Category Archives: spider

San Juan County, WA Spider Information – Resource Sheet 

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Scared of Spiders?  Here’s a go-to info-sheet (that I plan to update as time allows) with links to verifiable, research-backed Spider Information/Literature.  Let’s end all the misinformation and our arachnophobia.  Too often people buy into false reports.  Don’t listen to someone’s tall tale of horror.  These stories are sensationalized and inaccurate.  Know the facts.  Dispel the rumors.  Spiders are not out to kill you.  It’s just not true. 

YOU have to do the reading!  These are scientifically based, accurate studies with information related to spider bites.  

Hobo Spiders (Tegenaria agrestis) ****Medically insignificant 

*Bennett RG, Vetter RS. An approach to spider bites. Erroneous attribution of dermonecrotic lesions to brown recluse or hobo spider bites in Canada. Can Fam Physician. 2004 Aug;50:1098-101. PMID: 15455808; PMCID: PMC2214648 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2214648/pdf/15455808.pdf.

*Melissa M. Gaver-Wainwright, Richard S. Zack, Matthew J. Foradori, Laura Corley Lavine, Misdiagnosis of Spider Bites: Bacterial Associates, Mechanical Pathogen Transfer, and Hemolytic Potential of Venom From the Hobo Spider, Tegenaria agrestis (Araneae: Agelenidae), Journal of Medical Entomology, Volume 48, Issue 2, 1 March 2011, Pages 382–388, https://doi.org/10.1603/ME09224

How to identify and misidentify a Hobo Spider –https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2210/2015/05/PLS116_1.pdf

Brown Recluse Spiders (Loxoceles sp) – NO! I repeat “NO, none, nada!” established populations in our area.  

In the attached links below, you will find links to information about the Brown Recluse Spider.  Information that comes from a verified, reputable source – from an actual expert.  Brown Recluse spiders do not live in the San Juan Islands.  Caveat: this is not to say that if you move here from an area where there ARE established populations, one might be found hitching on your moving boxes.  It’s possible, BUT – they have not been able to survive and breed here.  If you see a large brown spider in your house – especially on the ceiling, it is most likely (99.99%) going to be a Giant House Spider (Eratigena duellica).  They are very common and harmless.  If you don’t like them, just catch in a cup and take it to a sheltered area outside – preferably another structure where it might have a chance to survive.  They won’t hurt you. 

Map showing distribution of Brown Recluse spiders (Please note that San Juan County is NOT found on this map)  – https://spiders.ucr.edu/spiders-map

Map of Brown Recluse Spider distribution – UC Riverside

Where else can I find reliable information on Spiders?

There are a few sources I’ll list here.  The first two are the ones you should look at first.  They are valuable resources with information from highly credentialed experts in all things arachnid-related.  If you read something written by either Rod Crawford (Seattle Burke Museum curator of the arachnid collection) or by Rick Vetter (UC Riverside Department of Entomology), you can be assured it is correct. 

As a local resource, you can also check out the Facebook Bug Group (Bugs of the San Juan Islands).  There are several group “experts” with experience identifying spiders.  These folks generously volunteer their time and knowledge, so keep that in mind and please refrain if you feel inclined to INSIST they are wrong and there are INDEED Brown Recluse Spiders living in your house in San Juan County.  If you have a spider you’d like identified, it helps to have a couple of clear photos to submit.  Try and get a shot of the dorsal (top) of the spider, and if you’re able, one of its face – showing eye pattern.   You may contact me, Cynthia Brast-Bormann at cynthiabrast@icloud.com to submit live or deceased specimens for identification.  I will help you coordinate a drop off point for collection.  Please don’t indiscriminately KILL a spider though and ask me to ID it.  It will likely make reliable identification more difficult.  Just get a cup and a lid with some air holes punched in the top.  I appreciate your showing kindness to the helpless creature you’ve caught.  I will ID and humanely release.  

Here’s a link to Rod Crawford’s site – http://staff.washington.edu/tiso/

If you’re interested, here’s a link to his blogpost of our 2022 outing on San Juan at Reuben Tarte Park collecting spiders – https://crawford.tardigrade.net/journal/album8630.html

More great links featuring Rod Crawford: 

  1. Spiders aren’t out to get you – https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/seattles-real-spider-man-sets-us-straight-theyre-not-out-to-get-you/

Rick Vetter UCR  

Myth of the Brown Recluse: Fact, Fear, and Loathing

https://spiders.ucr.edu/myth-brown-recluse-fact-fear-and-loathing

Local help: 

Bugs of the San Juan Islands Facebook Group – There are at least 4 spider group experts and folks with entomology degrees or experienced backgrounds in the group who are more than qualified to help you.  https://m.facebook.com/groups/bugsofthesanjuanislands/about/

Bugging You from San Juan Island (Cynthia Brast-Bormann’s entomology blog for the San Juan Islands)  https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com

Great YouTube information and fun links to watch from one of Bugs of the San Juan Island’s group experts, Arlo Pelegrin (entomologist and arachnologist) 

  1. Spiders of the West and their Medical Significance – Arlo Pelegrin at Dept of Health

“Spider Bites Woman’s Lip”

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The headline, “Spider Bites Woman’s Lip“ popped out in my news feed yesterday. As an entomologist, these bizarre reports are click bait for me. I bit. As I read through the linked piece, my first thought was, “Yes!” Someone was definitely hallucinating!”

My other knee jerk conclusion is we have doctors who have absolutely no diagnostic skills whatsoever. In reconsidering, he may not be the one at fault though, or at least not entirely. In fact, it would be interesting to hear the physician’s side of this story. Did he definitively state it was a Brown Recluse Bite? Or, did he suggest it “might be?” Are the patient and the Newsweek reporter the ones guilty of the hyperbole here?

It’s got to be fantastic to be featured in Newsweek, right? Please note my sarcasm! The media is a huge problem when it comes to sensationalizing stories and egging on the screaming fear folks have around spiders. You’re welcome to take a look at this story yourself, but please come back because I’m gonna tell you what’s wrong with it!

https://www.newsweek.com/spider-bite-womans-lip-brown-recluse-hospitalized-hallucinate-virginia-kayaking-1636005

First off, there is NO spider. No one collected a spider. No one brought a spider to the doctor to ID. Even if there had been an actual spider, since when have physicians become expert taxonomists and actually have the skills to identify arachnids or insects. Strangely, the story reports the woman didn’t even think much about the bite when it happened. Her words. Not mine. I really wonder about this mystery “spider.”

Secondly, the bite occurred, I presume, when she was paddling her kayak through a waterway. Brown Recluse spiders don’t make webs in the air, and certainly not over the water like that. Of course, I suppose it is possible for a spider to have been in the kayak, crawled up her legs and torso, and then crawled all the way up to her face where it bit her on the lip. You’d think she would have seen it. Also, Brown Recluse spiders like to live with other Brown Recluse spiders, so it’s difficult to imagine not finding a spider somewhere in the kayak to bring to the doctor.

Third. Lots of things can cause spider bite-looking lesions. I’m surprised the doctor declared it a Brown Recluse bite. There is no test to diagnose that someone has been bitten by a Brown Recluse. Again, no spider was brought in, so why was this deemed a spider bite when it could have been numerous other things? For instance, UC Riverside’s Department of Entomology webpage about Brown Recluse Spiders states,

“The following can cause lesions similar to the lesion from a bite of a Brown Recluse spider …mites, bedbugs, a secondary Staphylococcus or Streptococcus bacterial infection and “Three different tick-inflicted maladies have been misdiagnosed as brown recluse bite: Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and the bite of the soft tick, Ornithodoros coriaceus. “

If you want to read more about this, you can check it out here – https://spiders.ucr.edu For a complete list of look-a-like medical conditions, I’ll refer you to this chart https://spiders.ucr.edu/causes-necrotic-wounds-other-brs-bites And, I’ll add my own too, “Various species of bees, wasps, and even thrips can cause lesions that appear to be the feared spider bite.” https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/category/thrips/

What about her hallucinations? My first thought was she has had an outbreak of a herpes lesion and could have developed herpes simplex encephalitis. Please DO look this up! I did. It’s one of the side effects of getting a nasty cold sore. https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/encephalitis-herpes-simplex/

Now, I’m not a doctor. I didn’t take this woman’s medical history. I’m just pointing out some OTHER possibilities. Possibilities that are actually much more likely than the sensationalized over-reaching claim it was a Brown Recluse spider. Hmmmm… Hysteria and hyperbole. I hope she recovers, and I hope she will be able to kayak again soon. I just wish there was a way to stop the inevitable slaughter of innocent spiders that will ensue. It’s a shame.

***Note*** We do NOT have Brown Recluse Spiders in the San Juan Islands. Please take a look at the attached distribution map and show it to anyone who tries to convince you otherwise. https://spiders.ucr.edu/spiders-map

Thanks for reading!

References:

A complete list of publications about the Brown Recluse Spider (Loxosceles reclusa) can be found here: https://spiders.ucr.edu/publications

https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Recluse-Spider-Richard-Vetter/dp/0801479851

https://bugguide.net/node/view/3349

Spider Vivarium DIY

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It’s wet and rainy out today, so I thought I’d share an indoor spider post for you to view. This isn’t my own, but I just watched it and it’s an informative, short, DIY on how to set up a vivarium for a jumping spider. Yes! Sometimes having a dog or a cat is impractical or impossible. Time, space, and affordability can impact our choice of animal companion. There’s also the environmental impact. 🤔 Hmmm, how many of us really consider that? On the enviro-scale, keeping a spider is far greener than probably any other pet you could choose. No greenhouse gases!

Eunuch or “U-neek” Eeek! Another Spider Sex Story!”

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Yesterday I was literally in bed most of the day recovering from a precautionary step to prevent severe illness.   I felt like I had been in a bad auto accident, but that’s got to be better than actually having and/or dying from a virus, right?   Well, I used the time to read.  Mostly I read spider behavior stuff.  Believe me, some of these things are pretty interesting!  Spider sex for instance.  Who knew! I found this somewhat sensational spider story. This spider doesn’t live in the San Juans, but it’s so weird, I just have to share!  

DID YOU KNOW there is such thing as a Eunuch spider? (Tidarren sisyphoides), one of the Theridiidae or Tangle Web Spiders, AMPUTATES one of its own pedipalps (the male sex organs).  The species name (Tidarren sisyphoides) is a combination translation from Gosiute-Greek meaning ‘small male’.  Male spiders of this species are very tiny (1mm) in comparison to females ( only 1% the size of the female).  

According to R.J. Adams (2014) and Ramos et al (2004), Tidarren sisyphoides male spiders are born with, and develop two palps, just like other spiders, but at the penulitimate (next to last) molt (shedding of the exoskeleton as part of growth/development), the male spider amputates one of these palps ON PURPOSE!  

The amputation process isn’t done by chewing or anything of that sort.  The tiny spider wraps it in a silk scaffold, then dismembers the palp by twisting or moving around in circles until it breaks off.  The remaining palp is quite large in proportion to the 1mm sized body of this tiny spider, making up 10% of the total body mass. 

Why would the spider amputate one of its palps?  Well, turns out that males with one palp can move around and chase females much faster with only one palp.  It is supposed to give these guys an evolutionary reproductive advantage.  Males only mate once, so the reproductive drive is stronger than the drive to preserve one’s palp! Once he’s inserted that single palp, he will die within minutes,  still attached to the female. Hmmm, getting laid might not be so lucky depending on how you look at it.

After mating, the female will extricate the palp from her epigynum (the female reproductive receptacle).   While some other species of spiders are known to eat the male after mating, this species does not. She will merely discard the body.   

Interesed in reading more?  Check out these links, and read my blog about spider sex too! 

Adams, R. J., & Manolis, T. D. (2014). Field Guide to the Spiders of California and the Pacific Coast States (1st ed.). University of California Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt5hjhpb

Kuntner, M., Agnarsson, I. and Li, D. (2015), The eunuch phenomenon: adaptive evolution of genital emasculation in sexually dimorphic spiders. Biol Rev, 90: 279-296. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12109

Ramos,M.,  Irschick, D. J., and Christenson, T.E.  2004. Overcoming an evolutionary conflict: Removal of a reproductive organ greatly increases locomotor performance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  101 (14) 4883-4887; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0400324101 https://www.pnas.org/content/101/14/4883

Wanna feel my palps? Said the HE to the SHE. This is a Spider Sex Story 😱

Spider Sleuthing in the San Juans – Day 11 – Arachnid Advocates Needed

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I had to take the weekend off! Fatigue is setting in from the smoke and the yellow haze cast over the island isn’t helping. I’m weary of viewing responses from folks about how they want to “kill” any poor hapless spider that makes its way into their home. Arachnophobia is tough, but thousands of innocent creatures could escape a horrible death (stomping, squishing, flushing) as a result of human hysteria if only….if ONLY…that human might take a moment to educate themselves about the poor soul they just MURDERED. If you are guilty of this and you’re feeling badly, GOOD! It means there is hope for you to change your ways. Become an arachnid A-D-V-O-C-A-T-E!

A friend of mine shared the article linked below on Facebook today. It’s timely in that it speaks to the over sensationalized media reports that cast a negative light on spiders…and other insects. We need to change how we think of them! Check it out.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10143?fbclid=IwAR3UA5nTITpw_x404VtlT-F2-Z-dqG1uVzYko5Tq1mM5kCBIWvW9R64w4qA

For today, please don’t relocate your little (or big) house spider outdoors! Leave it in the corner to do its thing. It’s going to wander a bit, but it isn’t going to bite you or harm your pets. Be curious about it. If you name it, it can become part of your family! If you want an ID for that spider, send me a message or post a photo on my Facebook Page (Bugs of the San Juan Islands).

https://www.facebook.com/buggingyoufromSJI

Thanks for reading!

p.s. Here are some neat spidee links to check out! It’s time to advocate for your eight-legged friends

5 Reasons to Love Spiders
A Spider Love Story
12 Spider Books for Little Learners

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-nottinghamshire-49804294

https://www.ranker.com/list/cute-spider-pictures/eric-vega

https://www.facebook.com/RosieTheSpood

September Spider Sleuthing in the San Juans – Day 8 Araneus diadematus, the Cross Orb weaver

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Yesterday my husband was outside working on our deck (without much help from me). The weekend projects can be overwhelming, especially when I’m so easily distracted every time I find a BUG. This one was perfect for my post today!

Female Cross Orb Weaver, Araneus diadematus 09.07.2020

First off, it’s a SHE spider! This fall beauty is a female Cross Orb Weaver, Araneus diadematus. She was hanging out on the side of the house, just under the eave. I had to carefully climb a ladder to get a photo, but it was completely worth the risk.

  • Female Cross Orb Weaver, Araneus diadematus.
  • Female Cross Orb Weaver, Araneus diadematus.
Female Cross Orb Weaver, Araneus diadematus – San Juan Island, WA 09.07.2020
Female Cross Orb Weaver, Araneus diadematus 09.07.2020

Orb Weavers are in the family Araneidae. These are some of the most beautiful and commonly seen spiders in our area. They weave the classic and typically vertical, orb-shaped web that we often see in our gardens.

March 29, 2013, Photo by Cynthia Brast-Bormann

While Araneus diadematus is not a native species and was introduced from Western and Northern Europe, it has become naturalized here and ranges across North America now. Bugguide.net gives the North American (including Canada) range for A. diadematus as the following localities – “diadematus – BC, WA, OR, MI, OH, PA, ON, NY, QC, RI, MA, NS, NL.”

Male and female specimens have different morphology (size, shape). Female body length can be from 6-20mm and they are fuller and more rounded. Male body length varies from 6-13mm and they are more narrowed in body shape.

  • Male A. diadematus
  • Male A. diadematus
  • Male A. diematus
  • Male A. diematus
Male A. diematus
Male A. diadematus

Typically, even though they are around in spring, we don’t notice them until later in the fall (like now). Females will be waiting on their web for a wandering male to find them. Males are not usually seen on webs since they are often on the move to find “Miss Right.”

The female A. diadematus will lay her last clutch of eggs in fall before dying, usually timed with our first frost. The eggs will overwinter. The eggs will hatch in springtime when temperatures warm, releasing hundreds of baby spiderlings!

June 13, 2013 – San Juan Island “Orb-Weaver Spiderlings”

I found this interesting poem online about Orb Weavers that I’ll leave you with today. Thanks for stopping by!

Araneus diadematus

Our cradle empty, we shall climb

To a high place, to catch the wind

And fly, strewing gossamer as we go,

Singly, flowing without will, to land

Wherever.

We shall know, by the compass

Blotched in white upon our backs,

Where to spin the spokes, and how

To spire the wheel; with one leg, feel

The trembling.

Approach too fast, and we shall quake,

And blur the whorl with shaking

From the underside, the compass

Pointing down, our legs the eight points

Taking.

At night we eat the orb, conserve

The silk, to spin again by morning,

Indelicately, cramming all

Into open mouths, every spoke

Consuming.

We spin the globes of nurture

After mating, span them so,

With loving claws, adore the

Minor worlds we make, compass

Turning.

Entwined in silk, their spinnerets

Are forming, massed bundles

Of eyes, and legs, and fangs

Entangling. Each of us

Expiring.

Source material. Veronica Godines, Araneus diadematus, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu. Theodore H. Savory, The Spiders and Allied Orders of the British Isles, London, 1945, pp. 130–131. The common “Garden Spider” has a characteristic “cross” on its back, and is the archetypal orb-weaver. Immatures, already orphans by the time they emerge, go out to seek their fortunes by abseiling more or less at random on air-currents, attached to an anchor point by nothing but a thread of gossamer.

Spider Sleuthing in The San Juans – Day 7 Debunking Spider myths

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Today, I’m going to introduce you to Rod Crawford in my post. Rod is the curator and spider expert (GENIUS) at the Burke Museum in Seattle. He is the go-to guy for anything you would possibly want to know about spiders.

One thing I really like about Rod are his efforts to debunk some of the most common myths about spiders. For instance, putting that spider you find in your house outdoors is good for the spider and where it belongs. Nope. Nope. Nope,….and one more big ole’ NOPE! Take a look here to read what Rod says about where some spiders live (including indoors), and why tossing them outdoors is not a good idea.

https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/arachnology-and-entomology/spider-myths/myth-house-spiders-belong

So, if you haven’t come across some of Rod’s work, check out some of these links and watch the YouTube video below.

https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/arachnology-and-entomology/spider-myths

Spider Sleuthing in The San Juans – Day 6, Mommy Long Legs!

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Last night I spied this sweet little Pholcid spidee mom-to-be in the corner of our bedroom. Pholicid is short for Pholcidae, the Cellar spiders.  These are the spiders we know colloquially as Daddy Long Legs or in her case, Mommy Long Legs.  Not to be confused with the other sort of Daddy/Mommy Long Legs, the Harvestmen, which actually aren’t spiders at all!  

Pholcus phalangioides with egg sack 09.05.2020 – San Juan Island, WA
Pholcus phalangioides with egg sack 09.05.2020 – San Juan Island, WA

This little “she” spider is most likely Pholcus phalangioides.  My photos aren’t great.  I was standing on a chair holding my phone out as long as my arm would reach to try and get a picture, but didn’t want to disturb her too much.

 If you look closely, you’ll see she is carrying her eggs in her mouth.  These eggs are carefully held in a delicate silk net until they hatch. Even after hatching, the teeny little spiderlings are carried around in their mother’s mouth until they are able to venture off on their own. 

Pholcus phalangioides with egg sack 09.05.2020 – San Juan Island, WA


Pholcus phalangioides spiders are often found inside homes or structures, make untidy, haphazard webs, are great at catching pests in your home, including other spiders!  Males live for about a year, dying usually after mating.  Females can reach the very old age of 3.  That’s quite a long time to have a spider in your home.


I’ll leave you with a few neat links to check out:  What to expect when your Cellar Spider is expecting – http://ibycter.com/what-to-expect-when-your-cellar-spider-is-expecting/ , Two months in the life of a mummy long legs –http://spiderblogger.blogspot.com/2011/01/daddy-long-legs-hatching.html  and last but not least (this one has incredible photos), Daddy-longlegs, vibrating or cellar spiders https://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/Spiders/Pholcidae/Pholcidae.htm


Thanks for reading!  Be nice to spiders.  

Sleuthing Spiders Day 4- Why is that spider in my bathtub?

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hello!

There could be a few reasons you’re finding that spider in your sink or bathtub or shower! 

Reason #1 –  Lots of spiders are nocturnal, so while we’re sleeping they’re stealthily crossing the ceiling overhead.  Sometimes one may bungee down to check things out below.  If that happens to be over the tub, it’s possible the poor little (or BIG) spider just got stuck, unable to scale the walls of a slippery surface.  

 Same thing with the kitchen sink.  A spider scurries across the counter too fast, one of those 8 legs slips or maybe a knee buckles (yes, spiders have knees), and the next thing that spider is facing is our equivalent of falling down into a deep well. 

 He…or SHE, needs someone to throw in a lifeline to get back out.  


Reason #2 – Sometimes…yes, sometimes spiders end up in your tub or shower or sink because deep in the cracks or seals around the shower door or down in the drain, you have these teeny little spider snacks squirming around.  That’s right!  You might not see them, but even if your shower is squeaky clean, you probably have drain fly larvae living in your pipes. 

 Yikes!  I got into our shower one morning and there were these teeny little wiggly worms down at my feet.  When I poked around the rubber strip that prevents water from leaking out the shower door, there were MORE!  


To help you visualize this,  I’ll try and get creative.  I’m not a very good drawer, so I scribbled in the wriggling larvae to enhance this image I found online.   In my mind, I pictured the woman in the movie Psycho, screaming at the top of her lungs since the scientific name for drainflies is Pscho-di-dae! 

The adults aren’t scary looking at all though.  They’re called Moth Flies and they are sort of cute…and fuzzy-wuzzy!   The larvae, also called sewer flies, actually are beneficial and help purify water, so I am viewing them now as an important part of an ecosystem while trying to get over being creeped out by them around my feet.  


I also am much more welcoming to my house spiders now that I know they are working hard to save me from DRAIN FLIES!

Reason #3 – Did you know that spiders drink water?  Yes…sometimes spiders end up in the sink, bathtub, or shower because spiders get thirsty! I actually had a little spider I found in my home that was in a declining way and Rod Crawford (also known as the Spider Whisperer) at the Burke Museum messaged me about how to give it a drink. Here’s what he said, “For future reference, the way to give a spider a drink is to rest the mouth area (under the front of the “head”) directly in a drop of water.”   I must confess that now I’m so sensitive to spiders needing water that whenever I get one out of the bathtub, I’ve put a moistened cotton ball on the floor nearby so it won’t die of thirst!  

Please be my friend! (Salticus scenicus), a little jumper ❤️


Thanks for reading.  Remember….Be nice to spiders!  To read more about spiders knees – Check out this link!  How many knees does a spider have?  https://infinitespider.com/how-many-knees-does-a-spider-have/#more-3706

Sleuthing Spiders in the San Juans – Day 3 – Classifying Spiders, the Very Beginner Basics!

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Spider Sleuthing Day 3 – Classifying Spiders. The (VERY) Beginner Basics. Spider classification (for North America) consists basically of two different groups. These are the infraorders: Araneomorphae (the “true” spiders) and Mygalomorphae (the tarantulas and trapdoor spiders).

What are “true” spiders? Why those are the ones that aren’t Mygalomorphs! What??? I confess, I’m having to read up on this as I type this post. I DID, however, disclose that I am an entomologist and not an arachnologist in my DAY 2 post, and I can count to 6 (if you read my earlier post, you’ll get my joke), and that is high enough to tell you that these groups are partially differentiated by the number of book lungs a spider has.

Book lungs are the main respiratory organ in arachnids. Mygalomorphs have 4 book lungs and Araneomorphs have only 2. See, we got to SIX! 😁

The other difference between these two spider groups has to do with how they chew. Well, sort of. A more scientific description would be to say the directionality of movement of their chelicerae.

Yep. Let’s just make it easy today and say, Mygalomorph’s mouthparts move in a parallel direction (move your first two fingers towards each other like you’re making air quotes) and Araneomorph’s mouthparts are oriented in an opposing way (touch your forefinger to your thumb in a pincer-like way). For more about this, you’re welcome to delve into the deep world of spider systematics here – https://www.jstor.org/stable/2097274?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Sorting spiders involves numerous other factors including morphological differences such as eye arrangement, hairs, body shape, number of claws and even what type of web they make or whether they make a web at all!

As to webs, well that’s going to be a post of its own. There are ALL sorts of webs and knowing their names and being able to identify them will be a tool for figuring out what sort of spider you may have.

I have run out of time for my post today, but I will leave you with a few links to check out so you can learn more of the basic morphology that all spiders share: 8 legs, head or (cephalothorax region), abdomen…Oh, and the cutie on my finger is one of my house spider friends. This little one is a jumping spider (Salticus scenicus), named Skipper.

(Salticus scenicus)

More on Spider Anatomy here – https://www.earthlife.net/chelicerata/s-anatomy.htmlhttp://biologyandbiodiversityinspiders.weebly.com/spider-anatomy.html

***Hint to remembering the Mygalomorphs – *The majority of species in the Mygalomorphae are tarantulas, in the family Theraphosidae (in French, a tarantula is called a ‘mygale’

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