A Break From The Alex Smith Drama: Urbanization Is Supersizing Spiders

[listopencil]

Rare Spider Hides Out in London Cemetery Vaults for 150 Years


A rare species of orb weaver spider, Meta bourneti, turned up in the vaults of London’s Highgate Cemetery where it may have been lying low for the past 150 years.

As an orb weaver, the species requires total darkness, so archeologists think the tombs made a perfect hideout for the spider, which normally lives in caves and feasts upon small insects and woodlice. According to the BBC, this is the first time M. bourneti has been recorded in London.

Around 100 spiders, measuring about 30 mm, turned up in the tombs, some of which date back to the 1830s. The discovery shows just how important urban cemeteries can be for providing refuges for wildlife, the London Wildlife Trust told the BBC.

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smar...for-150-years/

[Rausch]

This is why I purchase Mantid egg cases every year...

[Fish]

[AussieChiefsFan]

Good luck America.

[listopencil]

Well, hey, apparently today is International Save A Spider Day. Here's a slideshow:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...198058761.html

It has some creepy/cool images like this one:


[IMG]http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/963*1285/A+Green+Spider(Araniella+cucurbitina)+spins+its+web+between+two+trees+by+Gonzalo+Acuna+(Montevideo+U raguay)_963.jpg[/IMG]

[listopencil]

Well that's weird. The IMG tag isn't working for some reason.

[Fish]

Hangin out. Pooping webbing that's stronger than steel. You know, just spider shit....

[REDHOTGTO]

this is why i use the best spray ever, TEMPO no more spiders, roaches, anything just death, try it , it works like crazy

[CoMoChief]

i dont know why i keep clicking into this thread.

Spiders and clowns just freak me the **** out.

[Fish]

[bevischief]

I haven't seen a spider since I moved up here.

[listopencil]

December 15, 2011

Some Spiders Have Brains in Their Legs



Both vertebrates and invertebrates follow a general rule, known as Haller’s Rule, when it comes to brain and body size: “The brains of smaller animals are larger relative to body size than large-bodied forms.” Human brains are about 2 to 3 percent of our body mass, while the brains of some ants are 15 percent of their body mass. But the difference is even bigger when we talk spiders, according to a new study in Arthropod Structure & Development.

A group of researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of Costa Rica measured (with great difficulty, I’m sure) the mass of the brains in adults of nine species of web-weaving spiders and in the young spiderlings of six of those species. The adults ranged in size from a tenth of a milligram to 2,000 milligrams (about .07 ounces).

“We discovered that the central nervous systems of the smallest spiders fill up almost 80 percent of their total body cavity, including about 25 percent of their legs,” says William Wcislo, a staff scientist at STRI in Panama. “The smaller the animal, the more it has to invest in its brain, which means even very tiny spiders are able to weave a web and perform other fairly complex behaviors.”

It seems that there are limits on how small a brain can be and still function properly. Brain cells cannot be smaller than the nucleus that contains all of the spider’s genes. Nerve fibers cannot get too thin or they wouldn’t be able to adequately carry and transfer a nerve signal.

As a result, the young spiderlings of the smallest spider species have bulging bodies to make room for all the necessary brain cells.



http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/scie...in-their-legs/

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by listopencil

December 15, 2011

Some Spiders Have Brains in Their Legs



Both vertebrates and invertebrates follow a general rule, known as Haller’s Rule, when it comes to brain and body size: “The brains of smaller animals are larger relative to body size than large-bodied forms.” Human brains are about 2 to 3 percent of our body mass, while the brains of some ants are 15 percent of their body mass. But the difference is even bigger when we talk spiders, according to a new study in Arthropod Structure & Development.

A group of researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of Costa Rica measured (with great difficulty, I’m sure) the mass of the brains in adults of nine species of web-weaving spiders and in the young spiderlings of six of those species. The adults ranged in size from a tenth of a milligram to 2,000 milligrams (about .07 ounces).

“We discovered that the central nervous systems of the smallest spiders fill up almost 80 percent of their total body cavity, including about 25 percent of their legs,” says William Wcislo, a staff scientist at STRI in Panama. “The smaller the animal, the more it has to invest in its brain, which means even very tiny spiders are able to weave a web and perform other fairly complex behaviors.”

It seems that there are limits on how small a brain can be and still function properly. Brain cells cannot be smaller than the nucleus that contains all of the spider’s genes. Nerve fibers cannot get too thin or they wouldn’t be able to adequately carry and transfer a nerve signal.

As a result, the young spiderlings of the smallest spider species have bulging bodies to make room for all the necessary brain cells.



http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/scie...in-their-legs/

[notorious]

The "brain" in my "leg" had poor judgement at times back in college.

[listopencil]

Bat-eating spiders are everywhere, study finds

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-...e-study-finds/