Usually, the science building I work in isn’t great for finding spiders — the custodians are good at their jobs. But sometimes, if you get down on your knees and poke around in the little crannies, you can find a few (I tell you, they’re everywhere, they’re just good at hiding). We explored my lab a bit today, and discovered a few things.
- The Pholcidae have moved in, those great long-legged thugs. They’ve displaced at least one Theridiidae individual I knew of, and was leaving in place. Tsk.
- The false widows I follow are generally small, which may mean they’re not finding much to eat.
- We found wild Steatoda triangulosa! Or maybe feral. I can’t rule out the possibility of baby escapees.
The reddish-yellow color is interesting. I don’t know if that’s a pigment variant, or if she’s been eating something weird. - One lonely tiny Parasteatoda was hiding beneath the desk.
It shall be given flies.
This may not be what some of you want to hear, but try getting down and looking under your furniture or in the dark gaps between your furniture and the wall. You may find you have friends.
I, for one, welcome our arachnid overlords. I live deep in a national forest and my abode gets overrun with tiny forest beasties that the spiders love to snack upon. They are more efficient than the Roomba.
I’ve always had an understanding with spiders. They eat the annoying flying beasties, and I leave them alone. As long as I don’t walk into a spider web. Then, all bets are off.
I like the photos. Your spider photography seems to have improved considerably. More experience or better equipment?
Andrew
It’s wonderful how beautiful these creatures are. They are so tiny they are hard for me, at least, to see well, but your photos really show the amazing patterns on them.