Look what I found in the compost bin


Steatoda borealis, the boreal combfoot! They’re coming back!

I was getting worried…I’ve reliably had a thriving population of these false widows in our compost bin. They disappear every winter, unsurprisingly, and then come back in the spring, plump and fully grown. They were late this year, I think because my wife shoveled out most of the compost for her garden (the nerve! That’s now what the bin is for, it’s for fostering a colony of spiders!), but they’re in resurgence now.

Comments

  1. devnll says

    We’ve got a thriving stage 3 civilization in the lid of our compost bin too, harvesting the vast herds of fruit flies. Probably a different species altogether, given it’s New Zealand, but a very similar body type.

  2. birgerjohansson says

    Your compost needs more radioactive isotopes for optimal results

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