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Mating and breeding of Avicularia metallica Ausserer,1875

The birdspider Avicularia metallica Ausserer, 1875 comes under subfamily Avicularriinae. Its native country are these states: Suriname, French Guiana, Colombia and Ecuador. Fundamental coulouring is metallically blue with black on abdomen whereas hatches have got only blue carapax, other parts of the body are bright. Darkly blue are also ends of tarsus. Males have got tibial hooks. Female body size can be about 6 cm.
I bought a hatch Avicularia metallica in 2-3 exuviation from a breeder from Velké Meziříčí on 20 July 1999. I put the hatch into a higher plastic dose and used lignocel as a basis. Further I placed a piece of moss into the dose and leant there a piece of pine wood cortex. I dewed it slightly every day. The hatch was gluttonous and grew up well. Then another exuviations followed on 14 September 1999, 16 November 1999, 10 January 2000, 1 April 2000, 10 June 2000, 18 September 2000, 5 December 2000, 13 March 2001 and 18 August 2001. Approximately after 8-9 exuviations, I placed the intended female into an all-glass terrarium with dimensions 20 x 30 x 40 cm (width x length x high). I used lignocel with an admixture of sand as a basis. Hereafter I put a shallow boiler feed pump, a piece of cortex and a plant Philodendron scandens into the terrarium. It was a tringular shaped basin in profile. The female created a nest in the top part of terrarium. Because it concerned approximately 8 or 9 exuviations, I wanted to find out whether the female was adult. That is why I started to look for a mature male. I took hold of the male in March 2002.
The first attempt to copulation was made on 11 April 2002 at 23 o'clock when the male was admitted into the female's terrarium after a several-day adaptation.
However, the male and the female were apathetic. So I separated them for about 2 hours and caught the male. On 21 April 2002, I tried to place both participants into the mating terrarium, what is a very unusual procedure for this genus. On 2 May 2002, they probably mated shortly on the wall during night hours, without any previous index see of courtship. Afterward, the female departed from the male. On 8 May, I put the male and the female again into the terrarium for the night. In the morning, the male was found on the front wall of the terrarium and the female in her nest. I repeated this step again on 23 July 2002 when I left the male in the female's terrarium for the night again. In the morning, I caught the male alive. On 25 July 2002, the male repumped his sperm during the afternoon. On 26 July 2002, I put the male into the female's terrarium again. The male slightly drummed and oscillated, the female sometimes returned oscillation, but very slightly. However, infusion didn't go through in the presence of me. So I kept the male in the terrarium till 28 July 2002 and afterwards caught him alive, returned him back to the owner and waited whether copulation had happened. By that time, the female was very strongly nestled in her nest. I didn't disturb her, I gave her one mouse cane, which she swallowed, and then I only slightly dewed round the nest. Unfortunately, the female exuviated in March 2003.
Therefore I started to look for a mature male again. I took hold of him in May 2003. This male had only one palpus, the other one was a bit deformed. Despite this, I tried mating. On 18 May 2003, I admitted the male into the female's terrarium during night hours. The female started to drum very strongly after a while. Drumming was so strong that a female Avicularia sp. in another terrarium started to return it. The male tried gamely to get to the immediate vicinity of the female and push in his deformated, bur working embolus. The female is not agressive to the male at all and after a lift she let him push him embolus into her genital foramen. Approximately after 10 minutes the male was not amused any more and he got away from the female.
On 19 May 2003, I placed the male to the female during the evening hours again. The female drums strongly for 5 minutes and the male easily puts his embolus into her genital foramen for 20 minutes. Everything passes at rest, the female is not agressive at all. After these 20 minutes, the male removes from the female. The female stays still stiff before the entrance of her nest for a long time. I caught the male. The female was given two mouse nestlings. She built an airy nest, which occupied the whole upside of the terrarium.
Unfortunately, nothing is still happening these days (March 2004) and I don't suppose that copulation has been successful. It could be owing to male's deformed palpus, aphoria of his sperms or aphoria of the female. When the female exuviates again, I'll attemp to mate them again. The female exuviated in July 2004. Shortly after I fed her, I started to search for a male. At the beginning of August, I managed to get hold of a male for a half of pod. This male has already been repumped so on 14 August 2004 I decided to put the male into the female's terrarium during evening hours. However, nothing has happened during 4 hours, no tip-off on drumming, neither from the female, nor from the male. Then the male started to drum and mount to the female. The female returned drumming. At about 23 o'clock, the male succeeded to raise up front legs of the female and to push his embolus into the female's genital foramen.
Afterwards, the male removed from the female immediately. Because of this, I placed the male into my own terrarium again. The day after, on 15 August 2004, I tried to copulate them once more. I located the male into the female's terrarium during night hours (about 23 o'clock). After about 1 hour, they are starting to rataplan again and the male started to mount to the female from side. After a while, the male is raising up front legs of the female and he is putting in turn his two embolus into the female's genital foramen. Copulation is lasting about 4 minutes. Although the female is calm during the whole time of mating, the male is getting away from her after copulation quickly. The female doesn't go after him, she stays standing still and then she starts to clarify. In the meantime, I caught the male again and put him into the terrarium. The female hides in her nest.
The day after, the male is repumping during the midday hours. Unfortunately, I wasn't at home while this was happening so I was not in a position to photo capture it.
On 28 August 2004, I decided to put the male to the female once more. At 21 o'clock, I placed the repumped male to the female in the terrarium. Both of them are drumming at each other quite strongly. After 40 minutes, the male is getting closer to the female again, this time from the front, and after he raises up the female's legs, he puts his embolus into the female's genital foramen. However, after a while, the female pushes pressure on the male, she is extremely peevish and she is evidently preparing for attacking the male. The male runs away from this disadvantageous position. However, the female starts to hunt him, which is very surprising for me. Because of this, I immediately opened wicket doors of terrarium and the male ran out from the basin at full speed, where I caught him. The female was cleaning her body again for a while and then she slightly nestled in her nest. I decided that I was not going to repeat copulation again and so I sent the male back to the owner the next day.
In September, I fed the female with a few crickets. I had no choice but to wait.
On 24 October 2004, the female started to create a pod. Because her nest was mazy and reserved and I didn't want to disturb her, I didn't manage to take a photo of building her nest, on which there would have been something to see. The female started to oviposit on several layers of cobweb during the afternoon hours and the pod was done at about 20 o'clock. The pod measured 3,5 cm at average. The female tangled with her pod to the nest more and more. I tried not to disturb the female with anything, I only sometimes dewed surroundings of the nest. On 15 November 2004, I took the pod away from the female. Instead of this, I gave the female "an alternate pod" in the form of a bullet from table napkin. However, the female was instantly refusing this alternate pod and she was throwing it from the nest all the time. That's why I shifted it away. After cutting it asunder, there were approximately 75-80 ovums, none of them mouldy. And so I sewed the pod up and put him into an incubation apparautus, where temperature moves around 28 centigrates and airy dampness 90 %. I turned the pod into the incubate twice a day. The pod was placed in an oversewed plastic pot with a cover on the top.
On 29 November 2004, I cut the pod asunder again. Inside, there were 45 nymphs in the first stadium of development and 28 ovums. I took out these unfertilized ovums and put the nymphs back to the incubate and left the pod cutted asunder. The nymphs reside in the pod all the time and they don't leave him. I check the pod every day and keep needed dampness.
On 7 December 2004, the nymphs are now beginning to deepen and some of them are moving in the surroundings of the pod.
On 12 December 2004, first cubs are exuviating into their firts exuvias. In total, 6 cubs exuviated the first day. On 14 December 2004, remaining cubs exuviated into their first exuvia. As a whole, 36 cubs went through this demanding process scot-free, 9 nymphs didn't exuviate and died.
Author: Michal Toran, CZE
arachnomania@seznam.cz
www.arachnomania.com
www.arachnomania.cz

Literature used: Frantisek Kovarik, Sklípkani, nakl. Madagaskar, Jihlava 1998