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What beast emerges from the dark depths?

This is exciting. I’ve written about my compost bin before, which has been a rich source of spider lore — a partially closed habitat, the domain of some large dark spiders that build their cobwebs in a place rife with buzzing insects.
The bin has been inaccessible for months, buried under snow. Today the snow had retreated enough that we could hobble over slick, crunchy ice to get to it and throw back the lid. What did I see?
First, fresh silk, new cobwebs laid across the corners. Somebody had been working hard. Then, suddenly, at one side, a massive spider loomed out of the darkness — a fully grown, adult male Steatoda borealis. His presence tells me something: he’s much too large to be a recent hatchling, so he must have overwintered down in the dark, sheltered from the storms, huddled in the fermenting warmth of the compost.
We closed the lid and let him be. I’m sure there are more down there who will creep out in the next few weeks to rebuild a thriving colony.

If you want to see this massive unit of a tough Minnesota spider, you can go to Patreon or Instagram. He’s big and dark in shades of red and black with thick strong limbs and glowing eyes.

Maybe social media shouldn’t be for profit? » « The only reason to pay attention to the haters is to shame them

Comments

  1. Rob Grigjanis says

    We closed the lid and let him be

    Probably for the best. If you let him out, he might slouch towards Bethlehem.

  4. birgerjohansson says

    Sadly “The dark depths” are notoriously nutritient-poor. That is why there are no Cthonians, no elder races biding their time. Giant squids are an exception, but they are not that big in terms of body mass, not compared to delta crocodiles.

    I wish there was an evolutionary pressure to make arthropods evolve proper lungs. That would make compost bins more interesting.