Getting back to the Giant Eurpoean House Spider, I seem to remember reading that they might in fact be native to British Columbia after all, rather than having been introduced 100 years back. Did anyone else see this, or am I imagining things again?
Pretty! But too colorful for our mistress of the night.
Check out these pics I just took: Barn Spider?
They’re moderately high resolution, so expand them for more detail.
This one is perfectly welcome in her current spot, but I was not thrilled to have her on my mailbox, and at face level!
One summer, my older sister and I had one as a “pet” in the back yard. The most exciting thing I remember from that year was when a cicada got in her web.
They’ve been reading this thread. I got home last night to find this fellow right in the middle of my hallway. Just looking at me. Didn’t even flinch when I stepped over him twice (my need to get to the bathroom outweighed my need to get rid of the spider). Quite a small one as house spiders go - it only filled a tumbler rather than a pint glass.
But then you can’t hear them creeping up on you! :eek:
They make horror movies that start this way, and you know what? You know what every member in the audience is thinking after the first 10 minutes? Of course you do. Let’s all say it together: Why the hell did you stay? You know there was a 10-pounder up in the attic pumping out hundreds per day, right?
Good lord! shudder (why do I look??? why?)
Looks like a giant orb weaver. Very Pretty.
I can`t even come close to what some of you have put up here but we have had one ofthese land on us (By us I mean my SO, whose screams could be heard miles away). I whacked it off her hand with the spatula I was cooking dinner with. It made a pronounced whack and I felt the impact as it hit…The body was as big as my thumb to the first joint.
And because I`m evil (and like spiders…) Dare you to look atthis.
According to wiki, it is true of many spider species. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism
I have never personally observed a spider species with males larger than females, and I look at them carefully all the time, spiders being one of my areas of focus at college, though I don’t doubt for a moment they exist. If you look long enough you can find almost anything in nature.
I know that with most tarantulas, they are very close to the same. In fact, it’s difficult to tell a male tarantula from a female. The males only become obviously different at their last molt, where hooks appear on the front pair of legs, that serve a purpose in mating. At this point, the male spider hasn’t much longer to live. Females live significantly longer. I suppose, at some point, you can know that you have a female if it is still alive past the realistic life span of a male.
I grew up on Long Island, and lived in a basement apartment there for a few years. I’ve also lived in basement apartments in Ann Arbor and Chicago. And non-basement locations in Terre Haute, Schenectady, and metro Boston.
Long Island seems to have more spiders than the rest of these places combined. But I have no authority other than my own experience and am wondering if Long Island is some sort of spider diversity hotspot.
Our small basement apartment had at least 8 kinds of spiders in it. Obviously we couldn’t do a technical species differentiation process, but just by looks alone we had 8.
There were so many spiders that we left alone any spider with a leg span smaller than a quarter. The bigger ones had to go, and there were a lot. One night, we dealt with 12.
The worst crawled out of the ceiling space when we were changing a light. It was so big that when the bug spray finally took it out, its legs were hanging down each side of your standard size door. The body was the size of a mouse, and grey, and disturbingly heavy.
To end the rambling, let’s go back to my question - is Long Island some sort of spider playground?
Also, why hasn’t anyone brought this up yet?
http://www.travelwireasia.com/2012/02/5-must-try-cambodian-dishes/
Exactly. You underreacted if anything. I’m thinking of burning my own house down merely because the picture of it is now on my computer. Auughhhh.