Cute Spiders are strutting out in Paris...

Over 40.000 known species worldwide,
5.700 in Europe and around the Mediterranean basin,
1.600 in France... and all different.

The predatory behavior of the spider gives him bad press. Yet the properties of its silk
thread, of its venom, as well as its voracious appetite for many insects make the spider
a valuable ally for the human race.
Spiders are therefore the subject of numerous scientific studies, because they are still
far from having revealed all their secrets.

Follow this Parisian arachnid and don't miss the 'Au Fil des Araignées' exhibit,
opening today at the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle.


Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle - Grande Galerie de l'Evolution
36, rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire - Paris V
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More spiders, now?

New Spider Found in Paris, France

[2011 © Dr Gattus]

As dusk was approaching, at the end of yesterday's afternoon, Dr Gattus was
finishing his daily routine search around the Griset's spot background when, all
of a sudden, there he was: the French variety of the 'Grey Garden Recluse',
the - Grisetianus maculatus - Dr Gattus was spending his life to find.
[To appear soon on worldwide scientific press].

Are you frightened by the spider running on this page?
Then, close the page or take a hammer, aim, hit!
[Be careful! the screen may be damaged].

- SPIDERS OF NORTH WEST EUROPE
- NAME A SPIDER WITH THE BEATY MUSEUM!

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More PPG posts on 'SPIDERS' ?

Spiders' stunning response to Pakistan flooding

[Russel Watkins - UK Department for Intl Development]
"Because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water has taken so long to
recede, many trees have become cocooned in spiders webs. People in this part of Sindh
have never seen this phenonemon before - but they also report that there are now less
mosquitos than they would expect, given the amount of stagnant, standing water that is
around."

[Russel Watkins - UK Department for Intl Development]
"Vast tracts of land in Pakistan's Sindh province are still submerged under water, 6 months
on from the extreme monsoon rainfall that forced more than 20 million people from their
homes."
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Cærostris darwini, special guest on 1st of January 2011

The Darwin bark* spider, Araneidæ: Cærostris darwini, was recently discovered
in Madagascar by two enthomologists of the Smithsonian
National Museum of Natural History - Washington.

Females can cast giant and very strong webs across
streams, creeks and lakes, suspending the orb directly
above the water on anchor threads that can span up
to 25 m.

[Photo by Matjaz Kuntner]

With such a huge hunting ground, these spiders are never lacking for food.

[Photo by Ingi Agnarsson]

Like other orbweaver spiders, Caerostris displays extreme sexual size dimorphism
with large females and small males, which is manifested
in enigmatic sexual behaviors such as mate guarding,
male-male aggressiveness, genital mutilation, mate
plugging, and self castration.
The two enthomologists also pointed out the biology and
web architecture of the new riverine Cærostris species
due to it combining extraordinary web architecture with
exceptional silk mechanical properties [TechNews].

*[their name stems from the habits of at least some species to mimic dead bark, twigs or thorns].
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Click on > Journal of Arachnology to read more.

What's new about huge spiders ?

The Cerbalus aravensis has been found by a team of scientists from
the Department of Biology in the University of Haifa-Oranim in the giant
dune of Sands of Samar/southern Arava region of Israel, (Jan 2010).
But the Samar sands' site is desapparing : if once it covered as many
as 2.7 square miles, lately it's reduced to approximately 1 square mile.
Should this trend continues, the Cerbalus aravensis wouldn't survive.


(It's funny how, by enlarging Yael Olek's photo, an elderly person with white hair
and beard appears).


(Pictures Yael Olek and Roy Talbi)

This spider's leg-span can reach up to 14 cm., which makes it the largest
spider of its type in the Middle East. Even though details are still lacking to
enable a full analysis of its biology and of its population in the sands, the
scientists know that this is a nocturnal spider, mostly active in the hottest
months of the year, and that it constructs an underground den which is
closed with a "lifting door" made of sand particles that are glued together
to camouflage the den.
(more...)
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The sexual behaviour of...

... SPIDERS (and many other creatures) following
Mrs Isabella Rossellini's latest "observations".


(Manchestercrazzy0512)

and so on with fly, bee, firefly, praying mantis, dragonfly, snail and earthworm...

Mrs Rossellini's Green Porno is a series of experimental short films on animal
sexual behaviour.

The series began in 2008 with the mating habits of insects and was aired
on The Sundance Channel which, from April, broadcasts the second season
focusing on the sex lives of marine animals :
shrimp, squid, barnacle, limpet, elephant seal, starfish and right whale.
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Female Nephila komaci, the hugest webweaving spider.

The Nephila komaci can be found in Madagascar and South Africa.
They can be up to three feet (one meter) wide and are a member
of the orbweaving spiders' group.

"In the PLoS ONE paper, Kuntner and Coddington described Nephila komaci
as a new species, now the largest web-spinning species known, and placed
it on the evolutionary tree of Nephila". (EurekAlert)


(Photos M. Kuntner)
1) a giant golden orb-web exceeding 1 meter in diameter: Nephila inaurata,
Rodrigues, Indian Ocean.
2) extreme sexual size dimorphism in Nephila spiders: Small male and large
female, Nephila pilipes, Singapore.
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Jumping now to another site, EarthTouch, for a beautiful video, taken early
in the morning, when the sun rays make the web's threads shine like gold,
which explains the spider's name.

Golden orb-web spider - Moremi Game Reserve, Okavango Delta, Botswana.

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* Previous post on Golden orb spider.

Hugest Spiders in the World... are French !

Born in Nantes, France
and created by
Compagnie La Machine
...
(see slideshow)...



(photo Matthew Andrews).

Last seen in Liverpool/08...


(click for more Pink Tentacle pics & video).

... the robot spider will perform in Japan for
the 150th Yokoama Port Opening Anniversary.

O

Another french huge spider is...


(photo G@tto)


(photo GMG)

... the fantastic spider sculptures of Louise Bourgeois, here shot in Beaubourg
and in Bilbao (2008).

And that's all, folks ! for the moment.
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Gosh ! another serial killer spider !

Giant bird-eating spider struck in a backyard in Atherton, west of Cairns,
Australia.
- Spider is a Golden Orb Weaver
- Bird was a Chestnut-breasted Mannikin

Joel Shakespeare, head spider keeper at the Australian Reptile Park, said the spider
is a Golden Orb Weaver.
They usually feast on large insects and break down prey with their venom into a liquid
soup. It's unusual to see one eating a bird," he told 9msn.com.

Found on Telegraph, Oct 08/22, by Bonnie Malkin, Sidney... then redirected to 9msn.
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Thanks to Bonnie & co. from all PPG's spider admirers ! Yes, those who still come
to PPG to see once more the legendary camel spider !

Now, if you want to know more about this web weaver specialist...
go ahead > (Script : Damon Ramsey BSc.(Zool) Biologist Guide)

The 'Golden Orb Web Spiders', Nephila spp. are among the largest of the spiders
to build aerial webs.
They sit in the middle of their large 'orb' or circular shaped web usually with their
legs spread out and head pointing downwards.The abdomen is elongated and often
decorated with blacks, yellows and whites.
These spiders are referred to as a 'golden orb web' not because of the colours
sometime found on the spider (that can include golden yellows), but because, at the
right angle, the yellow silk of the web takes on a very delicate golden colour.

Unlike many spiders, they often leave their web up for some time, merely effecting
regular repairs. They can do this because their web of yellow silk is one of the strongest
amongst the spiders (Preston-Mafham and Preston-Mafham 1998).This is probably a
reflection of the large size of much of the prey they capture, for even the remains of
birds have been recorded in their webs (Raven 2000).

Most specimens of Golden Orb Web spiders observed are the females. This is because
the Nephila genus has the biggest size difference between females and males of any
spiders, with the tiny males sometimes being seen in the web.

(Smiling Golden Orb's portrait by Pagebao in Taiwan).

Before I leave you, I think it could be of some interest and pertinence to quote the
following sentence found somewhere in my searching about the Golden Orb :
"Mostly harmless, but they have inadvertently killed some 20 people over the years.
People died either from fright or tripping over as they tried to avoid or escape from
their rather strong webs."
Pat the spider now !
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[More posts about spiders...]

Legendary Camel Spider !

This blog was primarily intended for publishing anything I like...
well, today is 'Spider Day' because I've just found this...

As we just can't talk on and again about presidential love stories, fractals, UFOs, markets
evolution, mafiosi under arrest, Berlusco's devotion to money, hip hop, chaos theory, sacred
geometry, nightclubbers, popes, dahus, sashimis, or american elections... let's dedicate a few
line to these God's solifugae creatures...

They actually aren't spiders at all, they're solifugae. Along with spiders, they are members
of the class Arachnida and are called 'camel spiders' because they live in the desert. They
are somewhat of an urban legend and currently one of the most searched items on the
internet.

The camel spider stories began to spread during the 1990-91 Gulf War. Now, with the continued presence of U.S. forces in the Middle East, the stories are becoming legendary but most of them are completely untrue. These creatures are (usually) not dangerous to humans... (more)... except for their bites - I dare to say !


(by exspree).
A Matt Walker BBC article [on July 2010] explains, in a video, their hunting technique :
"Camel spiders have evolved a unique way to capture their insect prey."
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