Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Photo#471107
A touching tableau (what's going on here?) - Calisoga

A touching tableau (what's going on here?) - Calisoga
Monte Bello OSP, Santa Clara County, California, USA
June 4, 2010
Size: ~12-15 mm (juvenile)
"Mom, can I come back into the burrow now?"...or "Grandma, what big chelicerae you have!" ??

I think this photo shows a juvenile and an adult Calisoga/Brachythele longitarsus (I'm posting at the family level to be neutral in the taxonomic debate). Here's another BG image of a juvenile, which seems to be a good match for the little one:

It's harder for me to tell the adult from a tarantula (Aphonopelma), but it's on the small side for a mature tarantula, the legs look a bit too sleek for a tarantula, and this fall we've seen lots of Calisogas/Brachytheles and few tarantulas in this area. Any comments on my ID by experts here?

But the reason I posted the photo is that I wondered what's going on here. Note the touching tarsi (arrow). The spiders held this pose for a couple minutes while I took the photo and hadn't moved by the time I left. The photo was taken on a night hike (around 9:15 p.m.), so it was dark at the time.

Is this a juvenile being ejected from its natal burrow? A wandering juvenile looking for a burrow and in danger of being eaten? Something else?

Moved