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Photo#473271
Tarantula - possible Aphonopelma iodius? - Aphonopelma vorhiesi

Tarantula - possible Aphonopelma iodius? - Aphonopelma vorhiesi
San Pedro River Valley, SE of San Manuel, AZ, Pinal County, Arizona, USA
November 16, 2010
Size: 2 cm approx
Very small black tarantula, possible Aphonopelma iodius?, thinking based on black triangle around eye turrent, but I haven't heard of this species being around here; elev 2800', Sonoran desert

Images of this individual: tag all
Tarantula - possible Aphonopelma iodius? - Aphonopelma vorhiesi Tarantula - possible Aphonopelma iodius? - Aphonopelma vorhiesi

Moved
Moved from Aphonopelma.

impossible to tell
dunno

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

not sure
im not quite sure, but is there 2 of them? like mating? because if not, id be a little worried.... thats alot of legs! how small is it? small like 1 inch, or small like 1 mm?

 
Must be mating
Thanks Stef, I hate to say it, but I hadn't even noticed the extra legs. It was rather sluggish and stayed in one place, I had thought because of the cold. I was in a hurry, so I didn't try to move it to a better location (like in the little remaining sunlight nearby) and get a better photo. It was quite small - at little less than an inch in diameter, and uniformly black. We frequently see Desert Blonde Tarantulas (Aphonopelma chalcodes) here, but this one looks different. Thanks for your help!

 
Hmmm, can you provide more pr
Hmmm, can you provide more precise info on where it was found (e.g., how far away from San Manuel, how close to the river, habitat, elevation)? I'm very interested in this spider because it may be something new.

I'm not really sure what's going on with the second spider in this photo (it could be dead?), but this is bizarre.

 
Quite late to this photo but...
It's not unheard of for a tarantula to munch on its exuvium after molting, that could be what we're seeing here.

Or cannibalism, of course.

 
More Info
Thanks Brent, I'll add another photo from a slightly different angle, although I don't think there's much more to see. I think both of the spiders were alive, I remember them moving a few cm. just as we left. It is 2800' elevation, the temp was about 50 degrees F (rather cold I thought at the time), and it is 12 miles SE of San Manuel, about 150 meters from the dry San Pedro Riverbed, which hasn't had any water in about 2 months. It was in the fringes of a small mesquite forest, next to some Saguaro cacti. There are some cows (and their droppings) in the area, and the main vegetation is Mesquite - Creosote bush - Englemann's Prickly Pear, with small numbers of Cat's Claw, Hackberry, Saguaros, and Palo Verdes. I hope this helps. Thanks for your interest and help!

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