It’s Thursday, which means it’s my spider clean up day — feeding and removing withered dead corpses from their vials, and also bottle-washing and general tidying up.
I’ve also been working on compiling some resources for students, since in a few months I have to sit down with a few of them and teach them how to identify spiders (challenging, since I’m a novice myself). For everyone’s general edification, here’s a short list of websites with taxonomic information:
- The University Extension Service on spiders (very basic overview.)
- Minnesota Spiders (spotty, incomplete; photos of a few spiders.)
- iNaturalist Spiders of Minnesota (iNaturalist is going to be a very handy tool.)
- Spiders of Minnesota: A checklist (good, detailed list; not particularly helpful for ID since it assumes you know what you’re doing.)
- A Preliminary Checklist to the Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Minnesota (Part of the above checklist.)
- Bug Guide: Order Araneae – Spiders (thorough overview, links to details.)
- A Key to Spider Families (Keys, with diagrams of anatomical features.)
Of course I also have a couple of printed field guides. I’m eager for the spring thaw and an opportunity to go chase spiders.
Doc ,you are becoming obsessed with them spiders ,i would suggest you get out more ,but you are already waiting for spring .