Spiders

[Bill W]

3 hours ago, sandrewn said:

Male Spiders Must Twerk — or Be Eaten

Male black widows shake their rumps to let the ladies know they aren't a meal.

 

It would benefit the male black widow spiders to be gay.  It would increase their life span. 

[Bill W]

3 hours ago, sandrewn said:

 

Did you know huntsman spiders just want to be your friends?

They're so misunderstood.

The huntsman spider may be misunderstood, and remember:  if you hug them too tightly they will be squashed to death and die.  

[Bill W]

9 hours ago, sandrewn said:

The famous philosopher Aristotle was the first to assign humans with five traditional senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. However, if he categorized animal senses today, the list would have been longer. Several animals possess additional perceptive abilities that allow them to experience the world in ways we can barely imagine. Here's is one from our list of 11 animals that have a sixth sense.

Spiders

All spiders have unique organs called slit sensilla. These mechanoreceptors, or sensory organs, allow them to sense minute mechanical strains on their exoskeleton. This sixth sense makes it easy for spiders to judge things like the size, weight, and possibly even the creature that gets caught in their webs.

It may also help them tell the difference between the movement of an insect and the movement of the wind, or blade of grass.

 

That's interesting, and maybe it's to make up for having a face that only its mother could love.  

[sandrewn]

1 hour ago, Bill W said:

I'm sure it's just a trick of the camera, but this spider looks huge, as well as being fast and having a potent venom.  They can keep it in Africa.  

I suppose this all depends on your definition of 'HUGE'?

Read the following/watch the video, tell me/us what you think?

Heteroscodra maculata-Togo Starburst | My Monsters

Edited October 20, 2023 by sandrewn

[Bill W]

19 minutes ago, sandrewn said:

I suppose this all depends on your definition of 'HUGE'?

Read the following/watch the video, tell me/us what you think?

Heteroscodra maculata-Togo Starburst | My Monsters

Ok, maybe not huge, but it's larger than I'd want to deal with.  

I can understand why the guy was being so careful handling it, since it's suppose to be so venomous, but I hope that this he took out at the beginning wasn't an egg sac.  

[sandrewn]

11 hours ago, Bill W said:

I'm fascinated by the Diving Bell Spider.  It can spin an air tight web that will actually absorbs oxygen from the water so it can stay submerged for its entire life, I suppose, but how does it get food?  Is it able to pull its food through that airtight web as well?  Or is it living off microscopic particles that enter its web along with the oxygen? 

I try to find the answers to any questions that are asked. Sometimes I get lucky.

The following answer all of your questions. The first one answers your main question about food. The rest, any and everything else you might want to know about them.

what does the diving bell spider eat - Google Search

The Diving Bell Spider Encases Its Abdomen in an Air Bubble - YouTube

Nature Blows My Mind! The Strange SCUBA-Diving Spider

diving bell spider - Google Search

 

[sandrewn]

 

 

17 hours ago, Bill W said:

Damn, another spider from Australia.  How many freaking spiders do they have there and how many of those are deadly? 

I found quite a number of references, but this one seems to answer your questions and is good read at the same time.

What species of spiders live in Australia and are they venomous?

 

[sandrewn]

17 hours ago, Bill W said:

Sea spiders, does that mean they live near the sea or in the sea?  And that sounds like a neat trick, using your guts to pump blood.  I might try that if I ever have a coronary.  

My lucky day, I found an answer for each of your posts. Sadly, sea spiders although related to spiders are not the same creatures.

I have heard the expression 'No Guts, No Glory', but I think we are out of luck as far as using our guts to pump blood in case of a coronary. Read the article for an explanation.

Are sea spiders really spiders? : Ocean Exploration Facts: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by sandrewn

[Bill W]

3 hours ago, sandrewn said:

 

 

I found quite a number of references, but this one seems to answer your questions and is good read at the same time.

What species of spiders live in Australia and are they venomous?

 

That was a good article, although I have a question with something the author said at the very beginning: "apparently living in a tropical climate has its drawbacks."  Australia a tropical climate?  That one puzzled me, but the rest of the article was very informative. 

[sandrewn]

23 hours ago, Bill W said:

Very colorful, but if sea spiders are crustaceans, they don't have a great deal in common with real spiders, except for possibly eight legs.  

 

I don't know if you are right or wrong. The following is an extract from the article below. The jury is still out on exactly what they are.

" Although "sea spiders" are not true spiders, nor even arachnids, their traditional classification as chelicerates would place them closer to true spiders than to other well-known arthropod groups, such as insects or crustaceans, if correct. This is disputed, however, as genetic evidence suggests they may be a sister group to all other living arthropods. "

 

Sea spider - Wikipedia

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by sandrewn

[TalonRider]

2 hours ago, Bill W said:

I can see it, but what is it?  Is that a field of spiders? 

I've seen this type of spider on BBC America's, Planet Earth. It's a spider that lives in the desert and buries itself in the sand in wait for prey.

[Bill W]

6 hours ago, TalonRider said:

I've seen this type of spider on BBC America's, Planet Earth. It's a spider that lives in the desert and buries itself in the sand in wait for prey.

Ok, but all I see are grains of sand - or something like that, but thanks for the input. 

[sandrewn]

 

11 hours ago, Bill W said:

I can see it, but what is it?  Is that a field of spiders? 

 

9 hours ago, TalonRider said:

I've seen this type of spider on BBC America's, Planet Earth. It's a spider that lives in the desert and buries itself in the sand in wait for prey.

 

You both got me curious as well. I found the answer.

 

It is a Wolf Spider

Camouflaged spider from closer - Ocyale guttata | This is a … | Flickr

 

 

Bill, I have spent over an hour going through Nicky Bay photos. I will find an answer for you, eventually (hopefully).

[Bill W]

7 minutes ago, sandrewn said:

 

 

 

You both got me curious as well. I found the answer.

 

It is a Wolf Spider

Camouflaged spider from closer - Ocyale guttata | This is a … | Flickr

 

 

Bill, I have spent over an hour going through Nicky Bay photos. I will find an answer for you, eventually (hopefully).

All I can say is that's one hell of a camoflauge technique.  I could see it in the link you just supplied, but I still can't see it in the first pholo.  

[TalonRider]

@Bill W If I remember correctly, this Spider has the ability to walk on water due to the fine hairs on the end of its legs.

[TalonRider]

How about both?

[sandrewn]

7 hours ago, Bill W said:

What a good looking spider, looking ready to go out on a date. 

But what big front legs you have.  Do you use them to catch your prey? 

 

Curiously, I am wondering?

Not the most original 'Pickup line' I ever heard!

 

[TalonRider]

Here's a little something you might like.

[Bill W]

4 hours ago, TalonRider said:

Here's a little something you might like.

Venus Fly Trap 1 - Spider 0

But the rest of those snippets were wild. 

[sandrewn]

What is the fastest killing spider in the world?

 

 

 

The funnel web

 

The funnel web “classically speaking” is considered the world's deadliest spider because it “kills so quickly”. “In terms of speed of death, in Australia we say funnel web, 15 minutes, no sweat,” Raven said. “With a funnel web bite to the torso, you're dead. No other spider can claim that reputation.”

 

 

[Bill W]

10 minutes ago, sandrewn said:

What is the fastest killing spider in the world?

 

 

 

The funnel web

 

The funnel web “classically speaking” is considered the world's deadliest spider because it “kills so quickly”. “In terms of speed of death, in Australia we say funnel web, 15 minutes, no sweat,” Raven said. “With a funnel web bite to the torso, you're dead. No other spider can claim that reputation.”

 

A heck of a reputation, so let's make sure it stays in Australia. 

[Zombie]

too many eyes 

too many legs 

too much hair  

*shudders*  

[sandrewn]

5 hours ago, Bill W said:

Now that's a scary looking spider, even upside down, being all black with a red face (head ?) and those big black eyes, even though the vampire spider is upside down.  And this post leads to a problem.   Although the vampire spider doesn't actually live on human blood and merely dines on mosquitoes that suck human blood and possibly carry malaria (in some regions of the world).  Would you rather live in a house filled with vampire spiders to kill those mosquitoes for you or would you rather take the risk of getting malaria?  

 

I will answer by saying, I did two tours (almost 2 years) in the Middle East(UN). UNEF II (EGYPT) & UNDOF (Israel). I never once, missed taking my anti malarial pills (every Thursday)

 

Note: Later tests showed that I had come in contact with the disease.

[Bill W]

45 minutes ago, sandrewn said:

 

I will answer by saying, I did two tours (almost 2 years) in the Middle East(UN). UNEF II (EGYPT) & UNDOF (Israel). I never once, missed taking my anti malarial pills (every Thursday)

 

Note: Later tests showed that I had come in contact with the disease.

At least you didn't have to live in a room filled with vampire spiders when you where in those countries, and I'm glad the contact with malaria wasn't fatal.   

[Bill W]

Just now, Mancunian said:

 

I'm constantly amazed at the unique photos of spiders that @sandrewn finds and posts. Some photographers must have the patience of a saint to get such high-quality photos.

Both of those observations are very true.  @sandrewn posts some incredible photos of spiders and tarantulas, and the photographers that take the photos must have a great deal of patience.  However, I can't see that there would be much money in a profession of taking photos of arachnids.