Thanks to this blog, anytime I consider taking a vacation anywhere towards the tropics, I stop and think, "Oh, but those spiders..." And Cathy's photo only reinforces my phobia.
She encountered this jewelled spider while on vacation in Bermuda last October. Bermuda! Can't we have one tropical, paradisaical island that is devoid of spiders (especially the spikey ones who don't bother to clean their webs of their victims' husks)? I know what you spider apologists are going to say: something along the lines of if there weren't spiders, then the insect population would overrun the island.
But I don't need a lesson in island and invertebrate ecology. I just want a happy place, where I can sleep knowing a spider hasn't spun a giant web just outside the door of my bungalow.
Speaking of happy places, there's my traditional dark corner where I can curl up and enter a catatonic state. I'll be back later.
Thanks, Cathy.
Apr 27, 2008
A Happy Place
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14 comments:
That's one of the coolest looking spiders I've ever seen. Wow!
Is the neat coloured thing on it's back part of the spider? Or is it something it's chosen as a fashion statement (ie. Hermit Crab)?
that spider rocks. I want some badass spikes too!
That picture sure gets a lot bigger when you click it. I wasn't quite ready.
Brian- That's part of the spider.
Wombat- If you want to vacation where there aren't any spiders, you'll have to go to Antarctica. That's the only place in the world where you won't find any. They're even on the north pole.
Oh, and the spider species in the picture doesn't get larger than about 3/8". It's just a little guy.
There're spiders in the north pole? Insane. (And awesome.)
*goes researching*
That kind of spider is also found in NE Florida- I've seen several in my back yard. They're too small to be scary!
Look at all you spider apologists, trying to lull me into a fall sense of security.
Definitely a Spiny Orb Weaver. Looks like a Female! The male's 'shell' is grey in color, the female white or off white. They grow a bit larger than the males. We have them all over the place here in south Florida. Lovely spiders that build large amazing webs.
LOL, you know you love them wombat, deap down. REALLY deap down. ;)
You're never more than 3 feet from a spider at all times, just don't fight it and feel the LOVE. ;)
We have these same spiders all over Houston, TX. There must be about 20 in my back yard right now. They are called "Crab Spiders" colloquially. They are not big and not scary.
You want big and scary, look at a wolf spider or wait till the tarantulas migrate through you back yard. Yikes.
They are better than the horrifyingly big giant roaches we have here, though.
Well, but there are other spiders also called "crab spiders" colloquially ~ the Thomisidae family of the Araneae order, Wikipedia tells me.
This spiky guy, though, is Gastracantha cancriform by name. Or very close to it. And harmless and delightful.
^_^
dude this spider is the kite spider, commonly found in Texas...
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