Spider Man Friend
Mozell Gentges
Wolf spiders belong to the family Lycosidae and are among the most common spider species found around the world from the tropics to the arctic. Illinois boasts at least 47 species of wolf spiders. These hardy spiders can be brown or black with subtle markings of red, brown, yellow or tan. The color of a wolf spider generally depends on the habitat it lives in so that it can camouflage easily with its surroundings.
Wolf spiders live on the ground and hide under rocks, logs, in leaf litter and under plants. They do not spin webs, but some species will create burrows in the soil or crevices in rocks and trees. People encounter them in their yards, garages and sheds, humid basements, and around windows and doors because these locations are perfect hunting grounds to find food. Wolf spiders also seek warmer places to hibernate through the winter, which can mean sharing your yard or basement with a few eight-legged roommates.
spider man friend
Wolf spiders have excellent eyesight with three rows of eight eyes. Two large eyes in the middle row easily distinguish wolf spiders from other spider species. Hold a flashlight next to your head and shine it along the ground at night to catch the glitter of spider eyeshine as the light reflects back to you from their large eyes.
The hairs covering their bodies provide an extra-sensitive sense of touch to detect and catch prey. Their large, strong legs provide agility and speed up to two feet per second to chase and catch prey over short distances. Lucky for us, wolf spiders hunt and eat insects that some people may consider pests, including crickets, cockroaches, mealworms and beetles.
The female wolf spider carefully carries her egg sac under her abdomen until the spiderlings hatch. Unlike any other spider species, the spiderlings then hitch a ride on her back for several weeks until they are large enough to fend for themselves.
The size and appearance of a wolf spider can be startling, yet these spiders prefer to remain out of sight to hunt in solitude. Although wolf spiders can bite humans, they do it as a last resort if they cannot escape. Wolf spider bites can cause mild pain, swelling and itchiness at the site. Luckily, the pain from a bite generally lasts only minutes and results from the actual mechanical bite not from the venom. Although their large size and hairy appearance may seem scary, wolf spiders are actually important predators on the hunt for pests in your yard and home.
We strive to connect all people to nature. We're committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and providing facilities, programs, and activities free from discrimination or harassment.
Peter Park is a young man trying to make his living as a photographer in New York City. He was born in Korea and grew up under the care of his adopted parents Auntie May and Uncle Ben. At age 10, Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider while attending summer camp. Using his powers, he adopted the heroic identity Spider-Friend. Peter can frequently be seen in the company of his two childhood friends, Tony Stark and Harry Osborn, and their significant others Pepper Potts-Stark and Mary Jane Watson.
Brightly colored with Spider-Man logos on the side, a web for a top rotor, and the best part, giant hairy spider legs for the landing gear, this was my go-to vehicle for fighting vehicular crime. Sure, I had a beat up Batmobile from the Adam West show, but there was nothing as cool as watching that spider legged chopper take to the air to fight crime.
However, if we cast our arachnophobic tendencies aside for a moment and look at these animals from a purely scientific perspective, I think you will agree that they are pretty amazing in the ways that they have developed, adapted to their environment, and go about their daily life.
As any entomologist worth their weight in salt can tell you, every living organism can be sorted into specific groupings by following the rules of taxonomy, which is the science of classifying plants and animals into various categories based on physical characteristics and appearances.
There can be well over a thousand spiderlings in the nursery web when all of the eggs have hatched. The hatchlings typically stay in the protective confines of their nest for some time after birth as it usually takes them more than one season to fully mature and be ready to reproduce. It is believed that these spiders can produce two or three egg sacs in their lifetime.
Crysta sent this note with permission to publish her video: The result of the video was three egg sacs. The first egg sack held about 600 spiderlings, and subsequent ones held 400, then 200 young. I've mated these about 3 times, and I haven't seen an egg sack over 800-1000 spiderlings. That would be quite the load she would carry in her fangs.
Sadly, the male doesn't die due to the female eating him, it's actually when he expels his pedilaps his hemoglobin(Spider blood) pressure changes drastically throughout his body, and shortly after he dies.
Although the dock spider, sometimes also called the wharf spider, usually lives near water they have been known to move inland, inhabiting rock piles and wooded areas. As the colder weather approaches they may also seek shelter in more protected areas such as boat houses, cottages or even homes in order to hibernate. During their active periods they tend to hide in corners and crevices during the daylight hours and come out at night to do their hunting. This is their primary defense mechanism against their main predators; birds, snakes, fish, and frogs. Being a cold blooded invertebrate they also enjoy sunning themselves on logs, rock, or docks on warm sunny days but are very skittish and will usually run away or hide when approached.
So the next time you come across one of these gentle giants rather than going with your first instinct to whack it with a broom or crush it with your shoe let it be and observe it for a while. I think you will gain a new found respect for these creatures and will be entertained at the same time.
The photograph of the female spider and her babies was supplied by Bill and Judy Munro. Bill is a previous contributor to Thousand Islands Life and other examples of his beautiful nature photography can be found at /BackIssues/Archive/tabid/393/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1160/NatureOutdoor-Photographyhellip-may-be-just-what-yoursquove-been-looking-for.aspx
The other day as I was showing off my garden to my mom, she stopped to admire a tomato plant that was loaded with fruit. She was just reaching her hand out to touch a tomato when she suddenly jerked her hand back and let out a yelp.
I inquired what the problem was, mostly to determine what would cause that reaction, and thus exploit it to keep other wayward mammals from stealing my tomatoes. She shrilly informed me that there was a large spider on the plant that should be killed at once.
In gardening, the term beneficial usually pertains to insects, the six-legged cousins to spiders, who help gardeners like me with pollination and pest control. Spiders have also earned beneficial status inclusion as they will happily help out with pest control services.
Green lynx spiders are easy to identify due to their jade green coloration and distinctive yellow to white chevron shaped body markings. The legs are long in comparison to the body and have spiny black hairs along their length. The body of the female, which is who you see most often, is one-half to five-eighths of an inch in length.
Sitting on a leaf, the entire spider takes up an area roughly the size of a quarter. So, they are big enough to get the job done, but not shockingly large for those of us suffering from arachnophobia.
One of the things I most appreciate about these guys is that they are ambush predators. Unlike some spider species that use webs to catch their prey, these spiders use their green coloring as camouflage to hide in the plants foliage.
When an insect lands nearby or even just flies too close, the green lynx spider will run and often jump (like their feline namesake) to snatch up their prey. Therefore, you get all the benefits of an insect killing machine, minus the risk of walking through a random spider web.
Novices in the garden may fear that the homicidal fits of hunger demonstrated by these spiders is so indiscriminate that humans need fear for their safety. Shockingly, these guys are not territorial or aggressive. It took a while to get used to them, but I have worked within inches of them, even brushed against them bare handed, and have yet to get bit.
Jennifer Magavero is a volunteer writer for UF/IFAS Extension Leon County and has a degree in Ornamental Horticulture from the University of Florida. For gardening questions, email us at AskAMaste...@ifas.ufl.edu.
In the Broken pillar shaft, climb the first web and soon after see the spider. After the Shade "visits" its friend (jumps onto its web), the spider will build a web on the shaft to the left allowing the Shade to access more of the cave.
Late in the game--32 days remaining at the time of this writing--the Shade will revisit the spider to find it has died. The Shade can (and should) bury it. Later, a flower will grow on its grave and, once picked, will appear in a vase on the drawing table in the Shade's Home.
So many fears of this strange looking creature of so many different colors, shapes and sizes, but most always with eight legs and those strange eyes. Little Miss Muffet told us how to behave, and that thin, spinning, shining silk steadying that falling spider in front of your face does elicit a scream, for sure.
I realize not everyone shares this attraction, but here is some news that may help you tolerate them. Spiders are the most important and abundant predator of insect pests in most yards. This means spiders are not hanging around just to frighten you. In fact, they are actively defending your yard and garden against a multitude of insect pests.
Understanding Spiders
Spiders eat many types of nuisance and plant damaging insects, including mosquitoes, stink bugs, caterpillars, aphids, and beetles. Actually they will eat just about any insect they can get their fangs on, including other beneficials, though on the whole they eat a lot more bad bugs than good ones. In turn, spiders are an important food source for many species of birds, serving as both predator and prey in the food web.