Spiderday (#27)

June 11, 2016 / Chris Buddle

I know, I know… it’s been too long since the last SPIDERDAY post! The end of term proved busy, but I’m trying to get back on track. So: here are some of the best arachnid-themed stories of the past couple of months. I hope you enjoy all the eight-legged greatness! Let’s start things off with a beautiful photo:

Zora hespera, photo by Sean McCann

The photo, above, is in this great post about “wolf-like” prowling spiders. It’s my read of the month.
Ballooning spiders and deep evolutionary branches
Unusual oral sexual encounters with Darwin’s Bark spiders.
Yay for peacock spiders! They help the media produce some positive stories about spiders.
Unfortunately, stories like this don’t help: SPIDERS ON A PLANE!!!
The Excavator Spider.
From Tasmania… Flooding rivers affect spiders: the evidence is all the silk from their ballooning.
On the importance of vision for the net-casting spider.
Ridiculously long spiders. That is all.
A lovely video about the amazing arachnologist, Norman Platnick.
Fascinating: how Tarantula venom might eventually help those who suffer from IBS.
Incredible product from spiders: How spider silk stays tense.
Just check out this amazing jumping spider art (here’s the Etsy shop):

Truly amazing Mites. More folks should study these arachnids.
Mite-look-a-likes: new species of Mite Harvest~~men~~persons from Australia
For the scorpion enthusiasts: new species from California.
What a great resource for the UK: illustrated key to British pseudoscorpions.
A great resource for Arachnophiles from western Canada.
The awesomeness of huntsman spiders.
Citizen science, spider style: Prince Edward Island is the winner
Venomous (southern) spiders hiding in a (northern) museum.
Snake pretends to be a spider, to catch a prey. Wow.
A Festschrift for Robert R Jackson. Great looking suite of papers.
Neat looking paper: how leaf-dwelling jumping spiders find their microhabitat (using visual cues)
Jumping spiders, getting flirty. Here’s the video:

Spiderday (#23) – Happy Holidays

December 19, 2015December 19, 2015 / Chris Buddle / 3 Comments

SPIDERDAY is finally back – it’s been a few weeks, but the end of the term has been hectic. However, it’s time to catch up on some great Arachnid-themed links from the last little while.

This will also be my last post of 2015, so I’ll also take this opportunity to THANK YOU for reading and commenting on this blog. I also wish everyone a Happy Holidays! Arthropod Ecology will certainly keep on truckin’ in 2016.

Here’s looking at you… A close up of an Araneidae, from Insects Unlocked.

Here’s a post on an often-overlooked family of spiders: The Oecobiidae, aka “star-legged spiders”
Colour shifts in spiders. Fascinating biology!
Cobwebs and their genetic secrets: this research is quite exciting, and has many potential applications in the future.
The faces of Peruvian Amazon spider families. Photos are breathtaking, and you get to see great variation in form and function, too.
Multi-modal communication in peacock spiders.
Speaking of jumping spiders: what a resource! 27,000 images of Salticidae
A phylogenetic classification for the Salticidae: an important paper
This is outstanding: a very old book has a very old spider squashed between its pages (and you can tell the species, too)
From back in November, how spider personalities affect pest control.
Blue tarantulas. That is all.
An interesting looking paper on mercury accumulation in arthropods, including spiders.
Big spider webs. Yup, they sure are big. Super-big.
Discover your inner Arachnid: what spider are you?
Hunting Britain’s largest spiders
To kill a wolf spider: the natural history of wasp and their spider prey.
On that theme, here’s an interesting video... perhaps a bit gruesome

Wonderful post on the natural history and biology of pseudoscorpions and harlequin beetles. Easily my Read Of The Week!
Also on pseudoscorpions, I collaborated with thermal biologists to look at what happens when you heat up, cool down, and try to drown Arctic pseudoscorpions.
Mites on our faces. Excellent coverage of excellent science.
A bird-feeding tick and the implications for Lyme disease
Australia has all kinds of amazing arachnids, including scorpions.
On the evolution of weaponry in Arachnids. Great post that includes one of my favorite groups, the Opiliones.
Spitting spiders can REALLY spit their silk.
I was part of a “Secret Santa” (we called in Secret Pisaurid, to give it an arachnid theme!). My gift was incredible “SPIDER CARDS”. Wow. I’m in awe. Thanks so much to my secret pisaurid. Happy Holidays everyone!

Collectors cards, Arachnid style.

Spiderday (#17)

September 19, 2015September 19, 2015 / Chris Buddle

Arachnids: cool, amazing animals with lots of legs and lots of fascinating biology. SPIDERDAY brings you the best arachnid links from the past week. Here’s your 17th edition:

A wonderful shot of a crab spider: part of the brilliant “insects unlocked” project.

Arachnologists in some parts of the world are getting LOTS of questions about all the spiders showing up in houses, on buildings and just about everywhere. This happens every year around this time, ’cause it is autumn. Here’s a great summary of this (and my Read of The Week)
One very common species that people are noticing this time of year (at least in my neck of the woods) is Neoscona crucifera, and this post provides a great summary of the species.
Under the heading of “ridiculous“, there’s a company selling spider-proof sheds. Spoiler: don’t waste your money.
Wasps that turn spiders into the walking dead. Boom. (here’s another write up of the story)
Here’s a really wonderful blog about orb-weavers called ‘thorned heart’. It includes taxonomy, natural history and photographs.
They are finding some lovely spiders in Australia… Hello there indeed!
For the taxonomically inclined.. new species… more than that.. new Genus of spiders from southern Africa.
Spider love. Yeah, for the jumpers.
Oh dear: spider scare causes school bus crash.
Mitey Mites grabbing a ride: in this case, new species on beetles.
Want to kill dust mites? Stop making your bed. Well… it’s not that simple, but that is quite a headline!
Love the enthusiasm for spider silk in this video. SUPER STRONG SPIDER SILK YEAH!

Spiderday (#13)

August 22, 2015August 22, 2015 / Chris Buddle / 1 Comment

After a busy summer, and a lot of time away, I’m pleased to start up Spiderday again. Here are some arachnid-themed links pulled from the web over the past couple of weeks.

Here’s a nice looking spider – it’s a Selenops. There is exciting new research about these critters! (photo by Sean McCann)

The photo, above, provides a segue to my read of the week: some species of neotropical spiders don’t just ‘fall’ from trees, they can ‘glide’ and use their flat bodies as a type of sail to redirect them to the tree trunks. Wow…. just WOW. Here’s one take on this story, and here’s the original paper.
Nice spiders finish last – and determine the fate of the colony. Some really neat research about colonial spiders.
Tooting my own horn here: I was thrilled to see quite a lot of interest about our research on the effects of insecticides on jumping spider personalities.
Here is a Festschrift of interest: The life and times of Africa’s First Lady of Arachnology, Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman.
Male wolf spiders do some eavesdropping.
Another tiny dancer (peacock spiders…. of course!)
If you don’t follow the Biodiversity Heritage Library, you really should. Case in point:

An important statement about tick-borne diseases, put out by the Entomological Society of America.
More about Lyme – here is a post about some important new research on how/why the disease symptoms vary so much, and treatment implications.
On varroa mites, honey bees, and pesticides. It’s complicated.
Confusion in the world of Arachnology: Opiliones (harvestmen) or Mite? (Acari)????
Bioindicators with eight legs: water mites can help inform us about water quality (oh, insects can do that too)
Tooting my own horn again: It was so wonderful that CBC science & technology picked up my story about pseudoscorpions and wrote a nice piece on these animals. Curiosity, passion and arachnology FTW.
Here’s a wonderful video about arthropods of homes, in Peru. It’s here because there is loads of great spider coverage:

Spiderday (#12)

August 1, 2015August 1, 2015 / Chris Buddle / Leave a comment

I’m delighted to bring you the twelfth instalment of SPIDERDAY! All your arachnid links, at your fingertips!

Please note: I’m going to be away (vacation time…) for part of August – your next Spiderday will likely be on 22 August. Hope you can wait that long!

From Jonathan Kolby, an awesome net-casting spider! Amazing animals.

Green Lynx Spiders – friend or foe? My Read of the Week.
A moth that mimics a jumping spider. And if you don’t believe the photo, there’s a paper about it too.
The Spider Forest: Here’s a great field work adventure, in which spiders kind of get in the way of research.
Boom: new spider species (in Kerala). Always good news.
Wolf spider cannibalism? Yes, it’s important.
Spider of the Dominican Republic: there’s a blog for that.
Here’s a very interesting post that is all about how wasps take down spiders: spiders are prey too!
Here’s a video on that topic:

in New Zealand, here’s a post about mites that may prove to be important biological control agents against wasps. Mite-y powerful!
On damselflies and mites: Regionally widespread parasitic water mites have relatively broad host species ranges. Nifty paper!
An unlucky Opiliones:

Spiderday (the ninth)

June 27, 2015June 27, 2015 / Chris Buddle / 1 Comment

Here’s your ninth edition of SPIDERDAY! Some arachnid-related links from the past week.

Please note: I’m just heaving off to the Yukon for a couple of weeks of remote field work (it will involve arachnids!). Spiderday will likely return on 18 July.

Wow – this is a Thomisidae (crab spider) that’s an ant-mimic. In Australia, of course. Photo by Alex Wild.

“An estimated 25,000 diving tarantulas live along a 10 kilometre stretch of floodplain“. Australia – you have the best arachnids. Honestly. This is my read of the week.
Always good news when new spider species are described: here are ten new species from Madagascar. In this work, the authors document ‘remarkable’ local diversity within the genus Anelosimus.
Cuff links, spider style. Nice.
The American Arachnological Society had its meeting last week: you can check out some tweets to gets a sense of the conference.
Click here to read about a remarkable overreaction to finding a spider in bananas. Sigh.
You just don’t hear about these critters very often: The formidable “jaws” of the solifugae (camel spiders, or wind scorpions). Not convinced…? Here you go:

Scorpions, anyone? How about GIANT ones. An amazing post with stunning images that you just won’t believe!
Some very handsome Opiliones (Harvestmen, or daddy-longlegs)
This is from a while ago, but worth another read. The fastest land animal (scaled to relative body size) is… a MITE!
Tips for tick safety. Worth a look.
Here’s a great technique that arachnophiles are sure to use!

Spiderday (the eighth)

June 20, 2015 / Chris Buddle / Leave a comment

Hip Hip Hooray! It’s Spiderday! I’ve snared some of the best arachnidy links from this past week. But first… a big hug for you:

A spider hug.

A spider species rediscovered in the UK, after over 100 years. A wonderful way that using “the web” can help science. My Read Of The Week.
How do you trap a trap-door spiders? Use a lure, of course. What a great idea!
We all know spiders as predators… but things eats spiders too. Here’s an overview of when spiders are prey.
Magic spiders: Here’s some wonderful science about how a spider lures moths by using sexy smells.

A spider found for the first time in Canada: Myrmarachne formicaria (photo by V. Levesque-Beaudin, reproduced here with permission)

A jumping spider found for the first time in Canada: Myrmarachne formicaria (photo by V. Levesque-Beaudin, reproduced here with permission)

At the Grant Museum the “Specimen of the week” is an Opiliones. Lovely critters – and cousins to the other arachnids.
On birds, lice, mites and a complicated, wonderful series of natural history notes and questions, from Heather Proctor.
Burying beetles are well known for carrying passengers. These passengers are mites.
Speaking of mites as passengers, here’s a paper that shows “Flies that are burdened by mites are expected to exhibit lower flight endurance compared to uninfected flies.” Yes… flies carry mites too.
The world checklist of Quill Mites. Awesome.
Here’s what tick eggs REALLY look like.
Here’s a video to accompany that last link – the life cycle of sheep tick, observed in laboratory conditions – this is kind of cool and kind of gross all at the same time:

Spiderday (the seventh)

June 11, 2015June 13, 2015 / Chris Buddle / Leave a comment

Welcome to spiderday. THE place to get all the stories about arachnids, from the past week. And boy oh boy it was a good week!

Let’s get started:

A spider from Singapore: it vibrates its web at high speed if it’s threatened. Wow. Photo by Chthoniid, reproduced here with permission.

Perhaps the best news of the week: a critically endangered spiders is saved from a planning development in the UK. Spider conservation FTW! That’s my read of the week.
You must see this: from Nicky Bay (on Facebook) – a spider with an extended ‘tubercle’ on its abdomen. What’s it for??
The Hippie Spider. That is all.
Some surprising animals that like water. Spiders are on that list, don’t you know.
Wonderful photos of a running crab spider mom.
What happens if you ask undergraduate students to draw a spiders? The results are quite something! Some are amazingly accurate. Some are, well, not so accurate:

A spider of sorts.

This is a simply fabulous post about figuring out whether or not you might have a brown recluse (spoiler: it’s #notabrownrecluse)
Want to go on a safari? How about a spider safari? Sounds like fun to me.
This is neat: spider and centipede venom evolved from insulin-like hormone.
Cobweb Hotel (1936) – Um, it’s one of the oddest spider-themed youtube videos you will ever come across.
This is a mitey good pun:

A mitey good pun.

Family flees home after finding a spider egg sac. That’s an overreaction. Sigh.
Tick watch: beyond Lyme disease
Canadians: here are your high risk areas for Lyme disease
Ticked off: here are things we DON’T know about Lyme disease
Finally, your friendly Public Spider Announcement:

Spiderday (the sixth)

June 6, 2015 / Chris Buddle / Leave a comment

Here it is… the sixth installment of SPIDERDAY! I scoured the “web”, and found you all the arachnological links from last week:

Not a spider, but an Opiliones (Harvestmen, or Daddy Long Legs). Photo by Nash Turley.

The “Big Bad Spider“: a wonderful post about why spiders might so often be featured (in art, books, culture) as monsters and villains.
A spider’s egg sac does not always produce spiders.
Always great to see more species of spiders described: in this case, some arachnids from Australia, including lovely Mygalomorphs.
More on mygalomophs: this paper shows a radiation of cryptic, endemic species in California.
Catherine Scott takes on the crusade of convincing people the spiders they are worried about are NOT brown recluse spiders. Good for you, Catherine!
On the “Stylish Academic”, a Q & A with Arachnologist Michelle Reeve
Spider book update: help decide what common species should show up in an upcoming book about North American spiders.
Fortuitously, last Saturday was #SpiderSaturday. That’s awesome.
No, Daniel, these are not freckles:

Dan Johnson has been Tweeting some nice images and natural history about northern scorpions, found in Alberta, Canada.
Ticks can have a very significant impact on wildlife: here’s excellent coverage about “ghost moose”
Varroa mites are well known to beekeepers. But how do they make their way into hives? ..by smelling like bees, of course.
A small mite was clinging to the leg of a flying ant when it was trapped….forever….
Here’s is some simply fantastic biology and natural history about a desert-dwelling mite and its incredible feeding adaptations. This is my arachnological read of the week.
I’ll leave this here for you: a mitey feeding frenzy:

Spiderday (the third)

May 16, 2015May 16, 2015 / Chris Buddle / Leave a comment

Hey Hey, it’s SPIDERDAY again! The day of the week in which you can find some links about wonderful Arachnids, from last week. (you can check out past editions here).

Here’s a stunning jumping spider: Habronattus americanus (by Sean McCann)

Some spidery links:

Here’s a wonderful post about behavioural observations of mating strategies of jumping spiders (including the species featured in the photograph above). I especially like how this work was done under natural conditions.
Spiders are raining down on parts of Australia (lucky them, I say!)
Lots of spidery things happening in Australia: Here’s a post about how rainfall is ‘flushing out’ funnel web spiders… but they are needed for venom collection! Call your local arachnologist if you find one!
An artist turns spider webs into amazing sculptures. Wow.
Here’s som amazing art by Christi Belcourt, and if you scroll down you will see “Grandmother Spider”.
Don’t know how I missed this paper back in January – looks fascinating! Community assembly on remote islands: a comparison of Hawaiian and Mascarene spiders

The other Arachnids:

Ticks: you should watch out for these. Photo by Alex Wild.

Here’s an an excellent post about “Tickspotters” – resources to understand ticks, understand prevention. Here’s a related link that provides excellent Tick identification guides. Why all of this now? It’s Lyme Disease Awareness month, that’s why.
Male mites are “not so clever” in showing preference for dead females.
Here’s a report about how the destructive (to honey bees) Varroa mite *almost* made it to Australia.
Some pretty incredible life history here: Matriphagy in pseudoscorpions (with Videos).

To finish, check out this Tweet: yes, folks, spiders eat spiders.

Thanks for following along! Keep me apprised of neat Arachnid stories, and I’ll include them in next week’s Spiderday.