Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Tiny Spider Update

     Thanks to an anonymous commenter, it appears that the critters spreading barely-visible nets in the medium-height grass of the back yard here at Roseholme Cottage are dwarf sheetweb spiders -- and I should be flattered they stick around: "These tiny spiders (usually 3 mm or less) commonly balloon even as adults and may be very numerous in a given area on one day, only to disappear the next."  Yes, they're airship spiders!
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 21, 2015 at 10:25 AM

    Only you could make steampunk spiders feel at home. -Ed.

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  2. Guffaw in AZJuly 21, 2015 at 11:00 AM

    Dirigible or blimp variety?

    gfa

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  3. fillyjonkJuly 21, 2015 at 11:33 AM

    Yup, I was gonna ask if they were ballooning.

    This xkcd comic is one I've actually used in one of my classes: https://xkcd.com/1415/

    Sadly, I seem to find it funnier than my students do. (also, the very end of Charlotte's Web features her "children" ballooning to new homes)

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  4. JenniferJuly 21, 2015 at 1:55 PM

    Oh nifty!

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  5. KeadsJuly 21, 2015 at 7:14 PM

    Great!

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  6. Roberta XJuly 21, 2015 at 9:37 PM

    One kind of these little spiders spins "cup and saucer" webs. Another sort makes domes! These just put up nets.

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  7. JessJuly 23, 2015 at 3:02 PM

    I'm thinking your post explains the tiny spiders I'd see, while working offshore. I don't know where they were from, but when conditions were right, the webs would hang like shreds of cloth on everything.

    ReplyDelete

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