Thread about spiders (not for the arachnophobic!)

[Epona]

the web around the hole it hides in is just a tangled mass of fibres all around the corner, i think i may have disrupted an earlier web on the other side of the lean to which looked similar - that was some tough web

just went out to get a picture but couldnt see it

Ah so it's a funnel weaver then, if the web leads back to a hole. How big is the spider and does it have any markings? The house spiders (tegenaria) that are very common throughout the UK build funnel webs. Their hunting habits differ from spiders that build orb webs - the orb web types wait for stuff to get stuck and then go eat it at a convenient time, funnel web types tend to lurk in their lair with their front legs on the strands of the web so that they can detect any vibration, and rush out immediately if something lands in their web (and some species do not bother with creating the 'stickiness' to trap insects that is a feature of orb-weaver webs), and they rush out, bite it to paralyse it, and eat it there and then or drag it back to their hole.

 

[Callie]

ahh no - i think I have seen those/their webs and the web isnt close to the hole, its around the hole area and very loose.

just had a look on line and i guess this one looks closest to it. im desperate to call it she

http://www.uksafari.com/cavespiders.htm

 

[Epona]

ahh no - i think I have seen those/their webs and the web isnt close to the hole, its around the hole area and very loose.

just had a look on line and i guess this one looks closest to it. im desperate to call it she

http://www.uksafari.com/cavespiders.htm

Ah, interesting, that is a big spider species! As it's a cave spider, I now imagine you donning a miner's helmet with a light to go into your lean-to! I don't think I've ever seen one of those, but if your lean-to is dark it's a definite possibility - and apparently they like to eat woodlice, I bet there are tons in your lean-to (although fewer than there might be if a spider wasn't snacking on them)

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Can't blame me for trying though

*runs away and hides*

As requested - this is an unusual side shot of a common sight in Britain - the humble house spider. I love the way their bodies are cleverly suspended like an elegant piece of engineering.

This picture is from:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/sep/18/spiders-spark-surge-of-arachnophobia

And this is beautiful - a cobolt tarantula, from the site below. Even spider-haters couldn't hate this wonder of nature, especially as blue is an unusual colour for creatures in the natural world. It's legs look like especially fluffy blue velvet. I want one as a pet now!

http://www.factzoo.com/invertebrates/tarantula-big-hairy-scary-spider.html

 

[Callie]

Ah, interesting, that is a big spider species! As it's a cave spider, I now imagine you donning a miner's helmet with a light to go into your lean-to! I don't think I've ever seen one of those, but if your lean-to is dark it's a definite possibility - and apparently they like to eat woodlice, I bet there are tons in your lean-to (although fewer than there might be if a spider wasn't snacking on them)

it probably isnt one but thats what she looks like - shiny with a big round spider tummybum or erm opisthosoma

 

[twentythreedom]

Spiders

The first one is grim, they always get mad angry when I catch them in a glass to put outside but the blue one is quite cool actually. Just please no gifs like the one on bandwidthz a few days back, pouncing out of its camouflaged hidey hole to murder a locust or something

 

[farmerbarleymow]

And this is a great pic - a Carolina Wolf spider which looks mean. You wouldn't mess with that. But, when looking at the webpage itself rather than just the google image, the knobble appearance is actually because it's spiderlings are attached and hitching a ride. Attentive motherhood, although I bet she complains about her children being clingy.

She almost looks like she's got a bad perm, and is wearing rollers.

From: http://www.michaelturco.com/Carolina wolf spider.html

 

[farmerbarleymow]

The first one is grim, they always get mad angry when I catch them in a glass to put outside but the blue one is quite cool actually. Just please no gifs like the one on bandwidthz a few days back, pouncing out of its camouflaged hidey hole to murder a locust or something

I won't. But this has made me want to dig out the Attenborough wildlife episode all about spiders.

The house spiders get angry when you try and turf them out precisely because you are turfing them out - I don't blame them given their house-dwelling nature. The poor things. I assume that putting them outside will increase the risk of predation by birds, and going into another property might involve territorial disputes with spiders who live there already.

Edit - 'there' instead of 'their'.

 

[Epona]

I won't. But this has made me want to dig out the Attenborough wildlife episode all about spiders.

The house spiders get angry when you try and turf them out precisely because you are turfing them out - I don't blame them given their house-dwelling nature. The poor things. I assume that putting them outside will increase the risk of predation by birds, and going into another property might involve territorial disputes with spiders who live their already.

Having them in my house greatly increases the risk of predation by cats - I know you dislike cats anyway, but in the autumn it's not that unusual for me to find a small pile of chewed spider legs and nothing else I think any spider would fare better against the birds tbh!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Having them in my house greatly increases the risk of predation by cats - I know you dislike cats anyway, but in the autumn it's not that unusual for me to find a small pile of chewed spider legs and nothing else I think any spider would fare better against the birds tbh!

Poor spideys.

Make the cat eat the legs - if it has to eat the bits it doesn't like it might put it off in future.

 

[weltweit]

There are spiders living in my right hand and left hand wing mirrors.

One afternoon driving back from work, the right one came out and checked out his web.

I quite like them being there.

 

[twentythreedom]

First person to post camel spider pics is a total fuckwipe

... and going into another property might involve territorial disputes with spiders who live their already.

Wtf? They have spidey-scraps over territory?!?

 

[Epona]

One afternoon driving back from work, the right one came out and checked out his web.

Which forum does he post on?

 

[Epona]

First person to post camel spider pics is a total fuckwipe
Wtf? They have spidey-scraps over territory?!?

Oh yes - and this is one of the reasons why the majority of spiders that we see coming into the house come autumn are tegenaria - they are just bigger than anything else that tries to come in, and everything else either fucks off back outside or gets eaten!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

First person to post camel spider pics is a total fuckwipe
Wtf? They have spidey-scraps over territory?!?

Yes - virtually all creatures are territorial given they continually fight for resources to stay alive and reproduce.

Do you want a camel spider picture? They are

 

[twentythreedom]

*unsubscribes*

 

[weltweit]

Actually, some time ago I tried to photograph spiders in my garden, there were plenty but they are quite hard to make good photos of, being so small.

Anyhow here are some I took:
[they could be a lot better, perhaps sometime I will get the right gear to make a decent job of it]

 

[farmerbarleymow]

They are good pictures weltweit - but I know what you mean about trying to photograph them. They either are scurrying too quickly to get a good focus on them, or if in a web even the slightest breeze makes them move too much (the same as flowers in my experience too).

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I've posted this on another thread, but seeing as this is all about spiders I'll repost it here in case people want to experiment.

Several years ago I found a massive house spider happily sitting on the wall, completely motionless as they do. So I got my camera out to take some pictures, and a strange thing happened. The camera I had at the time used a blue light as the automatic focussing beam, and when this switched on and hit the spider, it seem to stun it. The spider then fell off the wall, and laid on the floor on it's back for a while, before coming around and righting itself. *

I did try to search for reasons for this at the time but drew a blank, but can only presume the frequency of the light in the focusing beam had some weird effect on the spider's nervous system. So it may be something that can be experimented with to see if it can be replicated. Sadly my new camera uses a red beam.

I like to think I accidentally discovered my camera was a raygun set to stun.

* no spiders were harmed in the making of this post.

 

[gentlegreen]

I confess I had a bit of arachnophobia last night.
I extracted a scarf from the side of my bed and a while later spotted a slightly black widowey spider on the duvet - so was a bit rough in shaking it off.

(it was 2 am)

 

[Callie]

Isn't that something lots of creatures do to avoid being eaten?

 

[weltweit]

They are good pictures weltweit - but I know what you mean about trying to photograph them. They either are scurrying too quickly to get a good focus on them, or if in a web even the slightest breeze makes them move too much (the same as flowers in my experience too).

These guys were mainly warming themselves in the sun but you are right, the slightest movement in the air and they move on their webs. The key issue I was having trouble with was getting all of their legs and bodies in sharp focus.

If you look at those images, in most cases some of the legs are out of focus, this is because at such magnification I only had a very shallow depth of field. I need to pump some more light onto the spiders, perhaps from a remote flash so that I can widen my depth of field a bit more.

 

[love detective]

some people hate spiders

 

[Fez909]

some people hate spiders

Brilliant. He's absolutely shitting himself. Not like this [initially] brave chap.

Spoiler

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I was a little shit as a young kid. My Mam and sister were both terrified of spiders (classic example of the phobia being handed down from mother to daughter). So litle evil me used to collect spiders and throw them at them for fun. It made me roar with laughter and feeling very happy as they ran off screaming.

The urge to do that hasn't left me I'm afraid - my inner 6 year old is alive and well!

 

[Cid]

*unsubscribes*

Plenty of spider threads for arachnaphobes out there, let this be our haven. Nest.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Plenty of spider threads for arachnaphobes out there, let this be our haven. Nest.

Not nest - the proper word is Lair. Befits a spider.

 

[gentlegreen]

I think at least one teeny daddy-long-legs spider drowned so I could have my bath today - in spite of the bogroll escape ladders I put in for the big hairy spider - or it could just have been a shed skin ....

... but since my washing machine is broken, there will be laundry stewing in it for the foreseeable future.

 

[Callie]

yay she came out - here is my rubbish long distance pic of my spider



theres no idea of scale there so Id say her body is around the size of a marrowfat pea/5p ish

legs are browny/red and there is a bit of a paler pattern on the abdomen i reckon shes a false widow

 

[alsoknownas]

And this is beautiful - a cobolt tarantula, from the site below. Even spider-haters couldn't hate this wonder of nature...

No, no - trust me, spider-haters will particularly hate that fella (not that I'm one though ).