Spiders have evidently roused from winter slumber - there's immense numbers of silk lines in the grass, all generally parallel with prevailing winds. I assume they're guide lines or test lines of some sort? Any idea which spiders are responsible?

Internet searches just bring up pest control options or orb-weaver info, neither of which are what I'm looking for.

Maybe @nev knows?

#spider #spiders #arachnids

**Steven Lawson Photography** @stevenlawson@photog.social · 3d

Steven Lawson Photography @stevenlawson@photog.social

Close-up image of a tiny spider

**Travis Briggs** @audiodude@sfba.social · 3d

Travis Briggs @audiodude@sfba.social

kinda gross

**michael** @proseandpassion@mastodon.social · 4d

michael @proseandpassion@mastodon.social

23-Apr-2025
A new map of arthropod evolution, from #fossils to #embryos

New study sheds light on how #insects, #spiders, #crustaceans, and other #arthropods evolved their distinct body structures. By tracing these patterns back to ancient embryonic processes, the research uncovers a deep evolutionary logic behind the segmented #bodyPlans that define the world’s most diverse animal group.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1081385 #science #evolution #development

EurekAlert!A new map of arthropod evolution, from fossils to embryosNew study sheds light on how insects, spiders, crustaceans, and other arthropods evolved their distinct body structures. By tracing these patterns back to ancient embryonic processes, the research uncovers a deep evolutionary logic behind the segmented body plans that define the world’s most diverse animal group. The findings challenge long-held assumptions and offer a bold new framework for understanding how developmental mechanisms shaped the evolution of arthropods over hundreds of millions of years.

**Phil Rudland** @PhilRudland@mastodonapp.uk · 4d

Phil Rudland @PhilRudland@mastodonapp.uk

#Bees #Spiders #Plants #HousePlants #photography
A few images from today - a 3mm spider taken with a x10 magnification lens, a female tawny mining bee, our lipstick plant flowering and our orchid flowering again !

A 3mm spider making its web on a pane of glass on the greenhouse taken with a x10 magnification lens. The spider is brown with dark stripes on its legs and body. The greenhouse glass is quite dirty with out of focus items behind.

The red flowers of a lipstick plant are starting to emerge from their purple cases. Thick, glossy dark green leaves come out from long green stems.

A female Tawny miner bee on the grass. She has dark brown hairs on her body with tawny stripes on her abdomen. Her legs are covered in pollen she has collected.

An orchid with dark purple petals which are white underneath and spotted at the edges. Four flowers come from a single stem and the green orchid leaves are below.
Another hanging flowerpot and a hessian covered bench are out of focus behind.

**neville park** @nev@flipping.rocks · 4d

neville park @nev@flipping.rocks

the nerds are at it again

a new species of ghost spider (family Anyphaenidae) from Brazil's Atlantic forest has been named _Eldar galadrielae_ (the Eldar are the Elves in LotR)

paper: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-025-01982-4 // PDF free if you have an account at the World Spider Catalog: https://wsc.nmbe.ch/reference/18403

Figure from the paper. A female (left, light green) and male (right, light brown with darker brown lines) Eldar galadrielae on a silk-covered leaf.

#Arachnews #arachnology #spiders

**The Naturalist Bot** @naturalist_bot@hachyderm.io · 6d

The Naturalist Bot @naturalist_bot@hachyderm.io

Socca pustulosa (Knobbled Orbweaver)

Observed on 2024-04-21

By: flossiepip

Location: Ruawai, New Zealand

iNaturalist link: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/234791337

Photo credits: (c) Tom, some rights reserved (CC BY)

Learn more about the taxon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socca_pustulosa

Photo of Socca pustulosa (Knobbled Orbweaver) by flossiepip. Attribution: (c) Tom, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Map of the location of the observation: Ruawai, New Zealand, (latitude: -36.13, longitude: 174.04).

#iNaturalist #Nature #WildlifePhotography

**The Innkeeper** @innkeeper@gamerstavern.online · Apr 22

Apr 22

The Innkeeper @innkeeper@gamerstavern.online

Yesterday I was bitten by a spider (and quite a large one seeing the marks) and today I woke up with no superpowers.

1/10, wouldn't recommend.

#Gardening #Spiders

**neville park** @nev@flipping.rocks · Apr 22

Apr 22

neville park @nev@flipping.rocks

I almost forgot it was #MiteMonday! Inspired by @zorbama's shot of a running crab spider, clover mite, and midge all together (https://veganism.social/@zorbama/114373000260983349), here's a running crab spider (_Philodromus_) I found feeding on a clover mite (_Bryobia_). I don't actually often find many arthropods feeding on the adults, though I've seen predatory _Anystis_ mites eating the eggs.

A small, flat, crablike grey-brown spider perched on a large rock with something light red and leggy in its jaws.

A closer shot from a better angle shows the dark blueish body and thin light red legs and mouthparts of a clover mite.

#DailyMitePic #Mitestodon #mites

**Daniel** @danielthedaring@mastodon.online · Apr 20

Apr 20

Daniel @danielthedaring@mastodon.online

Tiny spider checking me out on the porch

A macro photo shows a tiny black spider crawling on the hem of a brown canvas jacket, dwarfed by one of the brass jacket buttons

#spiders #macro

**AaronPengellyPhotography** @AaronPengellyPhotography@mastodon.social · Apr 18

Apr 18

AaronPengellyPhotography @AaronPengellyPhotography@mastodon.social

Red-Backed Jumping Spider Portrait

Jumping spiders like this female red-backed jumping spider are my favourite subjects in macro photography. Their inquisitive, friendly nature is always fun to capture.

A female red-backed jumping spider moves through the tread of a ride-on lawnmower while hunting for insects in a garden.

#macro #macrophotography #spiders

**neville park** @nev@flipping.rocks · Apr 17

Apr 17

neville park @nev@flipping.rocks

Both my current spiders (cobweb spider and cellar spider) molted this week!

OK, so you know how instead of gradually turning rust-red like iron does, copper turns from, well, copper to light blueish-green, and how copper compounds will turn a flame blue-green? Well, arthropod hemolymph (their equivalent of blood) uses copper-containing proteins to transport oxygen, and so spider "blood" is blueish-green—like how our iron-rich blood is red.

You usually can't see it, but right after molting this spider is unusually translucent (the exoskeleton is still hardening up) and the legs still have a distinct blue-green hue.

Bonus pic: ._.

#DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #spiders