Introvert Inverts - and verts

10/11/2024

31/10/2024

Almost done with

Finding some info to share has had its frustrating moments. Unfortunately a lot of readily available info about spiders comes from pest control websites.
This bothers me a lot. I'm not sure I want to learn anything about a creature the author intends on killing. Whether or not it's correct, I don't even know because it didn't open any.
If you've spent any time here you'll know I'm all about the pollinators, no pesticides or herbicides. Well I've obviously branched out into pet insects, I've had cockroaches for ever and then isopods and springtails when I learned about bioactive enclosures. Meaning a tiny little web of life so to speak. The isopods and springtails clean up after the pet you keep, but then the isopods and springtails become just as loved. One can't help but learn about them and you realize all these critters are needed for balance in habitats. Detritivores clean up by eating the "trash" left behind by nature: dead plants, poop, fungus, mold etc. They also feed bigger bugs, spiders, small mammals, bird etc. So on and so on. So spiders absolutely have a place, they eat bugs. Who'd fill that niche if the spiders are all exterminated? Yeah we have other bug eaters but populations get out of balance then you get issues like plagues of locust eating crops, or mosquitos spreading diseases further, how about termites eating houses? 40% of insects are said to be on the decline which is horrible news, but that also allows those considered to be pests to possibly explode in numbers. So we need those little predators too.

Everything has its place in nature, even mosquitos but they need to be in balance and pesticides mess that up. Everyone likes bird, so why do they kill the bugs and spiders that birds eat? Or the plants that will feed them seeds in the winter. People love butterflies but only plant non native plants so the native butterflies have to work harder to find food and places to lay eggs. People love honey and fruit but kill native bees and wasps constantly!

So help out Mother nature by NOT smashing every spider you see!

30/10/2024

No is complete without a little arachnophobia.

A phobia is a phobia when it lasts 6 months or longer and causes significant and often irrational disruption of day to day life. This means immediate anxiety even just thinking about your fear, activity avoidance and physical responses such as increased heartbeat, sweating, nausea, shaking etc.

It's not entirely clear what causes phobias. Certainly trauma can but not always. Some say it's a racial or genetic memory thing, meaning avoiding something dangerous is hardwired into the brain. Though that certainly doesn't explain my niece who has loved spiders from the beginning.

Sometimes cultural or religious teachings can start phobias, sometimes it's the parents.

There are numerous treatments for phobias. My favorite is education. A lot of fear stems from misinformation and can be alleviated but an open mind and willingness to learn.

According to the American Psychological Association at least 10 million Americans have a phobia and around 40% of those are of the "creepy" creatures like spiders, insects and snakes.

29/10/2024

Oh I'm tired, only a few more days.

But did you know it's also ?

Some bats eat spiders and some spiders eat bats.

The little brown bay or Myotis lucifugus is knows for eating spiders even though plenty of flying insects are available.

And then any spider big enough with a web strong enough can catch and eat little bats.

K, goodnight

28/10/2024

Spider camouflage

Even super predators need to hide from bigger meaner predators. Also, some want to hide from their prey.

Some crab spiders can gradually (2 -21 days) change colors to match the flower they stay on to hunt unsuspecting insects.

Some spiders have the perfect patterns and colors for the area they live in like the lynx spider or the lichen huntsman.

The Dolophones conifers or wrap around spider does just that, it flattens out on a branch and fits the curve perfectly.

Some camouflage by mimicking other creatures like ants.

Some look just like bird poop!

27/10/2024

The Argyroneta Aquatica or diving bell spider is the only spider to spend its whole life under water. It can breathe within a bubble of air that is trapped in the hairs on its abdomen. The lungs are on the underside and they respiratory directly through those instead of a mouth or nose.

They are found in parts of Europe and Asia and live in lakes, ponds, swamps, slow streams and marshes. They need aquatic plants for their bubble nests.

Using silk they build a diving bell of sorts attached to plants underwater. They go to the surface to collect air with special hairs on their abdomen. Then they place the air inside the diving bell where they will live.

They can monitor the air quality and adjust the oxygen level as needed. In the winter they make a sturdier diving bell deeper down and hibernate.

They are solitary and hunt for tadpoles, aquatic insects, shrimp and even other spiders. The females are ambush hunters, they stay in the bell and dangle their front legs down intothe water from their nest.

The males leave their nests more than the females do, hunting actively for food and mates.

They play an important role in that they are often found in bodies of water with low PH and low concentration of oxygen and many other predators who eat aquatic insects cannot survive in those conditions. They keep the insect numbers in balance.

26/10/2024

All spiders are carnivorous, except for the ones who aren't.

Spiders will generally kill and eat anything that they can overpower. Obviously this will vary with spider size and strength and some have some sort of specialty when it comes to prey. Small mammals, birds, reptiles and even fish are sometimes meals.

But the jumping spider Bagheera kiplingi of Mexico and Central America primarily eats the little protein and sugar rich nubs that grow on the leaves and stalks of swollen-thorn acacia. They will eat small insects that also feed or live on the tree but those are the minority.

25/10/2024

Did you know there are 5 different kinds of widows in the US?

The black widow is actually 3 different spiders, in the West is the Western black widow or Latrodectus hesperus.

In the South is the Southern black widow or the Latrodectus mactans.

In the North is, wait for it, the Northern black widow, or Latrodectus variolus.

In parts of Florida is the red widow or Latrodectus bishopi.

Then there is the invasive and non native brown widow, Latrodectus geometricus who loves mostly in southern states but it probably spreading north.

24/10/2024

What happens to spiders in the Winter?

Like me, spiders are poikilothermic, or cold blooded. They depend on their immediate environment for body temp.
When they get cold the whole body slows down including their metabolism which means that, unlike me, they eat less food.

If they stay cold, they slow down and become dormant in something like hibernation called diapause.

Spiders in the coldest climes begin producing glycol and other proteins in their hemolymph (spider blood) that acts like antifreeze. It goes thru all their cells making them able to survive freezing temps for longer. It's said that it takes subzero temps to kill a spider.

There are spiders on every continent except Antarctica, they will definitely freeze there.

There are absolutely spiders in the Arctic and high up in other mountain ranges. There is even a species of jumping spider that only lives on Everest. So how do they survive in our coldest places?

They take shelter under rocks, leaves, in burrows. All the detritus and stuff on the ground is a nice insulation against the cold. Even a layer of snow will insulate the ground. As spring gradually warms up the land the spiders slowly wake up as well and when it's warm enough for them, they eat.

Most of the spiders in your home are there
all year round already. They do not seek out warmth contrary to popular belief. Finding a spider in your house in winter and taking it outside is a death sentence because it could not gradually get used to the cold and build up that antifreeze.
Spiders in your house are beneficial, they eat stuff like bed bugs, fleas, cockroaches, grain pests, cloth moths etc.

23/10/2024

Spider silk!

They use silk for many different reasons. The web of course. But then, not all spiders make webs for catching prey or otherwise.

Many use the silk for protection. Spiders living in burrows still might line the tunnels and put a curtain over the entrance.

Jumping spiders often keep a line going to use as a safety rope, in case they misjudge a jump or fall, they still have their silk attached somewhere so they don't fall too far.
Some baby spiders unfurl a long line of silk which is taken up by the wind, this is called ballooning and its how they move away from each other and their mother to establish territories of their own.

Most spiders use that silk to make their egg sacs.

Spiders can use the silk to feel vibrations indicating food or predators.

Spiders can spin different kinds of silk for different purposes. It can vary in thickness and stickiness.

The silk starts in special glands at the end of the abdomen; the external part of the gland is the spinneret, but silk being 'spun' isn't acurate as the silk forms as it is physically pulled from the body.

Spiders silk is 5 times stronger than steel pound for pound and it is can stretch up to 4 times it's length.

It's thinner than a human hair, can withstand subzero temps before losing its integrity, is waterproof and biodegradable.

So this silk is so cool people want to use it for all sorts of things, but gathering enough silk from spiders to do anything is a daunting task.

In 2009, 82 people in Madagascar had spent the previous 4 years gathering over a million spiders to extract enough silk to make an 11x4 foot cloth. It is gold in color because they used golden orb weaver spiders (I think this was a Wild Kratts episode?!)

Efforts have been made to splice spider DNA into silkworms to make the harvesting easier. Also goats. So the goats make spider silk milk... That's a Google search you'll have to do yourself.

22/10/2024

THE BROWN RECLUSE!

1. They don't live everywhere.
2. They are shy and Do. NOT. Attack. They can't even jump.
3. Most "bites" that land people in the hospital are staph infections.
4. Most (90%) real actual bites don't hurt you in anyway.
5. Human Doctors are notoriously bad at spider ID. So are pest control door to door salesman.

The brown recluse or Loxosceles reclusa is a small brown spider that *sometimes* has a darker violin on it's cephalothorax. The body of the female is about 10 to 15 millimeters long with a legspan of 25 millimeters. The males are around half that size. They only have 6 eyes. I know I know, if you're scared of a spider you're not counting eyes. But I can tell you from experience that education alleviates a lot of fear.

Anyways females usually make their web and stay in it. While males and youngens will wander a bit. When threatened they flee rather than fight, and only bite as a last resort. Their tiny fangs can't even get they clothes, they have to be right on your skin.

The venom is indeed dangerous! It is a cytotoxin and can cause a necrotic wound that takes some time to heal. (So does staph or MRSA).
Very rarely the wound gets bigger and nastier and takes longer to heal, but they do heal.

Deaths are extremely rare and usually in children. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association between 2004 and 2014, 300 people were struck and killed by lightning in the US. During the same time frame 1 person is said to have died from a recluse bite.

Personally, I had one for a while and it hid all the time and was boring.

21/10/2024

Sucky sucky day.

So here's baby spiders.

😓

19/10/2024

Spider Gods and Goddesses

in ancient myths and legends spiders often play a prominent part.

Many spider deitities are associated with fate, destiny, intereconnectedness and creation because of webs they weave. Spider Grandmother of the Hopi and Navajo, Uttu from Sumeria, Neith from Egypt, Arianrhod of Celtic myth and Mamitu of Mesopotamia are noted examples.

Some are tricksters like Anansi from Ghana in Africa and Iktomi from the Lakota of North America, teaching lessons through pranks and mischief much like Coyote or Loki.

In Japanese forklore Jorgumo is a beautiful woman who lures men in to her web where she eats them. Its meant to caution against giving in to temptation.

Athena from Greek mythology is said to have entered into a contest with a bragging weaver names Arachne. But it turned out Arachne was better, and as they do, Athena flew into a rage and beat Arachne who then hanged herself. Athena turned the rope into silk and Arachne into a spider. And that's where we get the word arachnid from!

19/10/2024

Did you know spiders move by hydraulic compression? Obviously there are no bones and they do not have the muscles necessary to extend the legs so their blood, or hemolymph is pumped into the legs to extend them.

The reason that spiders curl their legs under when they die is because there is no fluid being pumped into them. You may also see this if the spider is dehydrated so many keepers first try to give the spider water before they give up on it. Water is usually offered as a soaked qtip or paper towel because the fangs can sink in easily. One cannot just put the whole spider in water because their lungs are on their underside and they could drown and die if they are indeed alive. Or were alive.

Of course scientists are using this for robot design which is cool!

18/10/2024

Today I had an egg sac hatch!

All spiders lay eggs and then use silk to contain them somehow. Some make perfect little bundles, some just string some silk around a couple times and call it good.
Some spiders leave the sacs in their web, some carry it around. Some only make one sac, some make many.

The babies usually hatch from the eggs then hang out until they molt, then emerge from the sac. They may stay together a bit at first and then disperse to avoid cannibalism and inbreeding (tho I'm sure both happen).

These are fresh baby latrodectus hesperus, or black widows. They start out white!