THULA - Journal of the AIF Vol 2 Issue 1 Oct 2009

We released the October 2009 issue of Thula today. Thula is the official Journal of the AIF (Australian Invertebrate Forum) and is available free to all our AIF members.




To register for the forum simply go to this link and complete the online registration process http://www.inverts.com.au/index.php

Once registered you can download your journal via the links available here: Download Thula

Don't hesitate to give me feedback on the journal as we are constatntly trying to improve it. If you would like to contribute articles or images for Thula please leave me a message or contact me (editor) on the AIF itself or on the contact email shown inside the front cover.

Kotzman's Birdspider and Phlogius sp. Sarina bred

It is interesting to compare the different mating behaviours displayed by different species of tarantula. The Kotzman's Birdspider has afast and furious mating style. The picture below of the mating is the first one ever taken of the first mating in captivity. The Phlogius sp. "Sarina", by comparison, has a more gentle approach to the nuptuals. There are several unique characters displayed by the Kotzman's Birdspider in its mating rituals when compared to the Phlogius genus but I will leave a thorough analysis of that to my articles I am preparing for Thula which is the AIF bi-annual journal.

Kotzman's Birdspider - first mating picture by Charles Senescall

The Australian species, Phlogius sp. Sarina mating. These very large tarantulas showed no agression during he mating process. Picture by Charles Senescall

Overseas visitors should note that Australian tarantulas do not have tibial mating spurs and therefore the male clasps the female in a different manner to the hold you may be more used to seeing. Typically the male holds the female by squeezing her chelicera together with Leg I and holding her secure down over the top of her carapace. He then generally places Leg II between the females Leg I and II (although sometimes over leg I, II or III). The female bends at the abdomen up to 90 degrees in this hold and exposes her genital area making access by the males pedipalps a little easier. This is well illustrated in the photographs I took above.

THULA - Journal of the AIF Vol 1 Issue 2

I edit the Journal of the Australian Invertebrate Forum (AIF), THULA, and am pleased to announce the release of our second issue (Vol 1 Issue 2 December 2008). The journal is free to members of the AIF.



To register for the forum simply go to this link and complete the online registration process http://www.thegreenscorpion.com.au/forum/

The journal is bi-annual and this issue includes:

- Australian Centipedes by Heinrich J Buys
- A Day in the life of Ivy - sp. 2 by Grant Miller
- The adaptive morphology of Liocholes spp.: Liochelidae by leading Australian scorpion expert

Mark Newton
- Notes on a new Australian Desert Tarantula by Greg Bylund
- Scorpions - The First Instar by Justin Paterson
- Observations on the captive breeding of Phlogius sp. "Rubiseta" by Grant Miller
- Notes on the Giant Burrowing Cockroach in Captivity: Macropanesthia rhinoceros by yours

truly
- Notes on the 2008 Australian Goliath Breeding Program by Greg Bylund
- Plus a number of short articles including two by noted Australian tarantula expert Steve Nunn

concerning his exciting new species discovered and other matters of interest to invert fanatics.

Once you have registered on the forum simply navigate to the AIF Research Centre and you will find all AIF Journals available for download.

Australian Invertebrate Forum Journal

I am the editor of the Australian Invertebrate Forum Journal. We released our first issue in June 2008. If you would like a good read on Australian invertebrates you can get Issue 1 here. We are currently working on our second issue for release in late December 2008 so stay tuned. The AIF forum is owned by Greg Bylund who set up The Green Scorpion website which sells tarantulas, scorpions, and other invertebrates and accessories. Greg, who is a builder in real life, is an absolute gold mine of information on invertebrates and has given freely of his time to me to assist in my little research projects. Members of the Australian Invertebrate Forum can access the journal and many other articles written by members and non-members alike.



Greg Bylund taking a picture of his awesome Phlogius crassipes.



Phlogius crassipes close up with Greg Bylund

Thanks to Grant Miller for kind access to the above pictures taken on a visit to Greg's house in August 2008.