Hi, little spider!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Yesterday when I came out to the desk for my evening shift, there was the cutest little spider! It’s no bigger than my pinky nail and it’s black with little white… arm things or mouth parts or whatever, which it waves around in a very adorable manner. It’s very fast, and it jumps like crazy. So I knew we had to keep Spider-chan a secret, because the middle aged ladies I work with at night do not, NOT, tolerate little creatures. Especially let’s-call-her Mary. Mary once took a decade off my life with the noise she emitted when she found a little bug crawling on her. Stay over here, little fellow!

Well, the little moron decided that more than anything in the world he wanted to go hang out with Mary. So we had screams. And when I rushed to his aid (seriously, the spider’s here to eat something - you’d rather have the something?) you’d have thought I grew another head and at least six tails. So I moved him back to my side of the desk, because he’s too quick and too jumpy to transplant to a safe place elsewhere. “OOOH, THAT SPIDER GONNA BITE YOU!!!” The spider, remember, is about a centimeter long. If that. A more innocuous arachnid you cannot possibly imagine.

And he keeps scuttling over there! So my other assistant “Carol” says, “Maybe it’s a she and her babies are over there!” I don’t think she said it maliciously. But damn, was the look on Mary’s face funny.

So finally I flicked Spider-chan off the desk towards the newspapers. Figured it wouldn’t hurt him and it would shut Mary up, right?

Well, this morning who’s waiting to greet me on the space bar of my computer? Yeah, Mary was thrilled about that one… and then she shrieks, “OH MY GOD THERE BE BUGS ALL OVER THIS PLACE!” And I think Carol was right, because what she’s pointing at is very, very small, and very, very fast, and moves very, very much like my little buddy.

So, cigars and champagne? :slight_smile:

Even as we speak I can hear Mary telling the people at another desk how weird I am and that “she act like that nasty thing her pet or something!” Oh, well.

2

Like this little fellow? I love jumping spiders.

3

Nothing like that guy - tiny, not meaty. Hoppy. I am told he was relocated to the trash can while I was on break, and I didn’t tell Mary that he won’t have any problems getting out of the trash can. :slight_smile:

4

It was certainly a salticid, or jumping spider (there are lots of salticid species). They are my favorite spiders.

They have phenomenal vision, and can signal to each other by waving their palps (you saw this). You can signal back to them by holding your first 2 fingers in a “V” and wiggling them - they will sometimes signal back to you!

Since they are very visually oriented, they will also turn to look at anything they consider interesting - I often get the anthropomorphic impression that there is some intelligent curiosity there.

5

I took his picture - it’s not very good because I had to, you know, hold my camera in the trash can. :slight_smile: He looks blacker in person.

ETA - the photo at the top of the “jumping spider” Wikipedia page? Did not help my relationship with Mary. No, it did not. Seriously, though, “I just know that thing gonna get out and bite me!” I think I broke my eye rolling it.

6

Unless that something is a bigger spider then the answer is yes, of course.

7

“OH SHIT IT BACK!” She doesn’t think it can possibly be the same spider, since it keeps showing up a whole six feet away. I waved my fingers at it and it waved its palps, but I don’t know if it was talking to me or to somebody else. It might have been doing the spider equivalent of “ooga booga booga” at Mary. :slight_smile:

8

Oh lord that’s hilarious. I love spidies!

Here, open this link and really see the fur fly. :smiley:

9

Not a spider fan at all. But I’m even less a fan of people who act like spiders are vicious as tigers and get all googety freaked out by them. I mean, sure it wants to bite your eye. So smash the thing with a rock and get on with your life already.

10

There’s no such thing as “cute” or “adorable” in spiders.

11

I’m not a superstitious person by nature, but spiders are one insect I won’t kill. They’re generally seen as good luck by a lot of cultures, and, well, they get rid of pests like flour moths I don’t want around the house, so the spiders and I, we have an understanding.

12

A little hard to tell, but perhaps a Zebra Jumping Spider. They’re a pretty ubiquitous species and the color varies a bit - check out the second one in the gallery at the bottom for a blacker individual.

13

That could be him - right size, although most of the pictured ones have a bigger badonkadonk than my guy. Of course now I can’t find him to compare.

Mary left about an hour ago - she had me check her eyeglasses case to make sure there weren’t any hitchhikers.

14

Yeah, those little jumping spiders are pretty adorable. I’m not a spider fan, but you can’t kill one of those little guys!

15

Sure there is. Even that monster from the wiki article can be made adorable. Regard:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1473/5747827/15966180/390856626.jpg

16

Ah, yes, that’s a Vuvuzelan Deathhopper. They can jump about 12-15 feet; their venom isn’t particularly fast acting–death doesn’t generally until after 24-36 hours (although the victims are completely paralyzed, though still conscious, for that period)–but there is no antivenom. Fortunately, they aren’t particularly aggressive and won’t attack humans unless they are startled or aroused by something, such as movement, noise, bright light, or strong odors. Just stay as perfectly still and quiet as possible until the spider has left the area and you should be just fine.

I’m just messing with your head, of course. Be sure to pass this on to your co-worker!

17

Congrats!

Last time (like 2 days ago) I saw that wolfspiderwho’s living downstairs she was carrying an eggsack, so I’m guessing there’s going to be the pitter-patter of little arachnid feet to look forward here too. :slight_smile:

18

I’m jealous! The jumpers by me have claws for front legs & they hurt. The cool spiders by me are the off-white spiders that seem to like patrolling about the insides of cars.
I always consider them good luck as I’ve never had an accident when one was in the car with me.

…of course that may not hold true if one were found in the car of the OPs friend Mary. :smiley:

19

Love jumping spiders - they’re cute and so curious. We have lots of different salticid species in Australia, but the American Phidipus species are the most confident spiders I’ve ever met. I wrote a book about spiders and chose a Phidipus for the cover because they are just so cute.

Love wolf spiders, too. OK, easiest just to say ‘love spiders’. I used to be an arachnophobe, and overdid the cure. It is MUCH better being this way than doing the irrational screeching / squashing act.

Love the OP story.

20

Heh, I once had a spider that lived in my car’s side mirror. That meant I couldn’t adjust it, of course, but whenever I drove somewhere I’d always try and wait till he was safely behind the mirror before I sped up. Figured it was least I could do for the little daredevil.