I have been so impatient for the spiders to flourish once again, and have been keeping an eye on what looks like a hotspot for Parasteatoda egg sacs and spiderlings. Nothing there yet, but at least I get to show you the spider paradise and where I expect to see more spiders soon.
Then my wife discovered the first Theridiidae of the spring scampering across some cardboard! I caught her (I’m pretty sure it’s a her, but she’s small and juvenile), and brought her into the lab.
The new spider is named Iðunn. May she be fertile and fruitful.
blf says
The mildly deranged penguin points out if Iðunn fails to deliver, she could be used to make a spider-based Æbleflæsk. (I point out Iðunn is a small spider, she points out poopyhead has plenty of spiders & groundhogs & students & zebrafishys — and even teh evil cat… I suggest she’s had enough port & cheese for this evening…)
Rob Grigjanis says
Springtime for Spiders…and Germany?
blf says
Springtime for Spiders…and
Germany?Corsica: Mediterranean island of Corsica witnesses snow in May: “Cold weather and heavy snow blanketed the island on Wednesday, taking many locals by surprise.”Giliell says
Do spiders like showers?
There’s one in our bath ant today while taking a shower I turned around and saw it dangling just above me. It neither rose nor descended, but I had to take care not to make a movement one of us would come to regret.
davidc1 says
“Springtime for spiders and harvestmen ”
“PZ is happy and gay ”
“He’s searching for spiders in every place ”
“Look out Doc Myers
is on the case ”
That fair tuckered me out ,going for a lie down .
PZ Myers says
Spiders like humidity. I’ve got little atomizers that I use to spritz my colony now and then.
Sean Boyd says
Have you ever stopped to consider, PZ, that your difficulties in getting a self-sustaining colony of spiders going is that these are ‘murikan spiders? You’re just setting them up with free housing and free food and all the sex they can handle…these aren’t any namby-pamby socialist spiders, man! It’s Charlotte’s Web, not AOC’s Web! These spiders spin silk of red, white and blue, and all their webs are shaped like tiny ‘murikan flags. They need to be left to fend for themselves…they’re makers, not takers. Just put some Hannity and Ingraham on the radio, open those test tubes up, and let freedom ring, baby! Woooh!
No, as a matter of fact, I’ve never studied biology. Why do you ask?
Rich Woods says
Unless you find her a Bragi you’re never going to know.
PZ Myers says
I’m looking for a Bragi now. Maybe OK Cupid would work? Or Tinder?