#Arachtober 2: I wonder how long I can go without posting a spider? This is a pseudoscorpion from my yard. These bizarre-looking but harmless arachnids live all over the world, but unless you're looking for them you might never see them. They live in caves and under rocks and leaf litter and tree bark and such, and the largest in the world is only about a centimetre long.

#ArthroBeauty #arachnids #pseudoscorpions • #Pseudoscorpiones #Chthoniidae

#Arachtober 3: spider mites (family Tetranychidae)! These tiny herbivorous mites are the bane of gardeners and farmers the world over. Spider mites in the subfamily Tetranychinae leave sheets of a very fine silk they produce, finer than spider silk, over heavily infested plants.

This plant in a nearby park showed the telltale "stippled" look of spider mite feeding on its leaves, and tiny mites could be seen especially on the leaf undersides.

I cannot stress how tiny they are. If you can get a good phone picture of individual mites without magnification, they're probably not spider mites.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites #SpiderMites • #Acari #Acariformes #Tetranychidae #Tetranychinae

#Arachtober 4: a representative from the other mite order, Parasitiformes! The parasitiform group Mesostigmata does contain some infamous parasites, but many—like this one here—are soil-dwelling predators.

(Acariformes and Parasitiformes have traditionally been grouped together under Acari, "mites", but in fact they are probably not each other's closest relatives and deserve to be treated as separate groups. Don't look too closely at higher mite classification or you will go mad.)

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites • #Acari #Parasitiformes #Mesostigmata

Belated #Arachtober 5: this absolutely minute, delicately pink cobweb spider (perhaps a young _Steatoda triangulosa_?) I found under a leaf in the garden while I was looking for anystids. It is so small it could easily be a mite! It has already captured an ant, likely one of the _Prenolepis imparis_ so common in the garden.

#ArthroBeauty #DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #spiders • #Araneae #Theridiidae

#Arachtober 6: Here's an anystid. They seem to experience a burst of population growth in the fall, not nearly as much as Peak Anystid around June but still noticeable.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites • #Acari #Acariformes #Prostigmata #Anystidae

#Arachtober 7: this mesostig's bristly, pointy face kind of reminds me of a hedgehog. Although similar in colour and body shape, it seems a bit more…rugged than the ones I normally see? More matte and spiky.

#MiteMonday #Mitestodon #arachnids #mites • #Acari #Parasitiformes #Mesostigmata

#Arachtober 8: a beautiful arabesque orbweaver (_Neoscona arabesca_), found along the Humber Trail near the Oculus. It's an excellent spidering spot I return to a few times a year; here's an earlier blog post about it: <https://nevillepark.ca/2022/09/19/field-journal-spiders-of-the-oculus/>

I hope you can see why I will bike 20 minutes and up, even across town, to look for such dazzling beauties!

#DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #spiders • #Araneae #Araneidae

#Arachtober 9: freshly molted _Mecaphesa_ flower crab spider. Wait…

🎶 Freshly molted _Mecaphesa_
Freshly molted _Mecaphesa_
Freshly molted _Mecaphesa_
Right next to its old skin 🎶

#DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #spiders • #Araneae #Thomisidae

#Arachtober 10: a tiny juvenile _Mangora_ orbweaver. At this time of year you can find orbweavers at their biggest, but also plenty of little spiders that will be overwintering.

#ArthroBeauty #DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #spiders • #Araneae #Araneidae

#Arachtober 11: in the same plant where I found a bunch of young _Mangora_, I also found this pirate spider (family Mimetidae)! Note the distinctive row of forward-pointing spines on its front legs, which you won't see with similar spiders like _Platnickina_ (family Theridiidae). These are spider-eating spiders who lure their targets out by, as the family name suggests, mimicking prey. More about them: <https://spiderbytes.org/2015/10/26/pirate-spiders/>

I suspect at least a few of the _Mangora_ will fall prey to this specialized hunter.

#ArthroBeauty #DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #spiders #SpiderBehaviour #mimicry • #Araneae #Mimetidae

#Arachtober 12: In some interestingly fungus-covered grass in the swampy meadow by the creek just past the Oculus, I saw lots of _Pardosa_ thin-legged wolf spiders, but they were as jumpy as, well, jumping spiders and it was hard to photograph any. Here's a couple I did get!

These cute little spiders, getting up to ~1cm body length, put the lie to the common misconception that a "wolf spider" is necessarily big, hairy, and bulky. In fact the family Lycosidae has thousands of species all over the world, as varied as their habitats, from large desert burrow-dwellers to these lithe little denizens of marshy undergrowth and rocky shore.

#ArthroBeauty #DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #WolfSpiders #spiders • #Araneae #Lycosidae

#Arachtober 13: while I was in the grass taking the photos I posted yesterday, every movement would send little leafhoppers (family Cicadellidae) springing away. This one leaped right into the web of a tiny _Theridula_ cobweb spider, who quickly seized it.

(At least, I think it's a leafhopper, but true bugs aren't my wheelhouse so please correct me if I'm wrong!)

edit: accidentally the date

#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