Found three spiders in a hands-breadth under the lip of a brick wall: a good-sized _Parasteatoda tepidariorum_ house spider; a zebra jumping spider (_Salticus scenicus_); and its prey, a small cobweb spider of some kind such as _Theridion_ based on the markings (see last pic).
#DailySpiderPic #spiders #CobwebSpiders #JumpingSpiders #Araneae #Theridiidae #Salticidae #ArthroBeauty
A pretty meh day but still managed to see several spiders:
- a mesh-web weaver couple
- a crab spider, something in Coriarachnini
- _Attulus fasciger_ with that teeny tiny posterior median eye clearly visible
- a cobweb spider, maybe _Enoplognatha_?
#DailySpiderPic #spiders #JumpingSpiders #CrabSpiders #Araneae #Dictynidae #Thomisidae #Salticidae #Theridiidae
#Arachtober 15: it's _Zygiella_ courtship season! The males hang around the edges of the females' webs, plucking and strumming rhythmically to communicate. Here's a male with his long "elbowed" pedipalps; a female; and a cobweb spider preying on an unlucky male suitor who got too close.
#BREAKING: new Travis McEnery video just dropped and it's a 1h20m look at the black widow spider!! https://youtu.be/DHl_wRE4H0Y
(Two of the arachnologists who regularly advise on the series have studied black widows so this is gonna be a good one)
Got quite the shock just now when I saw my pet _Parasteatoda_ had made an egg sac!!
She has molted since I caught her, so it's not fertilized, she just made it on her own initiative. I didn't think she was full grown! I'm just very surprised. Uh…happy Valentine's Day?
#DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #spiders #Araneae #Theridiidae
Copulation is essential for transferring sperm from males to females in most animals. During copulation, males and females are often static and thus prone to predation or other threats. Its duration should therefore be reduced to minimize costs but sufficient to ensure the fertilization of eggs. Here, we investigated reproductive behavior and success in the false widow spider, Steatoda grossa (Araneae: Theridiidae), when copulation was interrupted after 1, 3, 5, 10, or 20 min or was not experimentally interrupted (control). Copulation duration in this study is defined as the total duration of insertions of male pedipalps into a female’s copulatory openings. In S. grossa, uninterrupted copulations typically last 40 to 60 min. We found that within the first 5 min, copulation interruption negatively affected reproductive success (i.e., number of egg sacs, their total mass, and number of spiderlings), and delayed production of the first egg sac within the first 10 min (in some extreme instances by over 200 days). However, when copulation duration was 10 min or longer, reproductive outcome was unaffected. In the 1-min treatment, the number of egg sacs and their mass varied greatly, which indicates considerable variation among males with respect to the speed and efficiency of sperm transfer. We discuss the costs and benefits of extended copulation duration on female reproduction and on male and female fitness.
The little cobweb spider molted! This is her second molt in my care (she first molted right after I put her in a container).
She's only a few millimetres long. I think she's a _Parasteatoda_, which can get to about the size of a pea.
#DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #spiders • #Araneae #Theridiidae
#Arachtober 14: #RIP Sabella the black widow.
I had her for ten months exactly (https://flipping.rocks/@nev/11157397654673256). Her last molt was about six months ago.
I have added her to my collection.
I didn't have the sort of attachment to her that one has with a pet that, you know, can perceive you are a human being and interact with you and that you can handle and whatnot, but I will miss the bumbling little murderess. 
#DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #spiders • #Araneae #Theridiidae
neville park
Nap ízeltlábúja - Arthropod of
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