I volunteer at my local Science Pub, where we take a scientist, put 'em on stage with a beer in one hand, mic in the other, and have them give a presentation followed by Q&A from the drinkers in the bar. One topic recently was on spiders and the scientist kept gushing about how *cute* they were, having lots of closeups of their eight little eyes.
I love that audacious is part of the formal name. I wonder what makes them audacious; choices in food, or location, or climbing, or something entirely other.
This has inspired N. to inform me that his science class career is founded on letting insects, arachnids, etc. crawl on him while his classmates go "Eeeew!"
I was somewhat... atypical... about things like that. I remember finding grass snakes for the class terrarium in sixth grade; the other girls were, indeed, going "Eeeew!" *grin*
We get a lot of those in Florida--if the grasshoppers don't eat my lilies, the spiders tend to live on the ones outside my back sliding door, so we'll get these little spiders on the glass. It makes it easy to watch them. :)
A couple times a year I get one of these perched on one wall or another inside my house. The first time, I was more than a little freaked out. I mean, that thing's 3-4 inches across. But none of them have ever been curious enough about me to come down and investigate.
I love the little jumping spiders. If you wave a finger in front of them, they will put up their front legs and try to menace (or possibly romance) you. If they were cartoons, they would wear little goggles with lenses that needed to be focused when they looked up, and they'd grin. They are adorable.
My first year of college we were in a room on the ground floor with lots of foliage and landscaping directly outside, and the jumping spiders would somehow sneak in through the screen. I would relocate them outside to save them from my roommate, who not only did not like spiders of any size but also objected to me calling them cute.
What a pretty thing! And that courtship video is AWESOME! Just this morning I rescued a female jumper from my bathtub and took her outside. I have no idea why spiders seem to be so fond of tubs and sinks, considering that they can't get OUT of them.
cheerful
---L.
You'd have enjoyed it.
Wow.
You have opened a gaping, aching void in my life. I NEED THIS THING.
Jumping spider mating dances sound almost exactly like World War I when they get good and revved up. Case in point.
I was somewhat... atypical... about things like that. I remember finding grass snakes for the class terrarium in sixth grade; the other girls were, indeed, going "Eeeew!" *grin*
I have a picture somewhere of one that had a smiley face on its abdomen. :)
I'm not a bug fan in general, but i do enjoy the jumping spiders- and their really exuberant coloring and marking.
My first year of college we were in a room on the ground floor with lots of foliage and landscaping directly outside, and the jumping spiders would somehow sneak in through the screen. I would relocate them outside to save them from my roommate, who not only did not like spiders of any size but also objected to me calling them cute.