Spider Woman Interview

Here is an audio interview with a biologist who tracks down spiders all over the world, captures them, and milks their venom.

Texas Spider Webbing Identified

The giant spider web found at Lake Tawakoni State Park is made up of webbings from several different species. From the news:

"Heavy rains early this summer created prime feeding conditions for the spiders, which worked collectively to spin a web that nearly covered a pond ripe with mosquitoes and other insects.
"'Normally they are cannibalistic and their webs are separated,' said Allen Dean, a Texas A&M University entomologist. 'They live in harmony because there's so much food available.'" ...
"Dean studied 250 specimens and identified 12 families of spiders in the same web. He said the most prevalent type is from the Tetragnathidae family, which typically weave individual orb-shaped webs.
"Arachnid expert Hank Guarisco, of Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan., traveled to Texas to take a look for himself. He camped at the park, observing the spiders at night because some of them are nocturnal.
"He said he was impressed with the variety of spiders contributing to the web.
"'Tetragnathidae are usually solitary spiders who build their own webs and mind their own business," he said. "Here they are sharing a lot of foundation strands that are all over the place. They don't have individual webs anymore.'"

Big Web

A 200-yard stretch along the nature trail at Lake Tawakoni State Park, Texas, has been covered with a sprawling spider web (or rather a massive conglomerate of webbing). The species is unknown, but is creating a lot of internet buzz among bug enthusiasts. (News source.)

A Possible New Huntsman Spider?

Spotted in a rain forest in North Queensland, the orange and black marked spider may be the newest member of the Huntsman Clan.

The female collected by Alan Henderson has a 35 mm body and 90 mm leg span (that is around 1.4 inches and 3.5 inches, respectively).

Dubbed the "Tiger Huntsman" due to its coloration, the world may not know whether it is truly a new species until after it expires. Until then it can be seen as part of Melbourne Museum's Bugs Alive! exhibit.

For more see The Age