Funnel Web Spiders

Some old pictures from the fall. I'm not really sure why they didn't publish then.

Badumna longinqua AKA Lace Web Spider

I noticed these because of their webs which were a shape I had not noticed before, a sort of loose lace-like weave spread out over the cacti at the Sherman Gardens.


Naturally, I asked at bugguide.net, and they were quickly identified as Badumna longinqua, also known as Spotted Spiders, and ALSO known as Lace Web Spiders.  They're imports from Australia, it seems, and nasty, though non-lethal, biters.

Largest Fossil Spider Found!

I'll put a permalink up if I can find it, but today's Yahoo news included information on a large fossil spider. It would be even more fascinating if the spider were supersized, but it's only about as big as today's biggest spiders (big enough to be enormous, but not horror-movie fare).

Oh, and, yes, I have a new pic or two to post soon.