Kerry Wixted

Connecting Nature & Community

Tag: spider

  • By - kwixted0
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I Like Big Invertebrates, and I Cannot Lie

How do they say it? Everything is bigger in Borneo! At least, that is how I felt when I saw some of the invertebrate species during my time in Sarawak. Below are a few of the species I could identify. Giant Golden Orbweaver (Nephila pilipes)  I missed out on seeing some of the cool spiny
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Giant, Flying Spiders

This week, I have been combatting the clickbait news which has made it seem like giant, venomous spiders are going to drop from the sky. Here are a few things to note: Here is what is true: To provide some more context, ballooning, also known as kiting, is a method by which spiders and some
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#Arachtober: There Be Pirates

You might be thinking: what’s the connection between pirates and spiders? Well, buckle up because in this post, we’re going to dive (or sail) our way into the weird world of pirate spiders. As you might have guessed, pirate spiders conduct raids but instead of working on the high seas, they raid webs. Pirate spiders
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#Arachtober: Secrets of the Silk

Spider silk has always been a supernatural material. It’s strong, stretchy, and lightweight. University of Leicester’s Physics students have even determined that it could stop a train (like in Spiderman) if the silk came from Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini), an orbweaver with strong silk. But, what exactly is spider silk made of? And why
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#Arachtober: Funnel Weaver Friday

It’s Friday, so let’s celebrate some of our local spiders that make pretty intense webs: funnel-web spiders (Agelenidae). At the time of this posting (Oct 2022), ten species of Agelenids have been identified in Maryland. Agelenids typically build a a horizontal, sheet-like web with a funnel on one side (hence their common name). Like most
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#Arachtober: Charlotte’s Web

Charlotte’s Web was one of my favorite movies as a child. I LOVED watching it over and over again, but I missed how much spider biology was intricately woven into the movie and novel. Did you know? Charlotte’s full name was Charlotte A. Cavatica. She was modeled after the barn spider (Araneus cavaticus). Wonderfully enough,
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