neville parkOct 1, 2019

It's finally #Arachtober! Here's a plump harvie sitting on a leaf. Like scorpions and mites, these arachnids are not spiders but in their own group, Opiliones. They don't make silk or have venom.

We called these "daddy-long-legs" where I grew up, which is a nickname also applied to cellar spiders and crane flies. They are also called harvestmen. Some arachnologists I follow call them harvestpeople. I am calling them "harvies" for short.

🐘

Show threadneville parkOct 2, 2019

#Arachtober day 2: a lovely spotted orbweaver, Neoscona crucifera, found in Trinity-Bellwoods Park in Toronto. She was nested in a thistle next to an impressive web. These spiders are widespread throughout North America but I've only found a few here; more southerly perhaps?

They aren't the showiest spiders, but this photo shows how warm sun makes their golden-brown colour pop.

#DailySpiderPic 🐘

Show threadneville parkOct 4, 2019
#Arachtober, day 3: Zygiella! A.k.a. "missing sector orbweaver" for their distinctive webs. They have yellowish bodies and abdomens with a silvery or cream-coloured "leaf" marking on top and a "blush" of red (sometimes vivid, sometimes almost completely desaturated) around the sides. #DailySpiderPic 🐘
Show threadneville park
#Arachtober day 4: the tiniest little white crab spider on the City Hall green roof, with even tinier prey! #DailySpiderPic 🐘
Oct 4, 2019 at 8:33pmWeb
Show threadneville parkOct 6, 2019

#Arachtober day 5: Psaturday pseudoscorpions from under a rock in the garden. Family Neobisiidae perhaps?

Pseudoscorpions are one of the lesser known arachnid orders. These tiny creatures top out at ~8mm not counting claws; these were maybe ~1mm. They live everywhere from the Arctic to the tropics, but are so tiny and their habitats (under rocks, bark, etc.) so cryptic they are rarely seen. 🐘

Show threadneville parkOct 6, 2019
#Arachtober day 6: Psunday pseudoscorpion!!! This one was very round, gravid [pregnant with eggs], maybe? They are said to carry their eggs under their abdomen but I've never been lucky enough to see it myself. 🐘
Show threadneville parkOct 7, 2019
#Arachtober day 7 (honestly amazed at how long I've kept this up): Larinioides spiderling ballooning from a park bench. We (humans) have only recently figured out that it was possible for spiders to use electrostatic repulsion to lift off into the air - and then experimentally verify it. #DailySpiderPic 🐘
Show threadneville parkOct 8, 2019
#Arachtober day 8: a Larinioides' spiky leg, and her clawed feet. (The white thing is a silken sac, probably for sleep or molting or whatever, from a previous inhabitant of the railing.) #DailySpiderPic 🐘
Show threadneville parkOct 10, 2019
#Arachtober day 9: Larinioides orbweavers mating! Upon maturing the males leave their webs and go roaming for females to court. Courtship involves web-plucking and a lot of waiting. #DailySpiderPic 🐘
Show threadneville parkOct 10, 2019
I see I've done Larinioides for the past 3 days. I regret nothing
Show threadneville parkOct 10, 2019
#Arachtober day 10: how sad, it is #jumpingspiderday and all I have is a photo of this ant. This perfectly normal ant with six legs and two antennae. Just don't look too closely... #DailySpiderPic #DailyAntPic 🐘
Show threadneville parkOct 12, 2019
#Arachtober day 11: male Zygiella! I think Z. atrica because of those long pedipalps but I'm not sure. #DailySpiderPic 🐘
Show threadneville parkOct 12, 2019
#Arachtober day 12: a sheet-web weaver, family Linyphiidae. These spiders can be very small and their finely woven webs are often low down, suspended in long grass or hollows in trees. #DailySpiderPic 🐘
Show threadneville parkOct 13, 2019
#Arachtober day 13: a snout mite (family Bdellidae) found under a fallen piece of willow bark. I liked the contrast between the bluish lichen and the red-orange mite glowing in the afternoon sun.
Show threadneville parkOct 14, 2019
#Arachtober day 14: nothing says "autumn" like harvies (opilionids) in goldenrod! Second pic is the area I found it, the little stretch of shore between the Boulevard Club and the Legion.
Show threadneville parkOct 15, 2019
#Arachtober day 15: "Back off--don't come a step closer--or--I'll--run away!!" A running crab spider (family Philodromidae) squares up on a Queen Anne's Lace plant. #DailySpiderPic
Show threadneville parkOct 16, 2019
#Arachtober day 16: daily Larinioides pic #DailySpiderPic
Show threadneville parkOct 18, 2019
#Arachtober day 17: "What's this?" A Larinioides orbweaver examines my finger. When bored I will poke at them or put my finger in their way, and in all my years of doing this, not a single one has bitten me. They either run away, or quickly figure out the finger is not food and lose interest. #DailySpiderPic
Show threadneville parkOct 18, 2019
#Arachtober day 18: "Okay little buddy, you killed it, it's dead." Luring out a fierce little hacklemesh weaver with a feather taped to a sonic toothbrush. Try it at home! (Linking bc it's a video.) https://twitter.com/neville_park/status/1185211176017448961
nπ—˜π—©π—œπ—Ÿle park on Twitter

β€œ#Arachtober day 18: I'm about a month behind in spider photos, we've just gotten to my first photoshoot with the hacklemesh weavers and my sonic toothbrush with a feather taped to it! #dailyspidervid https://t.co/npKwRuzgcN”

Twitter
Show threadneville parkOct 20, 2019
#Arachtober day 19: love at the No Frills. After grocery shopping I spotted these courting Larinioides. Then I ended up explaining spider mating in a bit too much detail to some random dude. Then he offered me a chili pepper from an old margarine tub. #parkdale, baby. #DailySpiderPic
Show threadneville parkOct 21, 2019
#Arachtober day 20: the best thing I saw on tonight's walk was two red velvet mites sharing an aphid, "Lady and the Tramp"-style.
Show threadneville parkOct 21, 2019
#Arachtober day 21: more of the hacklemesh weavers that live in the Queen & Dufferin underpass. They can be found by looking for their distinctive fuzzy webbing. I also saw signs of New Democrats, of which there's a very healthy local population. #dailyspiderpic #elxn43
Show threadneville parkOct 22, 2019
#Arachtober day 22: little zebra jumping spider looks meditative as she eats an aphid and idly scratches herself. Link bc video! https://twitter.com/neville_park/status/1186750101655560194
Show threadneville parkOct 24, 2019

Belated #Arachtober day 23: leetle spider, hacklemesh weaver I think, back-combing silk. Found that night when someone's fucking car alarm kept going off and I wandered the neighbourhood at like 3 A.M. to find the car and leave an angry note.

Video: https://twitter.com/neville_park/status/1187243813502361600

nπ—˜π—©π—œπ—Ÿle park on Twitter

β€œBelated #Arachtober day 23: leetle spider, hacklemesh weaver I think, back-combing silk. Found that night when someone's fucking car alarm kept going off and I wandered the neighbourhood at like 3 A.M. to find the car and leave an angry note. https://t.co/L8krB5Hh00”

Twitter
Show threadneville parkOct 25, 2019

#Arachtober day 24: this is from about a month ago, at the height of Zygiella mating season. Males hang at the periphery of females' webs, patiently plucking out courtship songs. Returning home one night, I saw one single-minded suitor had fallen prey to a young male yellow sac spider! Look at his face in the last pic, like, "...What??"

#DailySpiderPic