Spiders - Printable Version

Spiders - Printable Version

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RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 12-29-2017

Credits to The Silk Road.

A unique series of photos by Mark Newton showing a Lycosid shutting itself away in it's burrow.

Most Wolf Spiders are wanderers but some build burrows, either open or with a trapdoor, while others may make temporary retreats in vegetation. Arid zone species build turrets to deflect floodwaters during rainy periods, while others use pebbles to plug their burrows. In woodlands, twigs may be used to form a palisade around the top of the burrow. Burrows of some species of wolf spider have a circular trap door that is often left open when the spider is out hunting.The shape and materials used to form burrows and trapdoors may help to distinguish similar-looking species.

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 12-30-2017

Credits to It's Okay To Be Smart.

Living things have engineered some pretty awesome materials, but I’m not sure anything measures up to spider silk. It’s as strong, as stretchy, and as resilient than even humans’ most advanced creations like Kevlar and steel. So how do these awesome arachnids weave such an incredible substance using nothing but their rear ends? And… what IS this stuff? I went to meet Dr. Cheryl Hayashi, one of the world’s experts in spider silk, to find out.

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 01-05-2018

Credits to Andrew Mitchell.

Deinopidae sp (Net-Casting Spider)

Poised and ready!

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 04-28-2018

Farewell, No. 16: scientists left 'miserable' after world's oldest spider dies aged 43:

*This image is copyright of its original author

The world’s oldest known spider has died at the age of 43, outliving its nearest rival by 15 years, Australian scientists have reported.

Affectionately known as “Number 16”, the female Giaus Villosus or trapdoor spider had been under observation in the wild since its birth in 1974.

The arachnid is believed to have survived for so long by sticking to one protected burrow its entire life and expending the minimum of energy.

Previously the oldest known spider was a tarantula in Mexico, which died at the age of 28.

Published the Pacific Conservation Biology Journal, the research is the life’s work of Barbara York Main, now 88, who first set eyes on Number 16 shortly after its birth.

“To our knowledge this is the oldest spider ever recorded and her significant life has allowed us to further investigate the trapdoor spider’s behaviour and popular dynamics,” said Leanda Mason, a student of Professor Main’s and the study’s lead author.

“Through Barbara’s detailed research, we were able to determine that the extensive life span of the trapdoor spider is due to their life-history traits, including how they live in uncleared, native bushland, their sedentary nature and low metabolisms.”

While trapdoor spiders are poisonous, it is the males, who leave their burrows to find a mate, which are usually encountered by humans.

A typical danger in Australia is homeowners finding what they believe to be dead spiders in their swimming pools, which can then rear up and attack when removed.

The trapdoor species typically take five to seven years to mature and will then invest their energies in a single burrow, with the females rarely venturing more than a few metres away from their place of birth.

Ms Mason said of the Number 16’s death: “We’re really miserable about it.

“We were hoping she could have made it to 50 years old.”

RE: Spiders - Ngala - 05-15-2018

From Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique:

Photo and information credits: Piotr Naskrecki
"One of Gorongosa's most spectacular arachnids, the Kite spider (Gasteracantha falcicornis). This year they seem to be particularly abundant."

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 09-12-2018

Credits to Jack K H Loo.

Orsima Ichneumon

Malaysia.

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 10-19-2018

Credits to Robert Irwin.

Sparassidae sp., known as Huntsman spider or also Giant crab Spiders.

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 10-24-2018

Credits to The Silk Road.

So spiders lack ears with eardrums, then how do they perceive sounds? The spiders’ sense of hearing relies on tiny “hairs”, which are called trichobothria (singular trichobothrium), on the legs. Trichobothrium are modified setae (hair-like structures) attached to the exoskeleton of arachnids. Airflow elicits a physiological response. The strenght of this response strongly depends on the orientation and position of the origin of the stimuli. The receptor cells of trichobothria are not spontaneously active. Their response to hair deflection is strictly phasic thus occurring in phases rather than continuously. When scientists placed water droplets on the spiders’ legs, the auditory neurons in the brain stopped firing in response to sounds as the water reduced the vibrations of the hairs.

Photograph: Nicolette Josling, Theraposidae Harpactirella sp. - South Africa.

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 10-24-2018

Credits to The Sil Road.

Photo by Desmond Yong.

Plexippus Paykulli.

Commonly known as the Pantropical jumping spider, this species originates from South East Asia but is now established in many countries across the world.

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 11-02-2018

Credits to Pierre Anquet Photographie.

Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820).

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 11-02-2018

Credits to Desmond Yong.

Wide-jawed Viciria jumping spider (male).

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 11-02-2018

Credits to Michael Doe.

The three new species of Maratus that Project Maratus discovered in Western Australia.

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 11-02-2018

Credits to Toy Bodbijl.

Harmless Deinopis is a genus of spiders known as net-casting spiders, gladiator spiders or ogre-faced spiders. The genus name is derived from the Greek deinos "fearful" and opis "appearance", hence the common name "ogre-faced" spiders of the family.

Deinopis catch their prey in an unusual fashion. They first spin a small, upright, rectangular cribellate web. This is then detached from its supporting threads and held horizontally above the ground by the spider's long front two pairs of legs while the spider hangs almost vertically. Passing prey is then captured by dropping the "net" over it.

The two posterior median eyes are enlarged and forward-facing, with compound lenses. These eyes have a wide field of view and are able to gather available light more efficiently than the eyes of cats and owls. This is despite the fact that they lack a reflective layer (tapetum lucidum); instead, each night a large area of light sensitive membrane is manufactured within the eyes, and since arachnid eyes do not have irises, it is rapidly destroyed again at dawn. To aid further in netting prey, the spider places white fecal spots on the surface below the net and uses them for aiming.

(Monzi Park, Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal north coast, South Africa. Coastal Lowland Forest. 16 January, 2018).

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 11-02-2018

Credits to Nicky Bay.

Nephila pilipes.

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Spiders - Tshokwane - 11-02-2018

Credits to Isaiah Rosales.

Poecilotheria subfusca - Adult female.