Encyocratella olivacea 3/4”

size 3/4”

This unique arboreal African spider from Tanzania is unusual as it’s one of 2 or 3 species known where the females lack a spermatheca. As a results it’s one of the very few species that can retain sperm and lay a fertile eggsac, even after molting. Sexing them can be tricky as you need to identify the “flap” of the uterus externus and not the spermatheca. However I have also noticed in specimens 3 inches or more, that ventral sexing of this species is also fairly easy and noticeable. These spiders typically reach about 6 inches as adult. 

This is a monotypic species being the only one described in the genus that was described in 1907 by German arachnologist Embrik Strand. When this spider first came to the hobby they were traded under the name Xenodendrophila gabrieli which was later to be found as a junior synonym of Encyocratella olivacea.