna sp.

This is a new species that I recently discovered, the third species
of this family,very rare and probably still undescribed.
They are very small, only 4 to 6mm and they live on the ground
in a small tunnel covered with silk.

Female

 Male

Lycosidae, Agalenocosa bryantae

These small spiders live near water, in ponds, rivers and streams.

They can run over the water very fast and hide under the surface,

like fishing spiders from the family Pisauridae and Ctenidae. 

The size is about 13mm for the females and 10mm for the males.

Female

Male

Juvenile

Female preparing the eggsac

Theraphosidae, Cyrtopholis sp. Undetermined.

Family: Theraphosidae

Subfamily: Theraphosinae

Genus: Cyrtopholis

This burrowing tarantula is very aggressive.

The color pattern is beautiful, very soft.

They have legs a little longer than the other species of the same genus.

The size of this female is about 40mm for the body and 100mm in legspan.

Theraphosidae, Avicularia rickwesti

Family: Theraphosidae

Subfamily: Aviculariinae

Female.

Barychelidae

The spiders from this family are called brush-footed trapdoor spiders, 

they dig tubelike burrows, completely lined with silk, 

then they build the trapdoor with silk and debris. 

Sometime they have more than one entrance. 

When they feels the vibration of a passing prey they rushes out, 

capture the prey and come back to the tube quickly .

Only the subfamily Trichopelmatinae is present on the island with two

genera, Trichopelma and Psalistops.

Trichopelma sp. 1 - Immature

Trichopelma sp. 2 - Immature

Trichopelma sp.3 - Female

Psalistops sp. 1 - Female

Psalistops sp. 1 - Male

Psalistops sp. 2 - Female

Miturgidae

The genus Syspira is not reported in Dominican Republic, I've found 

two species, the first one in 1988 and the second one in summer 2013.

They are very interesting and beautiful spiders.

The genus Teminius is represented with 3 species.

Syspira sp. 1 - South Region - Female

Male

Syspira sp. 2 - East Region - Female

Male

Teminius monticola - Female

Male