a journal about spiders found around Western PA
Spider hunting isn't as fun in winter because the spiders are "gone". Where'd they go? Before yinz say they all came into the house, let me assure you, spiders have already figured this out. "Any North American spider that needed artificial shelter for the winter, would have been extinct long before Europeans arrived!" - Rob Crawford... 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 →
Back in the day, I used to catch spiders and keep them in pickle jars that still smelled like pickles. I would use a kitchen steak knife to punch holes in the lids. I still have a scar between my thumb and index finger from missing once. I would toss grass in 'ere, label the... Continue Reading →
Seemingly, out of nowhere, a spider showed up in the kitchen. It was not an escapee (disclaimer). I watched, quietly amused, as he (swollen palps = male) busily traveled up the vertical wall, across the ceiling and down the other side of the kitchen in the time of about 7 minutes. I let him go about... Continue Reading →
One of the most difficult questions I am asked is, "What's your favorite spider?" I never have a consistent answer to this and usually go with what is holding my attention at the moment. In this moment, my favorite spider is hands-down, the crab spider. There are about 130 of them found in North America.... Continue Reading →
Second to snakes, spiders are the most feared animals when it comes to phobias. They seem to have superpowers like hyper speed, materializing out of nowhere (or vanishing), invisible webs, and they're venomous (these are the top four things I've gathered from people who really don't like spiders). With all of that scariness in mind, it's hard... 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 →
Of the four common types of spider webs, the orb web is the classic spiderweb. It's engineering beauty and perfection is unrivaled in the animal kingdom. Orb webs are composed of four basic parts: the frame, the radial threads (spokes), the hub, and the sticky spiral. Only the spiral is sticky. Spiders have the ability... 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 →
