January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This wandering spider in the family Ctenidae was spotted at the base of a large tree.
The large palps leave no doubt that this is a male.
Palps indicate a male
The eye arrangement was my first clue to the family. They also have a deep groove along the mid-line of the carapace, called a fovea, just barely visible in these photos.
I wasn’t able to identify this one any further than family. It’s quite a large spider though. The body measured 25mm (~1″) and with legs it was around 80mm (~3″).
Some species of Ctenidae have a nasty reputation. Suspecting at the time that this was a Ctenid, I kept a respectful distance.
A large spider, measuring around 80mm overall.
Did you notice something missing for this spider? I surprised myself by only just now noticing that it’s missing a leg!
Speaking of missing, you might have noticed that it’s been awhile since my last post. My computer’s hard drive failed recently. Nothing was lost, but it took me awhile to reinstall everything.
I think I’d keep a respectful distance from that one as well.
I did notice you’d gone AWOL, but I also realize people have lives and that blogging isn’t (or shouldn’t) be their number one priority. That said, I’m glad to see you back.