A Spider's Eye View of Upcoming Festivities

Please click on the picture for a lot more beautiful spidery point-of-view details.

New Girl In Town:Eight Legs And Takin' Over

It's been a really spider'y summer, and I've gotten a kick out of every different eight-legged visitor I've managed to photograph. At this age I don't shriek like I used to. OK, I admit I talk to them as I pop the container on top, slide the old piece of postcard stock underneath and carry them out on a move to the garden.

I've had a lot of spider visitors in my bathroom. Maybe their running short on toothpaste.

My new girl has baffled the crew at spideridentification.org. I like to think she's special, but it may simply be that she was unhappy about being photographed and I didn't manage the kind of record that's needed to properly id her. Possibilities so far have included the thought that she's a Hacklemesh Weaver or a descendent of the Corinnidae family.

American House Spiders Unite - No Sacrifice Required!

Please click on each picture to see the lovely details.

A female American House Spider, Parasteatoda tepidariorum. Apparently, she is still alive and kicking

Identified at Spider Identification Org, by Bug Eric,

a.k.a. Eric Eaton author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America.

Having read too many articles about how to be a good parent, I thought she had left her poor decayed body behind to feed her offspring, but Eric says that she looks alive. I guess she is simply hanging around waiting to see what kind of peanut butter the kids want to go with their flies.

In the photo below, she is waiting for her kids to emerge. I guess this is the equivalent of reading a magazine in the parking lot.