# Spiders



## Chew Toy McCoy

Started this as kind of a depository for my interest in pet spiders.  Currently I just keep jumping spiders.  Not really big into tarantulas, although some dwarf species have caught my interest.  Would love to have something like an orb weaver or garden spider that have amazing coloring and tend to hang out at the center of a large web.  

Just found out about these.


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## Alli

We get orb weavers here. They are beautiful.


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## Chew Toy McCoy

Alli said:


> We get orb weavers here. They are beautiful.




I'd love to get a golden orb weaver.   I thought about making a custom encloser.  Get a larger poster size shadow box and replace the solid back with glass, or plexiglass.  That way you would get light and a view through both the front and back and it would be more of a room centerpiece than something you would put against a wall.


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## Chew Toy McCoy

First time taking Peanut out of her enclosure.  For anybody who have seen any of my other jumping spider posts, I name all my female jumping spiders Peanut.  So this is a new Peanut.  

She was a little jumpy (ha!) but they can be tamed and more relaxed over time.  So I should be able to get better photos and videos when I’m not also trying to keep track of her movements.


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## Chew Toy McCoy

Go to about 3:45.  Great idea for an orb weaver and kind of like what I was talking about above.


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## Chew Toy McCoy

Peanut boxes way outside her class.


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## Chew Toy McCoy




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## Joe

Opened this thread and quickly leaving this thread lol


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## Chew Toy McCoy

JagRunner said:


> Opened this thread and quickly leaving this thread lol




I apologize for the misleading title.


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## Yoused

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> I'd love to get a golden orb weaver.



I hear their bite is nasty, but they make beautiful tapestries.









						Spider men weave silken tapestry
					

It took herculean effort, but Madagascar crafters created an extraordinary piece of woven art from spider silk.




					www.sciencenews.org
				




(I think I may have already posted this here, but it is just too awesome to be practicing restraint.)

We keep out spiders on the back porch and the garden and behind the garage. Sadly, this year they seem to be absent, probably because our flying meat is way down.


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## Alli

Chew Toy McCoy said:


>



Fascinating. We get the huge orb weavers annually, but they don’t stay. These little ones, we’ve always referred to as ”crab spiders” and we have them all over year round. Good to know!


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## Herdfan

I find too many Black Widow spiders too often, so I don't really like spiders.


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## Roller

I'm equally fascinated and frightened by spiders, though I know many are beneficial.


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## Huntn

Roller said:


> I'm equally fascinated and frightened by spiders, though I know many are beneficial.



If I find a spider in the house I capture it if possible and turn it loose outside.


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## Yoused

I adore this person





… _don't turn out the light_ …​


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## Huntn

Yoused said:


> I adore this person
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> … _don't turn out the light_ …​



Wow, great performance, with a song title like this I was obligated to listen.


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## Yoused

This piece is for @Alli 









						Giant Joro spider invading Georgia, expected to spread quickly across Alabama
					

Researchers at the University of Georgia say the invasive Joro spider is now widespread throughout that state and will likely continue to spread across the U.S.




					www.al.com
				




when they get to your house, catch one for chewtoy


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## Huntn

Yoused said:


> This piece is for @Alli
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> Giant Joro spider invading Georgia, expected to spread quickly across Alabama
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> Researchers at the University of Georgia say the invasive Joro spider is now widespread throughout that state and will likely continue to spread across the U.S.
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> www.al.com
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> when they get to your house, catch one for chewtoy



So were they first imported as exotic pets? 

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## DT

Yoused said:


> This piece is for @Alli
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> Giant Joro spider invading Georgia, expected to spread quickly across Alabama
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> Researchers at the University of Georgia say the invasive Joro spider is now widespread throughout that state and will likely continue to spread across the U.S.
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> www.al.com
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> when they get to your house, catch one for chewtoy





For scale, that branch is 6" in diameter ...


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## Alli

Yoused said:


> This piece is for @Alli
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> Giant Joro spider invading Georgia, expected to spread quickly across Alabama
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> Researchers at the University of Georgia say the invasive Joro spider is now widespread throughout that state and will likely continue to spread across the U.S.
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> www.al.com
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> when they get to your house, catch one for chewtoy



I saw this in a local piece a few days ago. They remind me of the orb spinners. Absolutely beautiful!


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## Huntn

Alli said:


> We get orb weavers here. They are beautiful.



We have those too, pretty webs!

A post somewhere else from 7 years ago:
We have a Spiny Orb Weaver that has taken up residence above our front foundation shrubs (in Texas). Not only is the web large, I'm amazed that it extends up to a tree, about 7' above. Fortunately this web is out of the way and in a perfect location to catch plentiful stealth mosquitos. How does it evaluate a good spot for building? How good does it see for such evaluation? Does this mean it had to climb that tree and descend down?

Mostly I'm impressed with the precision this web is being constructed. The radials are all precise. It (gender unknown) cycles around the radial threads, pulls the radial up to attach the cross thread it's currently laying, then moves to the next radial. I tried to take a picture, but it was too small and the thread too fine to be seen by my iPhone.

I also wonder how spiders exist around the world that have this web building in their DNA. Are they all of common descent, (how did they spread?) or did they develop this talent independently?


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## lizkat

For fans of a good sized but harmless spider, good news, the Joro's probably coming your way.









						Palm-size invasive spiders could eventually colonize East Coast, including Boston - The Boston Globe
					

The joro spider, native to Japan, is spreading throughout the southeastern United States, though it isn’t dangerous or aggressive to humans. By one expert’s estimate, it would take 5-10 years for the spider to make its way to New England.




					www.bostonglobe.com
				






> The joro spider first arrived in the US around 2013, most likely as stowaways on shipping containers. According to the study, the joro spider only needs a narrow period of suitable weather to complete its lifecycle.
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> “The species simply needs to have a 3-4 month window of time in the summer and fall to carry out its life cycle, and then lay eggs before dying. Then, the egg sacs need to survive the winter,” he said. “But, based on the range of this species in its native land (east Asia), Boston is pretty similar.”
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> The study also found that the joro spider can function in a cold environment better than the golden silk spider, which is a closely related species.
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> Davis said female joro spiders can be about 3 to 4 inches long with their legs outstretched. Their abdomen is about the size of a grape, he said. Male joro spiders are much smaller.
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> “The males are just little guys — only about 1-2 [centimeters] in size,” he said.




They look like this...  pretty jazzy addition to any garden!

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## Chew Toy McCoy

Starts with my fav, the jumping spider, but then shows my new fav to me spider, the velvet.  Don't seem to be available on the US market much though.


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## Yoused

Huntn said:


> How does it evaluate a good spot for building? How good does it see for such evaluation? Does this mean it had to climb that tree and descend down?



It is my understanding that, the silk being very fine and light, the spider spins out a strand and lets the end float up until it makes contact with an anchor point, then sticks the near end to a nearby anchor and sets up more radials off the first line. I believe the radials are the dry lines, upon which she navigates, and the spirals are the stickies.

As far as vision, spiders have two or three sets of eyes, of differing optical profile. There are usually two telephotos for seeing what is way over there and clusters of shorter range eyes. There may also be other, wide view, eyes intended for predator evasion. The telephotos are cylindrical, which is one reason for all the legs, so that the spider can rapidly move around to the best viewing angle. Owls have cylindrical eyes as well, which is why they can spin their heads all the way around.


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## Chew Toy McCoy

Video showing spiders hunting in packs is pure nightmare fuel
					

A startling new video of spiders hunting in packs is the perfect example of nightmare fuel you never needed.




					bgr.com
				




“The spiders weave massive nonstick webs and then wait for bugs to run into them. When they feel the vibrations in the web, the spiders hunt in packs moving towards the bug in synchronized motion. They stop whenever their own movements threaten to drown that of their prey, resulting in weird stop-animation-like movements.”


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## lizkat

The latest on jumping spiders:   they may exhibit eye movement similar to that of humans during REM sleep.









						Jumping spiders may experience something like REM sleep
					

If it's an analog of mammalian REM sleep, then it evolved very early.




					arstechnica.com


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