Now this is just a little alarming
The leaf, it is not so small. The spider… hey! I thought we weren’t supposed to have bugs this big on Gabriola?
Filed in insects 6 Comments so far
6 Responses to “Now this is just a little alarming”
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Vivian on 27 Aug 2010 at 9:46 am #
It is small :) Only its legs are long. I’ve seen a few like this at our house too.
cheryl on 27 Aug 2010 at 10:09 am #
These are very common and they come in all different sizes. They are Pholcidae or as we call them as children Dandy Long Legs. Haven’t you seen our Wolf spiders yet Now that’s alarming!
Joan on 27 Aug 2010 at 9:11 pm #
re: “Filed in Insects”. I cannot restrain myself, being in the midst of writing something on the increasing shortage of taxonomists in Canada. You need a new place to file this fine daddy longlegs, Gabriolan. Spiders. A taxon which is verging on overabundant in my house.
Gabriolan on 28 Aug 2010 at 8:30 am #
Oh, Vivian. That tall fisherman at Silva Bay is small, too, once you take his legs out of the equation. :-)
Cheryl – I can’t think about wolf spiders. If I do, I’ll have to lie down in a dark room with a cool compress on my forehead.
Joan – shortage of taxonomists? Where do I apply? Will add a spider tag to this post.
Everybody – this has nothing to do with Gabriola spiders, but it’s well worth a look: Staring into the Jeweled Eyes of the Jumping Spider. Amazing photos!
Joan on 29 Aug 2010 at 10:31 am #
The spider eye photos and the slug sex video. What can I say. It is indeed an amazing world we live in. Re taxonomy – used to be a popular field of study (especially when you could name lots of “new” species after yourself), but not anymore – leading to a shortage of experts who can distinguish by species many of the smaller, more diverse lifeforms on earth – spiders being one. Of course this is related to what we allocate funding to, which is mainly to economically important species and large, furry animals. There is a resurgence of taxonomic focus in the marine world (globally, anyway), with the census of marine life. (http://www.coml.org/ which has a nice image gallery.)
Gabriolan on 29 Aug 2010 at 11:46 am #
Joan – thanks for the taxonomy details! Fascinating. Am tempted to race off and study taxonomy.