[neilep (OP)]

Hello,

I've just been watching a pet spider in the corner of my study (oooh..study !!!..sounds posh eh ?)...anyway, jolly spider is happily doing it's thing and spinning a web, and that got me thinking....does spidey keep it's web stuff in a storage space or does it make it to order ?...I sent spidey a note via carrier-fly and all it did was eat the messenger so I figured my lovely human tomes of knowledge pals may have to answer for me....any ideas ?

Ta


'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

[DrN]

i was under the impression that they made the web before spinning it out. not entirely sure though. might need to do some research on that one.

our spider doesn't do much in the way of spinning webs, not when we're looking anyway. in fact she justs sits there pretty much most of the time!

is yours a proper pet spider - in a tank - or one that has invited itseld in and taken up residence?

[neilep (OP)]

It's a self invited guest which has set up residence rent free []...amongst others in the house too !!..I don't like to get rid of them cos I consider them friends as they eat all the nasty flies...though, if kiddies insist upon it , I'll move them.

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

[tweener]

Spiders make their silk as they go from a gland on their abdomen called the spinnerette (sp?).  Some spiders, primarily orb weavers, tear down their old web and build a new one each day.  They tear down their old one by eating it and thus "recycle" the material to make the new web.

Every summer we watch the garden spiders around our house make webs and catch insects.  It's really fascinating.  We also relocate spiders rather than squash them, except for the really poisionous ones like black widows and brown recluse.

----
John - The Eternal Pessimist.

[DrN]

thats the one thing I'm not sure i could cope with in the USA - black widows. My uncle has been bitten three times by them, and is really blase, but they freak me out! especially their habit of residing on food cans on the top shelf!

glad i was right about the 'making it as they go along', i obviously absorb more information than i think.

[jai]

i really dont like the white tailed spider in auz. it is very small (about 5mm long including legs) and when it bites you can get gangrene in the area, i have a friend that lost 2 of her toes through this, and eventually if not treated it can lead to septicemia (sp?). does anyone know what the poison is that causes this and how it works, does it coagulate the blood or something?


yaaaaay!!!!!!!

[neilep (OP)]

And what about the Huntsman ?...does it not have this habit of hiding under your car dashboard and jumping out on you when you're driving along ?...and it's a big muvafu*er too eh ?...my friend kept one in a jar to help her over her phobia and it's well large !!...though relatively harmless as i understand it !.....

Good luck with the move Jai.....hope you're not away from us too much !!

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

[tweener]

quote:Originally posted by fishytails

thats the one thing I'm not sure i could cope with in the USA - black widows. My uncle has been bitten three times by them, and is really blase, but they freak me out! especially their habit of residing on food cans on the top shelf!

glad i was right about the 'making it as they go along', i obviously absorb more information than i think.

Are you sure about black widows residing on food cans on the top shelf?  That sounds more like a brown recluse, though BWs are also pretty secretive.  They just usually stay outside at my house.  The recluse likes to stay inside and hide in corners and clothes.  

 

quote: i really dont like the white tailed spider in auz. it is very small (about 5mm long including legs) and when it bites you can get gangrene in the area

This sounds like our brown recluse, though they can grow to a couple of centimeters.  Their bite causes a rotten spot that can be small or can grow to include significant chunks of the body.  I don't know what the poison is, but it sounds similar.  Yuk!

----
John - The Eternal Pessimist.

[Exodus]

A brown recluse


Some nice damage caused by the brown recluse




A Black Widow

[tweener]

Leave it to Richard to illuminate the subject with pictures!

----
John - The Eternal Pessimist.

[Exodus]

LOL! always on hand kids!!!

[Donnah]

Last summer I felt a cramp in one foot as I pulled off my sock.  It turned out to be a spider biting me, not a cramp, and the foot grew painful over the next few hours, until I could no longer walk.  A previous bite swelled my forearm to Popeye size.  These were just your mild Canadian spiders, not even anything really poisonous.

[jai]

so, does anyone know how the whitel tailed spider aka, brown recluse's poison works?


yaaaaay!!!!!!!

[Exodus]

A Scottish Widow


[]

[neilep (OP)]

Why did the spider buy a car?
So he could take it out for a spin!

What does a spider do when he gets angry?
He goes up the wall!


Oh yes...we are talking quality here !!!

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

[neilep (OP)]

Hello, I'm Silly Spidey the silly spider !!..hope I don't scare you !

Lets see your wonderful spidey drawings too

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

[Ylide]

Jai,

I don't know the exact cellular mechanism, but basically the toxin causes cell necrosis.  In skin tissue, this leads to necrotic lesions.  If it gets in the blood stream, it can cause hemolysis (damage to red blood cells), damage to the kidneys, and damage to the circulatory system.  It ain't pretty.



This message brought to you by The Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People

[DrN]

disgusting animals! they digest their prey while still live then suck up the goo. yuck.
ordinary UK house spiders bite too, lots of people deny this, but believe me they do!

[qpan]

I saw the biggest mofo house spider a couple of days ago. It was about 2 inches long (leg span)! Thats pretty big for the UK, but i bet the US nad Australia have way bigger!

"I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it."
-Edgar Allan Poe

[roberth]

I had a rather large huntsman living in my car for about a year. I couldn't find it to get rid of it, but when the girls from the office would take my car. they'd see it. Sitting on the steering wheel, on the driver's headrest and on the inside of the windscreen. I think it was protecting my car. Anyway, I spotted it one afternoon and it was as big as my hand. I promptly removed it while trying to keep a few feet between it and me. I know that they are fairly harmless, but I'm not that keen on large spiders invading my space. They can live where ever they like, as long as it's outside.