(click on the pictures to see them up close and personal...did you know spiders had hairy legs?)
I recently witnessed a real-life drama, seeing a match play out in the ring (spider web), between two very different contestants.
On the one hand, here is the contender (below):
And below is the resident cham-peen and owner of the web it has cast:
Let the match begin!
And the winner, and still cham-peen, posing victorious in the center of it's domain, as the contender shuffles out and away to another nook or cranny...
It is one thing to see these events and creatures in the light of day, but imagine this...
You approach the doorbell, poised to request entry by the residents, when you catch a glimpse of something in the dark...
You approach the doorbell, poised to request entry by the residents, when you catch a glimpse of something in the dark...
And you jump back as the motion-detector light illuminates the visitor who awaits unsuspecting prey...
Wishing you a fun and spooky Halloween and peaceful All Saint's Day...
~Aerie-el
Eek! I have a major spider phobia but made myself read your post anyway, it was super funny. :) So dramatic when they battle it out for territory. Wonder if the loser lost any legs? Poor thing. Hope your trick-or-treaters leave the one by the doorbell alone. Happy Halloween!!
ReplyDeleteI'm slowly overcoming my fear of spiders, but it was almost all I could do to take these close-up pictures.
ReplyDeleteIf he lost one, at least he had an extra leg (or few) to stand on! :)
Happy Halloween!
Hey Aerie-el,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post for Halloween! Great photos, too. :) And interesting info about the origin of the phrase "heebie-jeebies." I can just picture some flappers using the term at a speakeasy!
As for your photos, I think you may have been witnessing some spider flirtation rather than an arachnid altercation. The visitor to your young spider lady's website (hehe!) has extra long legs, which is
typical of male spiders.
Male spiders use these long legs to pluck out a specific rhythm on the web. If they don't use this secret code, the web's resident is liable to mistake her suitor for prey.
A fly, for instance, "plays" an erratic tune on a web, so a spider knows without hesitation that it's dinner time. And a male of the wrong species wouldn't know the correct tune either, so it would be c'est la vie, Mr. Eight-Legs.
Also, spiders don't see very well, so they use those hairy legs you mentioned to help them feel vibrations better.
I've seen a few spider flirtations in my day, and I can tell you that they take a long time to trust each other. Suitors come back again and again to webs, each time venturing closer and closer until finally they will dare to reach out and touch.
I have an innate fear of spiders, but learning about our local species really helped assuage my irrational tendency to freak out. Now my fascination usually wins out over my fear when I see one.
~Tui
Tui~
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that information about spiders!! The 'animal kingdom' is just fascinating.
Have fun with doing the NaBloPoMo and NaNoWrMo this month.
~Aerie-el
Hehe... I didn't realize I left such a long-winded comment! *blush*
ReplyDeleteNo blushing necessary when sharing good info!
ReplyDelete