a journal about spiders found around Western PA
Pittsburgh, with all of our hills and valleys, is rumored to have the most public, city steps of any city in the country. As we zoom into the south shore of the Monongahela River, most of the steps are concentrated in what is known as the Southside neighborhood. My home-hood, Beechview, comes in second place.... Continue Reading →
I typically don't write about tarantulas, but SpiderMentor wouldn't be SpiderMentor without mentioning Chandra, the chaco golden knee tarantula (Grammastola pulchripes), who was my go-to gal for educational programs and events. Sadly, she passed away this month (October 2023) of old age. With her large size and beautiful markings, she'd easily get everyone's attention and... Continue Reading →
What makes for a good spider photo ID? Here are a few tips that will help if you're thinking of sending a photo to any type of social media group, nature app, or your friendly neighborhood "spiderologist". Identifying spiders to species by looking at a photo is very tricky and not as easy as you'd... Continue Reading →
This is a story about luck, transformation, and opportunities (or the lack thereof) in the life of a peculiar spider, Neospintharus trigonum. These spiders are in the Theridiidae family AKA comb-footed spiders and/or cobweb spiders. I found one in my backyard (Pgh) in mid-May. I only spotted this speck of a spider because it was... Continue Reading →
It's hard to find spiders in winter around here. During winter hikes, I casually search by peeking beneath loose bark and flipping over an occasional rock or log (and putting it back in place after). Sometimes, I get lucky. Most of the time I find nothing. The types of spiders I most often DO find... Continue Reading →
There's a reason I don't have many blogs about the family Salticidae (salt-TISS-id-ee) AKA jumping spiders. These active, fuzzy spiders are SO mobile that I've always felt badly about keeping them cooped up inside a container. Plus, they have more anthropomorphic qualities than other spiders with those big eyes looking at me as they pace... Continue Reading →
The "slower" days of winter in the spider world aren't slower because there aren't any spiders to find, they're slower because they're harder to find. I did a few sweep net samples in November and December in Frick Park to see what was out there and scooped up some spiders that were new to me.... Continue Reading →
Spiders lay eggs. Depending on species, they can lay thousands of eggs or just one single egg as is the case with the tiny spiders in the genus Monoblemma (found in tropical Africa and tropical Americas). The featured image above shows the egg sac of Argiope aurantia (AKA banana spider, garden spider, Steelers spider) on the left... Continue Reading →
"How do spiders always seem to come back to the same place after I vacuum?" a friend asked. I knew what she meant because I've seen the same thing in my own house. I never really paid attention to these spiders as far as how many or how often they return after vacuuming. They just... Continue Reading →
I used to work at Fireborn Studios, a pottery studio in the Southside of Pittsburgh. Part of my job was packing and shipping pottery to wholesale accounts. The packing area was in the basement, a typical cobwebby, dusty, albeit dry basement with no windows. I would occasionally....okay, OFTEN get distracted by the bugs that would... Continue Reading →
It's that time of year! The crispy edges of summer, back to school, football, AND adult Argiope aurantia season. You may know her as the banana spider, garden spider, black and yellow spider, Steelers spider, or some other nickname, but we're all talking about the same lady. Yes, the spider you notice is the female of the species. Males... Continue Reading →
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