The Spider Thread

[WildZoo]

What about now? Maybe it just needs time to replicate.

Yes! Such a happy spider bro

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[battie]

Just gonna leave this here.

Looks like something I should tag @Mad Jack in too.

NONONONONONNO

View attachment 236852

That was also unnecessary

 

[LadyOtheFarm]

I'm behind on TWIS, so I just heard this today and felt it belonged here.

This big boy's legs aren't just sexy, they are romantic. He guards his mate with them so other creatures don't interfere in their 11 hours of love making.

Not letting the neighbours ruin the mood

 

[cdo96]

I have a spider that lives outside my apartment that I have delightedly named Aragog. She’s at least the size of a quarter. Aragog caught and killed a wasp in her nest today, so as far as I’m concerned, she lives here too now.

 

[cdo96]

I have a spider that lives outside my apartment that I have delightedly named Aragog. She’s at least the size of a quarter. Aragog caught and killed a wasp in her nest today, so as far as I’m concerned, she lives here too now.

Update on Aragog. She’s been here for a couple weeks, but my apartment maintenance came through with a broom this afternoon and knocked her net down, as well as the nets of her followers. She will be deadly missed. Prayerz n sharez are appreciated at this time

 

[cdo96]

HELP. Aragog came inside and now I need help to determine if she’s going to stick with eating wasps or if she’s going to take a munch on me! Anyone good at identification?

 

[Skimble]

HELP. Aragog came inside and now I need help to determine if she’s going to stick with eating wasps or if she’s going to take a munch on me! Anyone good at identification?

View attachment 239051

Looks like some type of orb weaver spider to me, though I couldn't find the exact name of this particular species. Orb weavers are generally pretty docile, but she will be much happier outside. I'd recommend gently relocating her back to where she can catch lots of bugs to eat.

 

[cdo96]

Looks like some type of orb weaver spider to me, though I couldn't find the exact name of this particular species. Orb weavers are generally pretty docile, but she will be much happier outside. I'd recommend gently relocating her back to where she can catch lots of bugs to eat.

Thank you!! I did that! Hopefully Aragog will keep up with her life’s quest to eat all the wasps & bugs outside my apartment!

 

[Jess Monster]

HELP. Aragog came inside and now I need help to determine if she’s going to stick with eating wasps or if she’s going to take a munch on me! Anyone good at identification?

View attachment 239051

Tiny orb weaver - BugGuide.Net

 

[Glammyre]

Happy Halloween!

 

[LadyOtheFarm]

Spoiler: Spider shedding

So gross and cool!

 

[WildZoo]

Spoiler: Spider shedding

So gross and cool!

That's the weirdest exorcism I've ever seen

 

[LadyOtheFarm]

That's the weirdest exorcism I've ever seen

I watched it over and over, kinda shuddering yet too fascinated to look away.

 

[Trilt]

Worthwhile additions.

 

[Trilt]

 

[Jess Monster]

Pelican spiders.

 

[WildZoo]

Pelican spiders.

View attachment 254064

View attachment 254065

that's like... Cool and terrifying

 

[Jess Monster]

that's like... Cool and terrifying

It uses those elongated chelicerae to capture and eat other spiders, exclusively.

 

[Stroganoff]

Found a female! And killt her ded.

Do you see her?

Now do you?

I spritzed her with the level 3 "Spider Killer" stuff Terro makes. Was definitely alive and she did her death tumble off the ceiling. She tried to run into a basement room, never to be seen again, but I had a fly swatter ready.

Got her to a bathroom sink then grabbed a 2x/3x magnifying glass, which for some reason didn't work with my phone's camera lens.

But here's a close up pic with just the phone camera. Look how long that abdomen is!

1. Species: the backwards violin (looks poorly shaped though in this one) is seen on the cephalothorax...legs are spiny as heck.
2. Sex: I actually haven't read in any guides online about how to identify male vs. female by looks, only on behavior (males are mobile and come out at night to hunt and breed; females stick to one place to breed and build a nest, laying eggsacs with 70-80 spiderlings 3-4x per breeding season. It's August so about half way through.)

I only say female deductively since I rarely see this kind with LONG legs relative to the body, and the body is more slender and elongated, maybe for more babehs.

Either way, if I killed a breeder, then that should help reduce the population.

Here's another possible female from a few years ago:

In this pic, the arrow points to the reverse violin marking on the cephalothorax. Again, the legs are all over the place, whereas males aren't so "leggy."

In this pic, the arrow points to the 3 pairs of eyes (dyads) that helps with identification, since obviously most spideys have 8 eyes. I just remember 666, since brown recluses are Satan bugs. Their bites sting too, like if you've ever spilled oven cleaner on your skin and it melts/burns/necroses away at the skin.

 

[Stroganoff]

To be clear (lest anyone generalize me), I only kill Loxosceles reclusa. Any other species of spider is my friend, and I either let it do its thing or I gently escort it outside.

I'm super partial to jumping spiders because they're cute as heck, jump hither and thither, and from what I hear are great predators (even killing brown recluses). Also a fan of wolf spiders as good predators, but their sheer size and speed (when they sprint) is terrifying if they sneak up on you.

There's another species of ginormous (by American standards) spider that I've seen here. It's like the size of a dang tennis ball or something. Solid brown. Not a wolf spider I think. I'll have to look up what it is, but it's freaking huge.

 

[finnickthedog]

Found a female! And killt her ded.

Do you see her?
View attachment 276329

Now do you?
View attachment 276330

I spritzed her with the level 3 "Spider Killer" stuff Terro makes. Was definitely alive and she did her death tumble off the ceiling. She tried to run into a basement room, never to be seen again, but I had a fly swatter ready.

Got her to a bathroom sink then grabbed a 2x/3x magnifying glass, which for some reason didn't work with my phone's camera lens.

But here's a close up pic with just the phone camera. Look how long that abdomen is!
View attachment 276331

View attachment 276332

1. Species: the backwards violin (looks poorly shaped though in this one) is seen on the cephalothorax...legs are spiny as heck.
2. Sex: I actually haven't read in any guides online about how to identify male vs. female by looks, only on behavior (males are mobile and come out at night to hunt and breed; females stick to one place to breed and build a nest, laying eggsacs with 70-80 spiderlings 3-4x per breeding season. It's August so about half way through.)

I only say female deductively since I rarely see this kind with LONG legs relative to the body, and the body is more slender and elongated, maybe for more babehs.

Either way, if I killed a breeder, then that should help reduce the population.

Here's another possible female from a few years ago:

In this pic, the arrow points to the reverse violin marking on the cephalothorax. Again, the legs are all over the place, whereas males aren't so "leggy."
View attachment 276333

In this pic, the arrow points to the 3 pairs of eyes (dyads) that helps with identification, since obviously most spideys have 8 eyes. I just remember 666, since brown recluses are Satan bugs. Their bites sting too, like if you've ever spilled oven cleaner on your skin and it melts/burns/necroses away at the skin.
View attachment 276334

To be clear (lest anyone generalize me), I only kill Loxosceles reclusa. Any other species of spider is my friend, and I either let it do its thing or I gently escort it outside.

I'm super partial to jumping spiders because they're cute as heck, jump hither and thither, and from what I hear are great predators (even killing brown recluses). Also a fan of wolf spiders as good predators, but their sheer size and speed (when they sprint) is terrifying if they sneak up on you.

There's another species of ginormous (by American standards) spider that I've seen here. It's like the size of a dang tennis ball or something. Solid brown. Not a wolf spider I think. I'll have to look up what it is, but it's freaking huge.

I'm gonna be annoying here...

I don't think any of those are actually brown recluses.

You're correct on the eye pattern but one thing in particular the marks it as "not a recluse" according to what I was taught is the bands on those legs. They should be a uniform color. Also the "neck" of that violin marking is pointing the wrong way.

I also think the legs are too long and the body shape is not right for a recluse.

It looks like a Pholcid to me, and I believe some of them can have 6 eyes although unsure on the pattern of their eyes.

Note: biology of arachnids is largely a useless course unless you enjoy periodically obnoxiously identifying spiders when no one asked you to.

 

[Dr. ForgotToFlush]

WHY DOES THIS THREAD EXIST

 

[Stroganoff]

I'm gonna be annoying here...

I don't think any of those are actually brown recluses.

You're correct on the eye pattern but one thing in particular the marks it as "not a recluse" according to what I was taught is the bands on those legs. They should be a uniform color. Also the "neck" of that violin marking is pointing the wrong way.

I also think the legs are too long and the body shape is not right for a recluse.

It looks like a Pholcid to me, and I believe some of them can have 6 eyes although unsure on the pattern of their eyes.

Note: biology of arachnids is largely a useless course unless you enjoy periodically obnoxiously identifying spiders when no one asked you to.

You're not a Lounger so it's not fair to assume this, but I've vented and exasperated about my journey about brown recluse infestations every summer since 2012. 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and even when I moved 2016, 2017, 2018, and now 2019.

Also the "neck" of that violin marking is pointing the wrong way.

It's a reverse violin. The neck of the violin points rearwards.

Here's a pic from 3/14/2015 that marks the first sighting/hatch of 2015 (ugh, March). The other hundreds upon hundreds of them didn't hatch and emerge until May really.

Anyways, I shared this pic in the Lounge in 2015, so you might have already seen it, but this is more what I see (males). This one isn't full adult size at this point. And apologies for the crappy pic. If I get too close to them when they're alive, they have a tendency to run away.

 

[Stroganoff]

I did a DuckDuckGo image search, and here's a pic courtesy of livescience.com.

The literally hundreds of hundreds per year that I'm able to find/catch/kill (not counting the ones that are hidden per their namesake) look identical to this. I have a good sample size, and they look identical to this. I kill them and then look at them under 3x magnification (at their face, etc.) and they look exactly like established photos on the Web like this:

The two spiders in my first post above? Those are very much unlike the ones I normally see out and about at night, which I presume to be males scavenging for food and a mate.

I have maybe 100 pics, but I've already spent 5+ hours on SDN today on my "hiatus" and I'm really upset with myself that I got dragged into this place.

I do have more pics of live and dead samples, and I could write a book on behavior and another bit on their necrotic bite (been bitten more times than I can count!! The epidermis melts off, and it sucks for a few days.)

 

[finnickthedog]

You're not a Lounger so it's not fair to assume this, but I've vented and exasperated about my journey about brown recluse infestations every summer since 2012. 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and even when I moved 2016, 2017, 2018.


It's a reverse violin. The neck of the violin points rearwards.

Here's a pic from 3/14/2015 that marks the first sighting/hatch of 2015 (ugh, March). The other hundreds upon hundreds of them didn't hatch and emerge until May really.

Anyways, I shared this pic in the Lounge in 2015, so you might have already seen it, but this is more what I see (males). This one isn't full adult size at this point. And apologies for the crappy pic. If I get too close to them when they're alive, they have a tendency to run away.

View attachment 276337

See that picture looks like a recluse.

I'm just saying the specifically the spiders in the photos you shared today... I would bet some really good money they're just Pholcids (which actually are a species commonly mistaken for recluses).

 

[Stroganoff]

See that picture looks like a recluse.

I'm just saying the specifically the spiders in the photos you shared today... I would bet some really good money they're just Pholcids (which actually are a species commonly mistaken for recluses).

Thanks, I'll read more into it.

Wikipedia image:

Striking.

Random other picture:

Insane resemblance in the face!

I've literally only seen like 2 of these beezies, and since I already have a pre-existing infestation of brown recluses, I just thought they were also recluses.

Thanks, I'll read more into them. Unfortunately, I normally run into...

<OK, I've looked for a photo for over 20 minutes where it was framed looking through a glue trap with a ton of brown recluses caught in it with SDN in the background on my monitor. Thought it was dorky. Can't find it! I need to get organized with all my documents, pics, etc. >

Anyways, here's a random photo of my garage at my last place, where one got caught in someone else's web (by one leg) and I sprayed it multiple times, and it squirmed around for over 2 hours. Tough SOB.

Anyways, thanks for the FYI on Pholcids. I think those are the only two I've ever seen.

I do have some photos of brown recluse nests and of their "moltings" which they do a few times until they reach adult size, and it's one of the signs of an infestation.

Edit: Although @WildZoo will kill me if I post a nasty picture of a nest or one with just like 20 in the same area. She said this thread was supposed to be for cute spiders.

 

[Stroganoff]

WHY DOES THIS THREAD EXIST

FOR NIGHTMARE FUEL.

Sorry for the spider thread bump. Here's a cute centipede to allay your fears! This one crawled across my bare foot in my bedroom. You know that sensation that a bug is crawling on you, and it turns out to be nothing? When a centipede's bazillion legs crawl across your foot, you know it's not your imagination.

(Apologies to OCD people... I couldn't line up the tape measure since it was just chillin' there unharmed, and I didn't want to spook it. It did get spooked and ran down the sink's drain.)

 

[vetmedhead]

FOR NIGHTMARE FUEL.

Sorry for the spider thread bump. Here's a cute centipede to allay your fears! This one crawled across my bare foot in my bedroom. You know that sensation that a bug is crawling on you, and it turns out to be nothing? When a centipede's bazillion legs crawl across your foot, you know it's not your imagination.

View attachment 276340

(Apologies to OCD people... I couldn't line up the tape measure since it was just chillin' there unharmed, and I didn't want to spook it. It did get spooked and ran down the sink's drain.)

When I was in high school a centipede crawled into my retainer while I was letting it soak in cleaning solution and died in it. Glad I looked down before I put it in my mouth!

 

[Stroganoff]

When I was in high school a centipede crawled into my retainer while I was letting it soak in cleaning solution and died in it. Glad I looked down before I put it in my mouth!

 

[vetmedhead]

I had a lot of adventures with flora and fauna alike when I lived in AZ

 

[KCgophervet]

FOR NIGHTMARE FUEL.

Sorry for the spider thread bump. Here's a cute centipede to allay your fears! This one crawled across my bare foot in my bedroom. You know that sensation that a bug is crawling on you, and it turns out to be nothing? When a centipede's bazillion legs crawl across your foot, you know it's not your imagination.

View attachment 276340

(Apologies to OCD people... I couldn't line up the tape measure since it was just chillin' there unharmed, and I didn't want to spook it. It did get spooked and ran down the sink's drain.)

Okay but like where do you live so I can make sure I never go there?

 

[WildZoo]

Although @WildZoo will kill me if I post a nasty picture of a nest or one with just like 20 in the same area. She said this thread was supposed to be for cute spiders.

You have already angered me with the brown recluse nonsense

 

[LyraGardenia]

Bringing this back because my husband found this large boi while mowing:

I think it's a wolf spider based on Googling, but I'm not sure!

 

[Jess Monster]

Bringing this back because my husband found this large boi while mowing:
View attachment 310929
I think it's a wolf spider based on Googling, but I'm not sure!

The eye arrangement looks like a wolf spider.

 

[Trilt]

Bringing this back because my husband found this large boi while mowing:
View attachment 310929
I think it's a wolf spider based on Googling, but I'm not sure!

I loves himmmm.

 

[Lupin21]

Scientists discover spider wearing 'Joker' makeup, name it after Joaquin Phoenix

A striking pattern on the spider's back resembles the Joker's trademark grin.

www.livescience.com

 

[Trilt]

 

[vetmedhead]

View attachment 313068

Sometimes when my roommate asks me to kill spiders for her I let them go back to their corners and hit the wall with a flyswatter to look like I got them. It's our little secret

 

[WildZoo]

@holdthemayo

 

[holdthemayo]

@holdthemayo

This friend was outside my front door a few years ago.

 

[Trilt]

 

[vetmedhead]

Sometimes when my roommate asks me to kill spiders for her I let them go back to their corners and hit the wall with a flyswatter to look like I got them. It's our little secret

I forgot about this until @LadyOtheFarm just liked it and now the fact that I vacuum my ceiling routinely to get rid of spider webs yet have had a resident ceiling spider ever since I moved in makes a lot more sense.

 

[Trilt]

 

[WildZoo]

Bumping for cute spiders

 

[battie]

Bumping for cute spiders

You bumped for cute spiders without providing a cute spider?

 

[WildZoo]

You bumped for cute spiders without providing a cute spider?

I was feeling lazy and thought others might provide

But here