Comments on: Keeping me company

By: Cranial Lethargy

Cranial Lethargy — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:01:48 +0000

Nice work on the logo….

By: topfs2

topfs2 — Wed, 21 May 2008 20:15:32 +0000

Dang! that’s one cool picture! if you have that one in higher res don’t hesitate to publish it for download.

By: Equusz

Equusz — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:53:11 +0000

Her fangs look pretty small…agree with Marco that she’s harmless and probably keeping the mosquitos out of your room…

Compared to the camel spiders I saw in Iraq, your friend is a mere decoration!

By: Tufty

Tufty — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:21:16 +0000

Elan, it’s hard to tell the size. Photos can be easily deceptive so that spider could really just be a wee nipper of only 1 mm long!
Take a photo for us with your (or your wifes) hand REAL CLOSE to it (or even holding it) then post the photo so we can tell how big it really is!
Keep up the good work.

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:20:06 +0000

Elan,

We’ve got about ten of these around our yard…..kinda cool webs with the cross that their legs match to while they wait to catch big dogs for dinner……….

Seriously though, that’s a baby spider mate, we’ve got MUCH bigger and funner ones here in Sydney………

Just tell Barkley to watch it and you get back to coding!!! Cheers mate

By: Jean-Etienne LaVallee

Jean-Etienne LaVallee — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:13:47 +0000

I’ve seen a number of these on my home’s property in central Virginia. They’re actually quite harmless and do a great job of keeping down the tick, flee and mosquito populations. I’ve accidentally walked right through their webbing before and never been bitten… freaked out a bit, yes, but they’d rather run away that try to take you on. I’d say it’s a good omen… and when the XBMC Cookbook comes out from O’reilly in two years, we’ll know what to have on the cover.

snark,
Etienne

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 19 May 2008 19:16:22 +0000

You will not find these in The Netherlands:P

By: Marco

Marco — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:54:59 +0000

This is your buddy:

St Andrew’s Cross Spider

Habitat and Biology
The St Andrew’s Cross spider commonly builds its web amongst shrubs and other vegetation or against walls of buildings. It normally hangs upside down in the web with two paired legs placed along each arm of the cross. The silken cross may be used for strengthening the web, for camouflage or for enhancing prey catches. It has been shown that the cross reflects ultra-violet light which is particularly attractive to insects. Egg sacs are pear-shaped, green in colour and are suspended in nearby vegetation rather than in the web itself.

Colour
Male: Cephalothorax and legs brown; abdomen cream with a mottled brown pattern.
Female: Cephalothorax brown and covered with silky hairs. Abdomen with horizontal stripes of yellow and crimson brown, sometimes with pale spots on the brown stripes. Legs dark brown to black with a few yellowish bands.

Form
Small-bodied with relatively long legs; often appears to have only four legs due to resting position in web. Male much smaller than female.

Body Length
Male: 4mm
Female: 20mm

Web type
Orb web with a cross of thick silk through its centre.

Bite
The bite of this spider is considered harmless or at most to cause a weak local reaction. Few bites have been recorded.

By: Starg4ze

Starg4ze — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:18:40 +0000

As long as I dont see rabbits from castle of aaaarrghh with big nasty teeth throwing holy hand grenades at me I’m fine

elan, thou shall count to four…no three!

By: ZZZ

ZZZ — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:58:45 +0000

It is the risk of being… on the web!