Spiders

paul m · #1 (**permalink**) 08-01-2008, 03:25 PM

Anyone good at identification of this fascinating group of invertebrates?
I've just up-loaded a pic of a common European spider (probably the woodlouse spider, Dysdera crocata, but ....

)
Any comments welcome but there are also quite a few unidentified spider pictures in the gallery. Some much better and more interesting than this!

H Dogg · #2 (**permalink**) 08-01-2008, 05:54 PM

Im not great with spiders, but i dont think that is Dysdera crocata, looks more like one of the Drassodes sp.

paul m · #3 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H Dogg

Im not great with spiders, but i dont think that is Dysdera crocata, looks more like one of the Drassodes sp.

Thanks.

Mmm . I was going mostly by the colouring - the most common, Drassodes lapidosus (and D. cupreus which 'looks the same' according to my book!) is grey to brown - perhaps this is a youngster. D. pubescens seems a better fit but the time of year and location seem wrong.

The different colours between carapace and abdomen suggest Clubiona sp (e.g. C. subtilis) but doesn't look quite right ... That will teach me to take more pictures another time!

H Dogg · #4 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 08:39 PM

I Find Spiders harder to ID than any of the insects. You often need a hand lens or microscope to view the male palps or the female epigyne for correct ID.

paul m · #5 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H Dogg

I Find Spiders harder to ID than any of the insects. You often need a hand lens or microscope to view the male palps or the female epigyne for correct ID.

Quite so - either I need to devote more time to spiders (I've been saying that for ten years

) or we need to lure an expert onto this forum

. Cheers.

H Dogg · #6 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul m

Quite so - either I need to devote more time to spiders (I've been saying that for ten years

) or we need to lure an expert onto this forum

. Cheers.

Ive also been trying to but abit of effort into them, but im still a beginner so trying to master the insects first.

paul m · #7 (**permalink**) 01-02-2008, 08:26 PM

I've had one of those evenings (sitting by a 'phone, nothing on TV, &c) so have been trawling the net - as you might have guessed

- found this fascinating clip:
YouTube - Spider Kills Bat

H Dogg · #8 (**permalink**) 07-02-2008, 02:44 PM

Great video, ive seen one similar where a centipede kills a bat.

paul m · #9 (**permalink**) 07-07-2009, 09:20 AM

Here's a fascinating observation:
BBC - Earth News - Spider builds life-sized decoys

.... unless the spider is growing to look like its waste?

Venger · #10 (**permalink**) 07-07-2009, 02:12 PM

Your original spider looks like a Cheiracanthium sp, though thats not 100%

paul m · #11 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 04:49 PM

Here's how some spiders manage to be amphibious:
BBC Nature - Diving bell spiders use bubble webs 'like gills'
Similar to those aquatic beetles that trap air under their elytra.

paul m · #12 (**permalink**) 07-07-2011, 08:48 AM

I confess that at first I read this as ".... widows sniff out cannabis ..." but intriguing: how males can save their lives by detecting how well fed females are!
BBC Nature - Male black widow spiders sniff out cannibal females