My first glance at Robert’s photos told me this was going to be an interesting study. It was obviously a wolf spider in the Lycosidae family, based on the easily observable arrangement of the eyes. Richard Bradley, in his recently published book Common Spiders of North America, put it this way: “Wolf spiders are easy to recognize — they all have an unusual arrangement of their eight eyes… Four of the eyes, the posterior ones, are large, forming a trapezoid at the top of the high carapace. The posterior median eyes are usually the largest and face forward. The posterior lateral eyes are also large and are well behind the PME on the head region, usually facing to the side or even backward… In front of the PME there is a row of four smaller anterior eyes.” [...]
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It isn’t a surprise that Troy was not cognizant of this species. It’s a small spider, and hides itself and its modest web well among the leafy boughs of trees and shrubs of forests and back yard haunts. If I search my back yard thoroughly in mid-summer, I may find one or two of them among the lowest branches of a pyracantha or cedar elm, but never does the spider or its web flaunt its presence. The out-of-the-way web it builds is oriented in the horizontal plane, so we humans are not as likely to realize we’ve bumped into one in the field, the way we are when we come across the in-your-face webs of ordinary orb weavers like the yellow garden spider or the arabesque orb weaver, both of which brazenly stretch their webs directly across our garden paths. [...] On 24 November 2012 Sarah A. Woller, of the Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, wrote that she had taken some photos of a wolf spider, and that while the spider was in captivity it exuded a mucus-like material that covered much of its abdomen. Would I like copies of the photos? Sarah, an outstanding photographer, had already sent me a number of excellent images, all of which I hope to post on bugsinthenews soon. I knew the products of her photographic labors would almost certainly be of extraordinary quality, and that led to an immediate reply in the affirmative. Not that I insist on using only high quality images here. Mediocre, even poor photos of important organisms make worthy postings if they are the best to be had. My latest micrograms, for example — which prove that shooting good photos through a dissecting microscope lens is an art I’ve yet to master — testify to that. But I digress… [...] Meg has been collecting some spitting spiders (in this case, Scytodes thoracica), for me for some time now. Spitting spiders are easy to care for. A small fly for food, once a week or so, is all they need in the way of food and drink. They are not fussy about accommodations, as long as their habitat is dry and free of predators — such as triangulate house spiders and, yes, other spitters, which are not at all reluctant about eating one another. [...] The bright blue tint of its fresh coating of hairs faded slowly, over the next few days, to the more drab brown typical of the genus. Elizabeth placed it in captivity in a large jar so her grandchildren could study it during their regular visits, then watched it — and photographed it — until finally returning it to her garden. There it wandered back under a landscaping timber, returning to its earlier life as a denizen amongst the herbs and flowers, stalking its prey and enjoying a life of freedom. [...] This is one of our most beautiful spiders, particularly when adorned in its most attractive phase, with the brownish dorsal abdomen decorated in reddish fringes and a coalescence of white spots that form, at least to francophiles, a fleur de lis, to others a cross roughly similar to the markings of the diadem spider (Araneus diadematus Clerck). But, then, only a fraction of the females of this species are so adorned. Most apparently display an unmarked brownish dorsal abdomen. I have lost the reference for the moment, but one arachnologist was reported to claim that E. ravilla only displays these white spots as a juvenile, and loses them at adulthood. However, the evidence suggests that at least some mature females — including Stephanie’s specimen (our present focus) and a specimen photographed south of Houston by Joe and Elizabeth LeBlanc in 2009, posted below — continue to sport them into adulthood, and probably throughout their natural lives. [...] Regina attached two images to that email, both of extraordinarily beautiful crab spiders that she had found in her extensive flower garden. I wrote back that they were both crab spiders in the Thomisidae family, and that I would be adding them to the website, as additions to the two existing pages on crab spiders, one that was photographed near Athens, Texas and another that was collected at a medical facility in Cameron, Texas. I then asked if by chance she had taken more photos. It happened she had. Soon a wealth of images came my way, for which I — and, no doubt, soon a host of viewers — am and are grateful. [...] This spider appeared to have many of the characters of a spider in the Amphinectidae family, Metaltella simoni, which bites but is not known to produce serious medical consequences. As I’m presently studying the Amphinectidae, I asked her to preserve the spider in alcohol and hold it to be picked up at a time and place of mutual convenience. She asked what kind of alcohol was best for that purpose. [...] Thomisids are not considered dangerous although they — along with practically all other spiders — will bite if handled, particularly if handled roughly. If you play with spiders, you will probably get bitten, but most spider bites do not produce medical symptoms beyond the local area of the bite itself. Note: if you have been bitten by a spider, read the material on the link at the head of this article on SPIDER BITE FIRST AID. For information on exterminating and controlling spiders in your environment read the material at the link under that title. [...] received the following e-mail regarding the spider shown at left on 25 November 2011: “Attached is a spider we found in Yoakum, Texas in a dirt pile inside a small funnel he built. The spider was a real shiny brown, and the closest thing I can find that looks like it is native to Australia! The spider is about an inch and a half long, and appears to have 10 legs. Let me know if you could help me identify it. Thanks!” [...] |
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