#european nursery web spider

[onenicebugperday]

@homosexual-having-tea submitted: Hello Bug Friend!!!! I found this little guy on the side of a pool, and he was a very polite pool party guest. Do you know who he is? He was found in Belgium :)

He is almost certainly a female! And she is a European nursery web spider :)

[untitledducklett]

So I found the metal thief, unfortunately, I can't even be mad at her

So updates time!

Berior is now back to his usual self thanks to @chilltrainersam, I have a new pokemon, and I have some wholesome news amongst all this *vaguely motions to everything going down*.

While waiting for the shipment of metal from Sam I decided to go out to the back garden and see how bad the damage from the shadow rain was. I walked out and was a bit surprised to see at least 20 pokemon plus one very protective momma Vanitian Ariados.

She had put up a makeshift roof with her webbing over the garden and, apparently, took it upon herself to save a whole bunch of 'babies'. Before anyone gets concerned: Vanitian Ariados have incredibly high maternal instincts and will take care of their Spinarak through their first few molts. If something goes wrong with the eggs though they will usually focus that protective drive on something else.

Right now there's around 20 to 30 pokemon just chilling in the back garden, they're all healthy with only a few minor injuries. Momma Ariados though isn't so lucky; it looks like she was able to wash off most of the shadow rain between trips (whether it was in our 'pond', really more of an in-ground kiddie-pool, or one of the rescues using water type moves I can't be sure) but the damage is pretty extensive. By the looks of it she won't be able to be released back into the wild so, once her maternal instinct wears off and she's healed up as much as she can, I'm going to let her pick between staying here or going to the VPPS sanctuary.

I'm going to work on an entry for Vanitian Ariados, similar to Professor Chestnut's work on Vanitian Absol and Leavanny, at some point. Admittedly I'm no biology major but I can at least give as many notes as I can.

Oh if you live near Red Cafe in Lumiose and have a Pokemon that went missing during the rain please contact me with a description of them and I'll check. I suspect at least a couple of these Pokemon have trainers and I'd like to get them back home as soon as possible.

[fangswbenefits]

So, some spider sex facts!

The biggest one is that all things considered, being a male spider kinda sucks for most species. Their lives consist of desperately try to fuck, and then die pretty soon after. (Sometimes the female they just mated with just straight up eats them. It's not super common though. Also the size of male vs female is absurd. The guys are so tiny)

Courting rituals vary between species, so you'll have orb weavers who pluck and tap rhythmically on the webs in an attempt to indicate a. That they're not prey and b. Try to get the female to accept them. If successful the male will pat and stroke the female before sex. Wolf and jumping spiders rely on sight and will wave their pedipalps (the organ male spiders use to initiate sex) in a sort of dance to see if the female is interested. The european nursery spider will actually search out a female, go and catch a fly (or sometimes grab a pebble) wrap it in silk and present it to her so he can have sex while she's eating.

Female spiders actually have spots inside their body for storing sperm, so they actively get to choose which partner gets to fertilize their eggs. Multiple partners common, though some females simply have sex with the same mate repeatedly. Some species will actually make noises while having sex if the male is doing something she doesn't like, and he'll respond to it eagerly since it ups the odds of being chosen as sire to the spiderlings.

Going back to the orb weaver family specifically for a moment, sometimes the silk threads of a web is infused with pheromones from the female that gives wandering males an idea of her health and maturity.

Uh, there are more facts but I'm v tired and need to sleep dkfkdkwjjfj

Thank you so much for your service, my friend 👀📝

[absoluteocellibehavior]

The Web Avatars and Their Corresponding Spiders

This is an idea I came up a little bit ago when scrolling through the TMA wiki. So, many of the canon Web avatars are already associated with certain spiders like Annabelle Cane as the Black Widow or Raymond Fielding's episode being called "Recluse" for a Brown Recluse. So, what if each Web avatar (and some specially marked non-Web Avatars) each had a spider associated with them. These spiders manifest in places that the avatar wants them to be and gives them a general sense of what is going on in the room that they are in. The more advanced avatars will be able to control them more and take in more information from their spiders. Here is the list so far (I will avoid putting pictures up for those with arachnophobia, but I do recommend looking them up as they are all so cool): Orion Cerebri - Pretty Orb Weaver Thea Brooks - Sheepy Jumping Spider Barnabas Lukas-Bennett - Regal Jumping Spider. Manphy Lukas-Bennett - Tiny Blue-Faced Peacock Jumping Spider. Cillian Fanshawe Callaghan - European Nursery Web Spider Dr. Jonathan Callaghan Fanshawe - Skeletorus Peacock Jumping Spider Father Ignis Callaghan - Cross Orb Weaver Father Edwin Burroughs - St. Andrew’s Cross Spider Adonis - Dancing White Lady Spider Venari - Huntsman Spider Annabelle Cane - Black Widow Raymond Fielding - Brown Recluse Jasper Alder - Ant-Mimicking Jumping Spider Nell Keelin - Peacock Jumping Spider John Doe - Sparklemuffin Peacock Jumping Spider Arthur Lester - Bunny Harvestman Charlie Dowd Detective Noel Finley - Tuxedo Wolf Spider Kayne - Long Horned Orb Weaver

As always, I would love to talk about the relation of these spiders to these characters. If you want more of the funky things me and my friends have added to the TMA universe (and other podcasts as well), please check out the tag #ocelli expansion pack !

[peepintothewild]

Into the webs

Introduction: 

From 8 to the 80s, almost everyone knows about spider man. And when we hear this WORD, probably what comes first to mind – is a fictional character of the movie wearing a red and blue suit, gloves, boots, and mask. But that does not come to mind what exists in this nature – a generally dark or sometimes light-complexioned small creature with several eyes and legs having the tag of the most feared animal among the public, especially girls, jokes apart  it is none other than – “ SPIDER.”

So, this blog highlights some of the intriguing aspects of Parasteatoda tepidariorum, commonly known as Spider.

Characteristics

First of all, let me clear the most common misconception that it is an insect. But in reality, a spider is the most significant order of arachnids. They differ from insects in having only two segments of the body, eight legs, not six or eight eyes (generally two in insects). Unlike insects, spiders do not have any antennae.

Spiders occur in an extensive range of sizes. The smallest, Patu digua from Colombia, are less than 0.37 mm in body length. The largest and heaviest spiders occur among tarantulas, with body lengths up to 90 mm and leg spans up to 250 mm. While in many spiders, color is fixed throughout their life, in some groups, color may vary in response to environmental, internal conditions, and preying circumstances. Some spiders’ diets include nectar, flies, mosquitos, moths, ants, and other small insects. Most spiders are solitary animals and meet each other during mating by various methods – pheromones, tactile and complex courtship displays through dance (by jumping spider), and visual.

Web – 5x stronger than steel:

 Spider uses its proteinaceous silk to produce its webs, generally for capturing prey or, in some cases, the web acts as an auditory sensor. Various types of webs are –                                                             

Orb webs

Cobwebs

Tubular webs                                                

Funnel webs

Sheet webs

Human uses of webs:

 In traditional European medicines, it was used for wound healing aid. It is also used in cobweb painting, for reticles in telescopes, other medical devices, and consumer goods.

Prey: 

Have you ever wondered how this tiny creature captures its prey? Crab spiders are sit-and-wait predators. They are often seen perched on garden flowers with their long front legs held out, crablike, to seize insects visiting the plant. Wolf spiders are brown and furry; on sunny days, large numbers can be seen running through vegetation to hunt prey. On bright walls, black-and-white striped jumping spiders can be seen stalking and pouncing on prey. The distinctive nocturnal woodlouse spider hunts woodlice under stones and flower pots.

Some interesting facts you would wish you had known earlier

A few species of spiders (Jumping spiders)  can see UVA and UVB light and other spectrums which we can’t see.

There are over 100 species of spiders that mimic ants by having similar appearances and even similar pheromones. Most do it to evade predators and also help them prey on ants.

Some spiders eat their own webs.  Abandoning one web and building a new one every night would be pretty wasteful. Instead, some orb-web spinners recycle the amino acids that make up the silk proteins by ingesting the silk as they systematically dismantle their damaged webs.

Spider inspired a dance locally known as “ Tarantella.” During the 16th and 17th centuries, it was believed that a bite from a species of wolf spider (named tarantula) would be fatal unless the victim engaged in frenzied dancing to a specific piece of music.

Spider cannibalism - Many spiders can happily eat other spiders, and many can even cannibalize individuals of their species. The nursery web spider's mating session is a clear example of spider cannibalism. When courting a female nursery web spider, he should present a silk-wrapped fly to his prospective mate. If he doesn't, he will be rejected outright; according to new research, he won’t have anything to defend himself with if she tries to eat him. Female nursery webs rarely attack suitors. But when they do, the male loses everything. In the case of a red widow, the male force feeds himself to the female by placing himself into her mandibles. If she ‘spits him out,’ so to speak, he will keep putting himself there until she eventually eats him.

Historical & Mythological significance:

Spiders have been the focus of stories and mythologies of various cultures for centuries. In a story told by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses, Arachne was a Lydian girl who challenged Athena to a weaving contest. Arachne won, but Athena destroyed her tapestry out of jealousy, causing Arachne to hang herself. In the act of mercy, Athena brought Arachne back to life as the first spider. Stories about the trickster-spider Anansi are prominent in the folktales of West Africa and the Caribbean. Dreamcatchers are depictions of spiderwebs. The Moche community in Peru depicted spiders in their art.

Spiders play a crucial role in the ecosystem, which makes them an essential part of the natural world. Whether you love them or fear them, there is no denying the incredible abilities of these eight-legged creatures. Hope you will not see it as a havoc during an encounter.

By,

Souronil

[thegrandimago]

Taken 2022 5th February, this is a European nursery-web spider (Pisaura mirabilis), or presentspindel, which I encountered during a class excursion. In Sweden, they occur in Götaland, Svealand and southeastern Norrland, occurring especially in wet environments such as lowland moors or wet meadows where it can be found on herbs and grasses. This one here was staying dormant in a campfire drum on an island located on a frozen lake, until we made a campfire, which the smoke from disturbed it. It was then basking on the drum since it was the warmest thing on the island. The males of this species are known to offer nuptial gifts to the females as a means of courtship, and what she doesn't finish, he gets to have for himself. #animal #animals #djur #wildlife #naturliv #nature #spider #spiders #invertebrate #invertebrates #spindlar #spindel #spindeldjur #nurserywebspiders #nurserywebspider #minibeast #minibeasts #animalia #arthropod #arthropods #arachnid #arachnids #arthropoda #arachnida #araneae #pisauridae #pisaura #pisauramirabilis #europeannurserywebspider #presentspindel (at Färnebofjärden National Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ9d_xzrPyl/?utm_medium=tumblr

[firelord-frowny]

!!! i got bored and decided to make a list of all the wild bugs/arthropods ive ever seen with my own eyes and been able to identify annnnd here it is! i’m up to 85 and imma go through old pics to find more bc i KNOW there are more.

White tailed skimmer dragonfly

Widow skimmer dragonfly

Red saddlebags dragonfly

Double banded scoliid wasp

European yellowjacket wasp

Four toothed mason wasp

American bumblebee

Eastern bumblebee

European Honeybee*

Carpenter bee

European hornet*

Eastern yellowjacket

European paper wasp*

Eastern paper wasp

Red paper wasp

Common paper wasp

Cicada killer wasp

Spider wasp

17 year cicada

Metallic green sweat bee

Anormenis chloris leafhopper

Common meadow katydid

Fork-tailed bush katydid

Black and yellow mud dauber wasp

Marbled orb weaver spider

Silver spotted skipper butterfly

Snowy urola moth

Wavy lined emerald moth caterpillar

Common buckeye butterfly

Monarch butterfly

Tiger swallowtail

Black swallowtail

Zebra swallowtail

Red spotted purple butterfly

Red admiral butterfly

Fiery skipper butterfly

Cabbage white butterfly

Hummingbird hawkmoth

Pandora sphinx moth

Bald faced hornet

Wheel bug

Leaf footed bug

Eastern firefly

Marmorated stink bug*

Carolina mantis

Chinese mantis*

Periodical cicada

Common looper moth

Velvet ant wasp

Army worm caterpillar

Eastern tent caterpillar

Eastern tent moth

Wheel bug nymph

ladybug

Box elder bug

Wood louse

Pill millipede

House centipede

Peck’s skipper butterfly

Black widow spider

Robber fly

Crane fly

Dogbane leaf beetle

Earwig (idek wtf an earwig actually is. Is it a beetle?? Is it in the termite family?? Who are you, earwig? Imma look it up. Ok i just looked it up and MOTHER OF GOD they’re in the COCKROACH family and i will explain in the post after this one why i find that to be HORRIBLE news for me)

Japanese beetle*

Cucumber beetle

Northern walkingstick

Cabbage worm

European chafer beetle (I HATE!!!)*

Polyphemus moth

Luna moth

Dobsonfly

Silverfish

American cockroach

Oriental cockroach

German cockroach

Wolf spider

Nursery web spider

Crowned orb weaver

Garden spider 

Funnel web spider

(eastern?) harvestman

White spotted jumping spider

American green crab spider

Florida lubber grasshopper

[artisttonki]

Skipper caterpillar

Please direct all inquiries and comments to insectidentification AT. This is an underrepresented caterpillar on. Our research indicates it is most likely a Silver Spotted Skipper, Epargyreus clarus, and BugGuide indicates: Caterpillar eats foliage of leguminous plants, including locust trees, wisteria, alfalfa, and stick-tights. When emailing please include your location and the general estimated size of the specimen in question if possible. We are happy you identified your Skipper Caterpillar without our assistance. Images in JPG format are preferred with a minimum horizontal dimension of 1000px if possible. If uncertain, skip character or select several states. The SEM micrographs for natural wax of banana skipper caterpillar following three magnifications of 3000, 5000, 750, respectively (Fig. Moths are active at night, rest with their wings flat, have feathery antennae, have. 2 shows an image of unexplored morphology and shape of natural wax produced by banana skipper caterpillar. Body main color Body main pattern Distinct features Hair density: Check boxes for all that apply. The butterfly caterpillar creates a chrysalis to transform into an adult. By submitting images to us () you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Site Disclaimer as it pertains to "User-Submitted Content". Discover Lifes page about the biology, natural history, ecology, identification and distribution of Caterpillars - identification guide - Discover Life. When they hatch, caterpillars must find their proper host. The eggs overwinter and hatch in the spring. Silver-spotted Skippers begin life as a singly egg laid near a host tree. The female European skipper lays strings of around 30 eggs on the stem of a host plant. Material presented throughout this website is for entertainment value and should not to be construed as usable for scientific research or medical advice (regarding bites, etc.).Please consult licensed, degreed professionals for such information. The male European skipper hovers low to the ground searching for a mate. This resource uses publically-released information. The logo, its written content, and watermarked photographs/imagery are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and is protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. Simulation suggests that a local blood pressure of at least 10 kPa (75 mmHg) would be required to accelerate the lower surface of the anal plate outwards at a rate fast enough to discharge a 10 mg pellet at an observed mean velocity of 1.3 m s-1.Beetle Identification Butterfly Identification Caterpillar Identification Spider ID Fungal Infections on Insects Nursery Web Spider Official State Insects Termite Basics Insect Molting Process Bugs of Tennessee This causes the underside of the anal plate to move rapidly backwards as the blood pressure is released, projecting the pellet resting against it through the air. The caterpillars construct shelters of rolled leaves tied together with silk strands. The head is white, with a rim of brown, with a brown vertical stripe in the middle of the facial region, edged with a broad brown inverted V-shaped mark. As the caterpillar raises the blood pressure in its anal compartment by contracting its anal prolegs, the comb eventually slips over the toral catch. Caterpillar: The caterpillar is pale green with a dark green mid-dorsal stripe and light lateral stripes. Acacia Skipper caterpillar Stock Photo Caterpillar of the Neotropical Skipper. The anal comb is swung into position during pellet extrusion by retractor muscles attached at its base and held in place by a catch formed by a blood-swollen torus of everted rectal wall. Skipper Butterfly (Hesperidae) caterpillar on leaf, Alta Floresta, Brazil. Rather than acting as a lever, the anal comb serves as a latch to prevent the premature distortion of the lower wall of the anal plate until the anal haemocoel compartment is fully pressurized. The model proposes that the underside of the anal plate serves as a blood-pressure-driven surface for the ejection of faecal pellets. The pupa is attached to a grass blade within the tent, attached by a silken girdle and the cremaster. An alternative mechanism to explain pellet discharge is proposed on the basis of observations on the caterpillar of the skipper Calpodes ethlius. Pupa (chrysalis) When fully-grown, the larva spins a tent of leaves at the base of the foodplant within which it pupates. This comb is widely assumed to be a lever used to 'flick' away frass pellets. Many leaf-rolling caterpillars have a rigid anal comb attached to the lower surface of the anal plate (or shield) situated above the anus.

[hcreimagine]

B2D Design Project

Heather C. MCAD Fall 2021 Student Assignment 5.1B2D Design Project

September 25, 2021

ORGANISM #1 - SPIDER

DISCOVER

Functional strategies:  

1) Navigate through air, send signals, capture organisms

2) Navigate through air, send signals, capture organisms

3) Navigate through air, send signals, capture organisms

ABSTRACT 

1) Spider web design captures prey through webs that are both flexible and tough enough to hold prey.  The web spinning depends on the wind for exact location of web.  

2) According to Ask Nature, orb-weaver spider web contains glycoproteins (proteins that have sugar attached to them). The glycoproteins also have a high concentration of salt.  This glue creates elasticity which allows the web to absorb impact and maintain its stickiness. 

3) According to Ask Nature small spiders use a hydraulic catapult method to move around and catch prey.  Larger spiders rely on a combination of a hydraulic catapult and muscle-based contraction.

BRAINSTORM  

1) Is it possible to design a system that collects plastic pollution along shorelines using the spider webs glue and the flow of water

2) Collect native or invasive seeds through a “web like” system

3) Collect debris from construction sites.

EMULATE 

Pollution Waterway Collector

Pollution Waterway Collector uses the inspiration of spider webs and Venus Flytrap to capture waterway pollution.  Similar to the way a spider uses the flow of the wind for placement of its web and uses the flight of insects, the pollution collector uses the flow of the water to deliver pollution prey.  The placement of the Collector is on shorelines with enough current to deliver the pollution prey  

When pollution lands inside of a pod design, a sticky webbing will hold onto the pieces of plastic until pod is filled at which point levers will be triggered to close the collector signaling it is time to pick up and empty.

EVALUATE

The Pollution Waterway Collector would be placed to use the flow of the current, so would be locally attuned to collect plastic pollution.  The webbing would be based on using life-friendly materials, however the rest of the design would require materials that would not rust.  Perhaps the design could be considered benign, if the material collected was used to create the pods needed to collect the pollution.

ORGANISM #2 - VENUS FLYTRAP

DISCOVER 

Functional strategies:  

1) Captures organisms, processes signals, transforms mechanical energy

2) Captures organisms, processes signals, transforms mechanical energy

3) Captures organisms, processes signals, transforms mechanical energy

ABSTRACT  

Venus Flytrap captures its prey through clasping shut when hairs are triggered by touch.  According to Ask Nature the trap shuts using sodium-activated potentials, which result in an electrical signal activating the trap.

BRAINSTORM  

1) Is it possible to design a trap to collect pollution along waterways

2) Redirect living critters away from trap

3) Collect native or invasive seeds through a weighted trigger system?

EMULATE

Pollution Trap Pods

Pollution trap pods draw inspiration from Venus Fly trap and spiders.  The pod is a part of a waterway pollution collector system.  The pods are designed to capture micro-plastic pollution using a sticky webbing.  The adhesive will be on the inside of the webbing, so water flowing in will push the pollution into the pod and attach the pollution inside of the webbing at the inner most part of the pod.  The make up of the adhesive and webbing design will allow living organism to leave the pod.  When the trap pod is at full volume levers will be triggered to close the pod signaling it is time to empty the pods.  The Pollution Trap Pod can be retrofitted to be used to remove invasive floating seeds such as the European water chestnut found in northeast waterways.

EVALUATE  The Pollution Trap is built on the cyclical process of water current and is designed to protect resiliency and biodiversity by removing plastics.  Production of the design will require manufacturing that may not be benign.

ORGANISM #3 - CUP PLANT

DISCOVER 

Functional strategies:  

1) Provide ecosystem service

2) Regulate water storage

3) Block living threats.

ABSTRACT  

1) The Cup plant holds water in a cup around its square stem creating efficient collection of water and providing a water source to pollinators as an ecosystem service.

2) The plant blocks living threats.  Prairie Moon Nursery speculates that the cup structure is a way to deter potential flower predators from crawling up the stem in search of a meal. 

3) The cup structure collects and stores water.  

BRAINSTORM  

1) Design a system that collects water that can strategically deter predator insects (similar to a squirrel baffler)

2) Create a water collection and watering system based on Cup plant design

3) Use cup system for roof coverings.

EMULATE

Rooftop Rain Cups

The Rooftop Rain Cups are inspired by Cup plants and are designed to hold water for traveling pollinators by creating small cups as part of roof covering.  The Cups will hold a small amount of water allowing pollinators to navigate.  

EVALUATE: While the design would maximize use of water and use natural resource to support life, the materials used may not be benign.  

[mi4016mariamurawska]

Ouseburn Nature Research

I looked at the Ouseburn Trust website, as well as some academic studies of wildlife and biodiversity of the area to find out which species are in Ouseburn.

Animals:

Otters

Pipistrelle bats

Deer

Foxes

Sheep (not wild)

Palmate Newts

Grey Squirrels

Birds:

Kingfishers

Ducks

Grebes

Chiff Chaff

Swans

Grey Wagtails

Kestrel

Long Tailed Tits

Ring Necked Parakeets

Blackcaps

Plants:

Black Poplar Trees

Bee Orchid

Himalayan Balsam

Giant Hogweed

Butterflies:

Ringlet

Speckled Wood

Orange Tip

Meadow Brown

Comma

Small Skipper

I also looked at the Wild Intrigue Website, who conducted a separate study of Ouseburn, looking at the plants, birds and bugs they found:

FLORA:

Alder

Ash

Birch sp.

Bird Cherry

Black Medick

Blackthorn (AKA Sloe)

Bramble

Broad-leaved Dock

Coltsfoot

 Common Groundsel

Common Vetch

Cushion Xanthoria (lichen)

Daisy

Dandelion

Elder

Feverfew

Field Maple

Garlic Mustard

Germander Speedwell

Greater Plantain

Goosegrass (AKA Cleavers/ Stickyweed)

Gorse

Hairy Bittercress

Hawthorn

Hazel

Herb Robert

Himalayan Balsam

Ivy-leaved Toadflax

Hogweed

Lesser Celandine

Maidenhair Spleenwort

Marsh Marigold

Ragwort

Red Clover

Ribwort Plantain

Rough-stalked Feather-moss

Spanish Bluebell

Spear Thistle

Stinging Nettle

Sycamore

Teasel

White Clover

White Deadnettle

White Poplar

INVERTEBRATES

Black Aphids

Black Garden Ant

Buff-tailed Bumblebee

Common Carder Bee

European Comma

Green-veined White butterfly

Grey Field (AKA Milky) Slug

Harlequin (AKA Asian) Lady Beetle

Honey Bee

Nursery Web Spider

Orange-tip butterfly

Peacock butterfly

Sawfly sp.

Seven-spotted Lady Beetle

Sloe Bug

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly

Speckled Wood

St. Marks (AKA Hawthorne) Fly

Tree Bumblebee

Two-spotted Lady Bug

BIRDS

Blackcap

Blue Tit

Chaffinch

Chiffchaff

Dunnock

Feral Pigeon

Goldfinch

Great Tit

Greenfinch

Grey Wagtail

Herring Gull

House Sparrow

Kestrel (Eurasian)

Kittiwake

Long-tailed Tit

Magpie (Eurasian)

Mallard

Mistle Thrush

Moorhen (Eurasian)

Mute Swan

Song Thrush

Starling

Stock Dove

Wren

These gave me a lot of options for which flora and fauna to include in my piece. My next step will be do make some concept sketches and make a final choice or experiment which animals/plants I will be including.

[onenicebugperday]

I also have this photo of this little dude on my hand, but idk what kind of spider it is

Dude got stuck in a much smaller spider's web, so I removed it with the toothpick then put it outside. It was found in East-Hungary as well, and what I've noticed is that its legs didn't really stick well (it slipped out of my hand when I brought it outside too)

A cute dude! It's a European nursery web spider. Spiders that are nearing the end of their life have trouble holding onto stuff, so it's possible that was the case. Or it was just ready to get the heck away from you. Nothing personal, I'm sure!

[qubemagazine]

New Post has been published on Qube Magazine

New Post has been published on https://www.qubeonline.co.uk/humidity-keeps-the-spiders-healthy-at-london-zoo/

Humidity keeps the spiders healthy at London Zoo

NEWS FEATURES FIRE & SECURITY SUBMISSIONS RESOURCES

Condair has supplied a Condair CP3 Mini steam humidifier for the “spider nursery” at ZSL London Zoo. The compact wall-mounted humidifier provides up to 4kg of steam per hour to the atmosphere, with its built-in fan unit. This is sufficient to maintain the ideal air humidity of 70%RH, as the arachnids would have enjoyed in their indigenous habitats from around the world.

Dave Clarke, ZSL’s Head of Invertebrates, comments, “Most of our spider species come from tropical forest, where the humidity is naturally high. If the atmosphere is too dry in their holding area, they would be unhealthy, unlikely to breed, and have particular difficulty in moulting their exoskeletons.”

“Our spiders include the cosmotropical Huntsman spider, Mexican red-kneed spider (one of the large bird-eating, or so-called “tarantula” spiders), rare Desertas wolf spiders and Peacock Parachute spiders. The latter two are part of European Breeding Programmes, so the humidification system is playing an important role in helping us protect these threatened species.” Dave continues.

“Having worked with Condair since 2008, we now rely on their steam humidifiers, which we find both efficient and easy to use. They are particularly important for our irreplaceable populations of endangered species, for example our Polynesian tree snails, many of which are now sadly extinct in the wild.” Dave concludes.

The Condair CP3 Mini is ideal for small areas such as London Zoo’s spider nursery, due to its built-in fan unit and user-friendly design. The humidifier has a discrete fan incorporated into the top of its cabinet to disperse the steam into a room. This makes the humidifier very compact and is unlike most other humidifiers of its type, which are supplied with an additional bolt-on fan unit element.

The CP3 Mini installed at the Spider Nursery has exposed drain and electrical connections, but it can be installed with rear entering services, to avoid visible pipes and cables. This makes the system ideal for public areas or offices, which want an attractive and discrete humidity control solution.

ZSL London Zoo is the world’s oldest scientific zoo, having been formed in 1828 for scientific study and then opened to the public in 1847. The zoo has the UK’s first ever walk-through spider exhibit, where visitors can even pose for a pic with golden orb spiders, in their one metre webs, with the help of a “Spider Selfie” mirror. The zoo also operates a very successful arachnophobia curing programme, where spider-haters can be turned into spider-lovers, leaving the zoo with a new-found appreciation for arachnids.

The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidity control and evaporative cooling, with energy efficient, hygienic and innovative technologies for commercial, industrial and heritage applications. The company offers system design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and spares. You can find out more by visiting the company’s website at www.condair.co.uk.

  Humidity keeps the spiders healthy at London Zoo

NEWS FEATURES FIRE & SECURITY SUBMISSIONS RESOURCES

[rcannon992]

Spiders and mites on gorse

Spiders and mites on gorse

Gorse is beautiful plant, although best viewed from a distance, rather than walked through, as it is incredibly spiny and prickly. The sharp spines are, however, a tremendous advantage if you are small enough to live within their protection. It is also a plant that is remarkably variable in terms of its flowering period and duration – some plants remaining in flower for up to six months – so it…

[athertonjc]

More native musings

Fossil records show ginkgo was once found on the land mass now called North America. Does that make it native?

I’m encouraged by Tony Avent’s recent piece on the native plant debate to address a couple of points, actually open-ended questions, that may inspire more thought on this volatile issue. My hope is that it leads to more collaboration on creating more wildlife habitat, surely a mutual goal with broad support.

Plant lush layers of mannerly plants that provide good habitat, native or not.

Let me attempt to fend off the usual character assassinations that are often the result of any appeal to reconsider the idea that only native plants are “good”. I love wild things, wild areas, and embrace the Gaia principle. Nothing in the world suits me as well as taking a long ramble through the wild areas near my home. I’ve done it since I was a little tomboy, when my mother’s only rule was that I had to be home by the time the automatic security light near the barn came on at dusk. It was also my mother’s guidance that taught me to look. She was an artist when she wasn’t running our farm and she taught me to appreciate the many shades of green, the play of light and shadow, and the patterns to be seen in bark, branches and the wings of birds and dragonflies.

Chinese abelia: a long-blooming, fragrant, low maintenance shrub that provides abundant nectar for our pollinators.

When I bought my 100 acres of rough, recently timbered (and thus cheap) land, someone asked me what I intended “to do” with such a large wild property. “Look at it while it grows,” was my answer…and so it continues, though these days my knees ache, my hip twinges, and I may have to stop and catch my breath partway up a steep slope. I will roam it as long as my legs will carry me.

In all weather but hard driving rain, I look at plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians, soil, sky, insects, mushrooms, spider webs, and changes in light. I wonder, and ponder, form questions, and make connections and have revelations. I read, and research and gain from others’ knowledge and thoughts. Slowly, happily, I learn.

So when I began to hear about Doug Tallamy’s assertions that insects had to have native plants to eat, or our birds would die and so on up the food chain, I was puzzled. I saw many insects eating the foliage of non-native plants – in the wild, on the neighboring farms, in my yard, and on the plants in our display gardens at work. Many of the questions I had fielded as a horticulturist dealt with recommendations on how to deal with insects eating people’s plants, most of them, especially in the edible realm, non-native. It seemed to me that numerous denizens of the natural world had made very good use of many introduced plants.

This monarch feeds readily on the lush balloon plant, a member of the milkweed family that happens to hail from Africa.

I also saw many natives that were untouched by insects. Anisetree comes to mind as I have often commented, that the attractive smell of the foliage must not translate to flavor because I have never seen any insect damage on the leaves. Does that make this native plant a “bad” landscape plant, though it provides cover, and anchors soil, as many plants do. Must every plant have foliage that offers insect sustenance? In the wild, that does not seem to be the case.

And, many nativists will make some allowance for those non-native plants that do produce foliage eaten by insects.  Oh yes, they agreed, there are “generalist” insects that will chow down on some non-native plant foliage, but the “specialist” insects will not.

A prime example of a specialist insect is the monarch butterfly, a lovely poster child. Monarch caterpillars will feed only on plants in the milkweed family. This statement is 100% true. It does not, however, disclose that there are many members of the milkweed family, Asclepiadaceae, that are found on other continents and that serve beautifully as monarch caterpillar forage.

  Fennel, not native, makes a fantastic food source for black swallowtail butterflies.

Each spring, we grow balloon plant Gomphocarpus physocarpus (from southern Africa) from seed for just that purpose. A perennial plant in Zone 8, we treat it as an easily grown annual, and sell it in our plant sales in inexpensive six-packs. Our shoppers have learned to value the tall fast-growing plant that provides enough generous willowy foliage to support numerous monarch caterpillars. We plant them in our display gardens here on the research center along with native milkweeds, several species close by, but these smaller perennial plants are susceptible to crippling infestations of aphids and the leaves are often insufficient to support more than a handful of the little munchers. Often I have carried the demonstrably hungry caterpillars in my hand to the billowing masses of balloon plant where they can continue their caterpillar phase with plenty to eat. If it were not for this “introduced exotic” we would not be nearly as successful at providing for the monarchs.

Another “crop” of monarchs raised on non-native plants as evidenced by this chrysalis ready to burst forth with winged glory.

  It is of course, quite understandable that they make use of this plant. Anyone of reason understands that the continents we know now were not always distinct separated bodies of land; that many populations of plants, once divided by ocean’s rise, evolved to be only somewhat different. The human (somewhat admirable) need to establish some since of order and understanding created and imposed classifications of these plant families, enough sometimes to be classified as different genera or species, but essentially, at a molecular level, they are still the same plant once in the belly of the insect that could care less that it was not found on this continent…

      Aristolochia fimbriata is a pipevine species native to south America, but these pipevine caterpillars don’t discriminate against those south of the border (like some do!)

…or was it, at one time? When I bring up the concept of native to my woody plant classes, I like to pose this question. We know from fossil record that dawn redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides and ginkgo Ginkgo biloba were once found on the land mass we now call North America, but were wiped out by ice ages. Now that we can purchase these plants in nurseries and plant them successfully in our landscapes, are we bringing back a native, or are we introducing an exotic?

When you plant a dawn redwood, are you restoring a lost native?

If one were to say it is an exotic because it wasn’t on this continent when “we arrived”, I can only raise my eyebrows at the arrogance. Who are we to choose that tiny speck of time, legitimized only because it happened to be the plant palette that was here when the first European set boot on the continent? That move introduced the most invasive species ever, the European settler. Who among us will volunteer to clear out, along with kith and kin and return this land to the “natives” (the human species, who by the way, crossed over on Berengia, the Siberian “land bridge” from Asia).

Native is a moving target. Look at what might happen if we pass laws that dictate that we plant only natives and that mandate removal of all non-natives. Where do we draw the line? Is my grandmother’s gardenia contraband? The daffodil bulbs from my other grandmother? Will I be required to rip out my small orchard of apples, pears and figs? Are edibles exempt? What about the crabapples that serve as great pollinators for my apples?

I say we’d do better to bond over using plants that create good habitat, minimize pesticide use, and conserve water and soil. I’m on the Tony team.

Of course, plant some, many, a lot of great natives as well, like this Henry Eilers rudbeckia.

More native musings originally appeared on GardenRant on February 28, 2019.

from GardenRant https://www.gardenrant.com/2019/02/more-native-musings.html

[wendyimmiller]

More native musings

Fossil records show ginkgo was once found on the land mass now called North America. Does that make it native?

I’m encouraged by Tony Avent’s recent piece on the native plant debate to address a couple of points, actually open-ended questions, that may inspire more thought on this volatile issue. My hope is that it leads to more collaboration on creating more wildlife habitat, surely a mutual goal with broad support.

Plant lush layers of mannerly plants that provide good habitat, native or not.

Let me attempt to fend off the usual character assassinations that are often the result of any appeal to reconsider the idea that only native plants are “good”. I love wild things, wild areas, and embrace the Gaia principle. Nothing in the world suits me as well as taking a long ramble through the wild areas near my home. I’ve done it since I was a little tomboy, when my mother’s only rule was that I had to be home by the time the automatic security light near the barn came on at dusk. It was also my mother’s guidance that taught me to look. She was an artist when she wasn’t running our farm and she taught me to appreciate the many shades of green, the play of light and shadow, and the patterns to be seen in bark, branches and the wings of birds and dragonflies.

Chinese abelia: a long-blooming, fragrant, low maintenance shrub that provides abundant nectar for our pollinators.

When I bought my 100 acres of rough, recently timbered (and thus cheap) land, someone asked me what I intended “to do” with such a large wild property. “Look at it while it grows,” was my answer…and so it continues, though these days my knees ache, my hip twinges, and I may have to stop and catch my breath partway up a steep slope. I will roam it as long as my legs will carry me.

In all weather but hard driving rain, I look at plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians, soil, sky, insects, mushrooms, spider webs, and changes in light. I wonder, and ponder, form questions, and make connections and have revelations. I read, and research and gain from others’ knowledge and thoughts. Slowly, happily, I learn.

So when I began to hear about Doug Tallamy’s assertions that insects had to have native plants to eat, or our birds would die and so on up the food chain, I was puzzled. I saw many insects eating the foliage of non-native plants – in the wild, on the neighboring farms, in my yard, and on the plants in our display gardens at work. Many of the questions I had fielded as a horticulturist dealt with recommendations on how to deal with insects eating people’s plants, most of them, especially in the edible realm, non-native. It seemed to me that numerous denizens of the natural world had made very good use of many introduced plants.

This monarch feeds readily on the lush balloon plant, a member of the milkweed family that happens to hail from Africa.

I also saw many natives that were untouched by insects. Anisetree comes to mind as I have often commented, that the attractive smell of the foliage must not translate to flavor because I have never seen any insect damage on the leaves. Does that make this native plant a “bad” landscape plant, though it provides cover, and anchors soil, as many plants do. Must every plant have foliage that offers insect sustenance? In the wild, that does not seem to be the case.

And, many nativists will make some allowance for those non-native plants that do produce foliage eaten by insects.  Oh yes, they agreed, there are “generalist” insects that will chow down on some non-native plant foliage, but the “specialist” insects will not.

A prime example of a specialist insect is the monarch butterfly, a lovely poster child. Monarch caterpillars will feed only on plants in the milkweed family. This statement is 100% true. It does not, however, disclose that there are many members of the milkweed family, Asclepiadaceae, that are found on other continents and that serve beautifully as monarch caterpillar forage.

  Fennel, not native, makes a fantastic food source for black swallowtail butterflies.

Each spring, we grow balloon plant Gomphocarpus physocarpus (from southern Africa) from seed for just that purpose. A perennial plant in Zone 8, we treat it as an easily grown annual, and sell it in our plant sales in inexpensive six-packs. Our shoppers have learned to value the tall fast-growing plant that provides enough generous willowy foliage to support numerous monarch caterpillars. We plant them in our display gardens here on the research center along with native milkweeds, several species close by, but these smaller perennial plants are susceptible to crippling infestations of aphids and the leaves are often insufficient to support more than a handful of the little munchers. Often I have carried the demonstrably hungry caterpillars in my hand to the billowing masses of balloon plant where they can continue their caterpillar phase with plenty to eat. If it were not for this “introduced exotic” we would not be nearly as successful at providing for the monarchs.

Another “crop” of monarchs raised on non-native plants as evidenced by this chrysalis ready to burst forth with winged glory.

  It is of course, quite understandable that they make use of this plant. Anyone of reason understands that the continents we know now were not always distinct separated bodies of land; that many populations of plants, once divided by ocean’s rise, evolved to be only somewhat different. The human (somewhat admirable) need to establish some since of order and understanding created and imposed classifications of these plant families, enough sometimes to be classified as different genera or species, but essentially, at a molecular level, they are still the same plant once in the belly of the insect that could care less that it was not found on this continent…

      Aristolochia fimbriata is a pipevine species native to south America, but these pipevine caterpillars don’t discriminate against those south of the border (like some do!)

…or was it, at one time? When I bring up the concept of native to my woody plant classes, I like to pose this question. We know from fossil record that dawn redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides and ginkgo Ginkgo biloba were once found on the land mass we now call North America, but were wiped out by ice ages. Now that we can purchase these plants in nurseries and plant them successfully in our landscapes, are we bringing back a native, or are we introducing an exotic?

When you plant a dawn redwood, are you restoring a lost native?

If one were to say it is an exotic because it wasn’t on this continent when “we arrived”, I can only raise my eyebrows at the arrogance. Who are we to choose that tiny speck of time, legitimized only because it happened to be the plant palette that was here when the first European set boot on the continent? That move introduced the most invasive species ever, the European settler. Who among us will volunteer to clear out, along with kith and kin and return this land to the “natives” (the human species, who by the way, crossed over on Berengia, the Siberian “land bridge” from Asia).

Native is a moving target. Look at what might happen if we pass laws that dictate that we plant only natives and that mandate removal of all non-natives. Where do we draw the line? Is my grandmother’s gardenia contraband? The daffodil bulbs from my other grandmother? Will I be required to rip out my small orchard of apples, pears and figs? Are edibles exempt? What about the crabapples that serve as great pollinators for my apples?

I say we’d do better to bond over using plants that create good habitat, minimize pesticide use, and conserve water and soil. I’m on the Tony team.

Of course, plant some, many, a lot of great natives as well, like this Henry Eilers rudbeckia.

More native musings originally appeared on GardenRant on February 28, 2019.

from Gardening https://www.gardenrant.com/2019/02/more-native-musings.html via http://www.rssmix.com/

[turfandlawncare]

More native musings

Fossil records show ginkgo was once found on the land mass now called North America. Does that make it native?

I’m encouraged by Tony Avent’s recent piece on the native plant debate to address a couple of points, actually open-ended questions, that may inspire more thought on this volatile issue. My hope is that it leads to more collaboration on creating more wildlife habitat, surely a mutual goal with broad support.

Plant lush layers of mannerly plants that provide good habitat, native or not.

Let me attempt to fend off the usual character assassinations that are often the result of any appeal to reconsider the idea that only native plants are “good”. I love wild things, wild areas, and embrace the Gaia principle. Nothing in the world suits me as well as taking a long ramble through the wild areas near my home. I’ve done it since I was a little tomboy, when my mother’s only rule was that I had to be home by the time the automatic security light near the barn came on at dusk. It was also my mother’s guidance that taught me to look. She was an artist when she wasn’t running our farm and she taught me to appreciate the many shades of green, the play of light and shadow, and the patterns to be seen in bark, branches and the wings of birds and dragonflies.

Chinese abelia: a long-blooming, fragrant, low maintenance shrub that provides abundant nectar for our pollinators.

When I bought my 100 acres of rough, recently timbered (and thus cheap) land, someone asked me what I intended “to do” with such a large wild property. “Look at it while it grows,” was my answer…and so it continues, though these days my knees ache, my hip twinges, and I may have to stop and catch my breath partway up a steep slope. I will roam it as long as my legs will carry me.

In all weather but hard driving rain, I look at plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians, soil, sky, insects, mushrooms, spider webs, and changes in light. I wonder, and ponder, form questions, and make connections and have revelations. I read, and research and gain from others’ knowledge and thoughts. Slowly, happily, I learn.

So when I began to hear about Doug Tallamy’s assertions that insects had to have native plants to eat, or our birds would die and so on up the food chain, I was puzzled. I saw many insects eating the foliage of non-native plants – in the wild, on the neighboring farms, in my yard, and on the plants in our display gardens at work. Many of the questions I had fielded as a horticulturist dealt with recommendations on how to deal with insects eating people’s plants, most of them, especially in the edible realm, non-native. It seemed to me that numerous denizens of the natural world had made very good use of many introduced plants.

This monarch feeds readily on the lush balloon plant, a member of the milkweed family that happens to hail from Africa.

I also saw many natives that were untouched by insects. Anisetree comes to mind as I have often commented, that the attractive smell of the foliage must not translate to flavor because I have never seen any insect damage on the leaves. Does that make this native plant a “bad” landscape plant, though it provides cover, and anchors soil, as many plants do. Must every plant have foliage that offers insect sustenance? In the wild, that does not seem to be the case.

And, many nativists will make some allowance for those non-native plants that do produce foliage eaten by insects.  Oh yes, they agreed, there are “generalist” insects that will chow down on some non-native plant foliage, but the “specialist” insects will not.

A prime example of a specialist insect is the monarch butterfly, a lovely poster child. Monarch caterpillars will feed only on plants in the milkweed family. This statement is 100% true. It does not, however, disclose that there are many members of the milkweed family, Asclepiadaceae, that are found on other continents and that serve beautifully as monarch caterpillar forage.

  Fennel, not native, makes a fantastic food source for black swallowtail butterflies.

Each spring, we grow balloon plant Gomphocarpus physocarpus (from southern Africa) from seed for just that purpose. A perennial plant in Zone 8, we treat it as an easily grown annual, and sell it in our plant sales in inexpensive six-packs. Our shoppers have learned to value the tall fast-growing plant that provides enough generous willowy foliage to support numerous monarch caterpillars. We plant them in our display gardens here on the research center along with native milkweeds, several species close by, but these smaller perennial plants are susceptible to crippling infestations of aphids and the leaves are often insufficient to support more than a handful of the little munchers. Often I have carried the demonstrably hungry caterpillars in my hand to the billowing masses of balloon plant where they can continue their caterpillar phase with plenty to eat. If it were not for this “introduced exotic” we would not be nearly as successful at providing for the monarchs.

Another “crop” of monarchs raised on non-native plants as evidenced by this chrysalis ready to burst forth with winged glory.

  It is of course, quite understandable that they make use of this plant. Anyone of reason understands that the continents we know now were not always distinct separated bodies of land; that many populations of plants, once divided by ocean’s rise, evolved to be only somewhat different. The human (somewhat admirable) need to establish some since of order and understanding created and imposed classifications of these plant families, enough sometimes to be classified as different genera or species, but essentially, at a molecular level, they are still the same plant once in the belly of the insect that could care less that it was not found on this continent…

      Aristolochia fimbriata is a pipevine species native to south America, but these pipevine caterpillars don’t discriminate against those south of the border (like some do!)

…or was it, at one time? When I bring up the concept of native to my woody plant classes, I like to pose this question. We know from fossil record that dawn redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides and ginkgo Ginkgo biloba were once found on the land mass we now call North America, but were wiped out by ice ages. Now that we can purchase these plants in nurseries and plant them successfully in our landscapes, are we bringing back a native, or are we introducing an exotic?

When you plant a dawn redwood, are you restoring a lost native?

If one were to say it is an exotic because it wasn’t on this continent when “we arrived”, I can only raise my eyebrows at the arrogance. Who are we to choose that tiny speck of time, legitimized only because it happened to be the plant palette that was here when the first European set boot on the continent? That move introduced the most invasive species ever, the European settler. Who among us will volunteer to clear out, along with kith and kin and return this land to the “natives” (the human species, who by the way, crossed over on Berengia, the Siberian “land bridge” from Asia).

Native is a moving target. Look at what might happen if we pass laws that dictate that we plant only natives and that mandate removal of all non-natives. Where do we draw the line? Is my grandmother’s gardenia contraband? The daffodil bulbs from my other grandmother? Will I be required to rip out my small orchard of apples, pears and figs? Are edibles exempt? What about the crabapples that serve as great pollinators for my apples?

I say we’d do better to bond over using plants that create good habitat, minimize pesticide use, and conserve water and soil. I’m on the Tony team.

Of course, plant some, many, a lot of great natives as well, like this Henry Eilers rudbeckia.

More native musings originally appeared on GardenRant on February 28, 2019.

from GardenRant https://ift.tt/2En1VJ9