A few Arachnids from Around here And some other Awesome Arthropods, And other things, As well.

And An Amazingly long post title for Another round of ABC Wednesday, which seems to have been going for an Amazingly long time now ...

(And An Aside - I hope I was Allowed to put my Z post in the A linky thingy - LOL - After All - it did have An Animal in it, And A photo of a lovely Artistic letter A At the bottom ;-)
(drats ... linky thing closed b4 I got this posted ... Again!
... not sure I can get away with putting this in the B links, so I won't ... but I Also have more photos of spiders than I need for one post - so I might just have to do Another Arachnid post next time we are up to the letter A)

I will put A link to An Article About Arachnids, And some Additional links to information/photos/videos About spiders At the bottom of this post ...
And now ... the bit most people probably won't like At All - some photos of Arachnids ... And maybe one or 2 other Awsome things ... And - As usual - All these images are links to the bigger versions of them - so you can see these Amazing Arachnids As big As the camera did ;-)

The first photo is not a huge big hairy scary something, I thought about doing that, but I decided to be nice to the Arachnaphobes and put some webby ones first:



A web in the garden at work
 (I am not sure what sort of spider
- I probably didn't even look at it - silly me)


An orb spider with a lovely shiny web.



(this is one I saw in the trees when I was at a party at a friend's place;-)


For those who like playing "Where is Wally" (looking for things hidden in pictures/etc) there is an orb spider in this tree ...



(I found this one while out walking the dog - if you click on this iamge to see the full size version, and look above the tallest of those green plants at the bottom, you might notice a bit of the orb web shining in the flash, and above that, near the middle of the photo - is the spider ;-)


Another orb weaving spider - this one had her web ON the Hills Hoist (rotary clothes line) in my back yard one night in the middle of last year:



I went out to look at something (forget what) and nearly walked into the web ... I took some photos of the spider but they all turned out a bit blurry ... I am sure I have taken some better ones of the same sort of spider more recently though. Webs are not easy to get decent photos of either - I had to fiddle with the contrast/etc in this one to make the web show up better ...


Spiders have 8 legs right?



not this one! - it seems to be doing fine with a couple missing.
(this is some sort of wolf spider)


A rather wet web:



which belongs to some sort of orb spider. I found it while DH and I were walking the dog one foggy morning.

I also found this:



which seems to be sideways (oops) ... due to the fact that, something I only found out today - when I rotate a photo in windoze image viewer (rather than the camera software or GIMP or some other image editing software) it comes up how I changed it in the image viewer or windoze explorer ... but it isn't actually rotated and still comes up sideways everywhere else! ... grrrr ... (oh well ... sort of looks ok that way so I am not going to fix it and upload it again - if you want to see it the right way up just lean your head over to the left ... or tilt your computer screen/laptop/whatever to the right ;-)

I love the way the spiders have taken advantage of the holes in the chicken wire ;-)


This one isn't a spider, but it is an Arachnid ...



I am not sure if it is a mite (which it looked like when I saw it running around) or a tick ... either way - it was running around on my fingers when I took the photo a few months ago and I am still alive - lol


A Daddy Long Legs:



... with a fly. (in the corner of the ceiling inside - I usually leave them there in the hope that they will catch all the flies, and mozzies ;-)


some Ants:



... not Arachnids, but they Are Arthropods.


And ... a Tasmanian cave spider.



Someone mentioned these on facebook the other day, and I said I wished I had known about them when I was down there ... then, later on, I was looking on the computer, for spider photos for this post, and realised - I actually DID see some! ... I didn't know anything about them at the time, but - me being me, and liking spiders - I took a photo of one when I waw them in the entrance to a cave when DH and I went into it on a tour.
If I had known how interesting/different they were - I would have tried to get some better photos ... this one looks kind of weird and like it has 16 legs, because of the shadow from the light on the camera (it has a macro setting that also uses an LED light on the camera to light up the subject - which is why I can take photos of spiders/etc on the path/in trees when I am walking the dog at night ;-)


I have already used this one in another blog post but I like it:



last time I posted this picture I didn't know it was a jumping spider (which it is)
(I wonder if I should put this back as my facebook profile pic again? *cheeky grin*)


I have also posted this one before too (I found it when I went digging around in photos "from this blog" in the editor thingy ... in fact there were 2 copies for some odd reason ... )



This is also my profile picture on a couple of other online things I have a "profile" on ... I kind of like the way it is just "hanging around" ...


This one has also been on my blog already:



She is a Golden Orb spider.

This is the same spider, looking at her underside:



(this one was not in that other blog post)

She was in the bushes beside the path near Mum and Dad's place in Qld.
(mum took photos of the bird on the other side of the path while I took photos of the spider! ;-)


Here is a tiny little Jumping Spider I found on the door handle of my car.



yes I said door handle - that is how tiny it is!

here it is on the tree that I put it on before I drove off:



this looks a bit more like the sort of place it belongs ;-)


And - just to be different (because I found it while looking for spider photos and reaslised it Also starts with an A) - An Anenome:



This was down at the beach one day a few months ago - I think this is one of the photos I took by sticking the camera under the water in a rock pool (I like my "waterproof" camera ;-)


And here is every Arachnaphobes nightmare? a spider - with spiders on it:



She is probably a Wolf Spider, and she is carrying her babies on her back.


This is another photo of a spider that was on my hand in the photo I put in my "Yucky" post a week or 3 ago:



It is a "Spitting Spider" - they spit a bunch of web onto their prey to catch it.


And - here is another photo of the same spiky spider that was in my "yucky" post:



I actually managed to get a few decent, and in focus, photos of this one ;-)
(good daylight and lack of wind kind of helps there)


Another small spider, with an even smaller one next to it!
(so small I can see them better in the photo than I could just looking at them - lol)



These are a couple of the hundreds (possibly 1000s) of little spiders that are hanging around under our pergola ;-)


A Wolf Spider:



... on the lounge room floor!

I caught it in this takeaway container:



... and it didn't look to impressed ... but it was probably quite happy once it was running away into the garden outside ;-)

I forgot to bring the container back inside - and a day or 2 later I found Another spider in it:



Looks like some sort of Jumping Spider.
(btw - that is actually dog hair next to it, not spiderweb - lol)

And I found another similar one nearby:



Amazingly, I Actually got a couple of in focus photos while it was running around on the cement.


A huntsman:



I think this one was in the gutter next to the road, or on the footpath (forgot which) while I was walking the dog one evening.


And this one - I went outside looking, and found this in the back yard, just so I could take a photo!
(unfortunately it turned out not to be a very good photo ... a bit too bright)



It is one of our Aussie specials - a Redback - one of those that are poisonous and can kill you (although they usually don't, provided you seek medical attention so you can be given antivenom if you need it)

Here is the other photo I took of her (yes - her - the male is usually way smaller and less easily seen)



this one is not as well focussed, but shows the colour more like it really is.
(and you can see from the way she is sitting all bunched up - she was more afraid of me than I was of her!)

I went and looked for/found it the other day, because I reaslised that I have been looking at/finding these for years (ever since I can remember ;-) but I had never actually bothered to take a photo of one ... not sure why ... probably because they are so common/familiar to me? ... but they really are quite pretty ... I really must find some more and try and take some better photos of them ;-)

or I could go find that one again - I left her where she was because she wasn't in my way or at all likely to be bothering anyone where she is - and they eat mozzies and stuff - even if I had killed her - next time I went back to that pile of old plant pots there would just as likely be aonther one there anyway (if I find them where little kids are likely to poke their fingers, or in stuff that I am actually using and therefore likely to get bitten if I leave them in there - then I will squash them ... of flick them away into the garden or something)

Here is her old skin:



well - I assume it is hers - it was about the right size, and was in the web near where she was - they do tend to shed their skin every now and then ... one of the hassles of having your "skeleton" on the outside - if you want to grow bigger - you have to shed your skin when you do!


Another orb spider - found when walking the dog a couple nights ago:



probably not the same species as the ones in the first few photos though - it doesn't quite look the same.

here is the other side of the same spider:



this was before the dog walked in the wrong place and broke one of the anchor lines to the web ... sigh ... I wish he understood English a bit better - so I could point to somewhere and explain that I didn't want him to go that way - if he understood me, he probably would do what I said - Golden Retrievers Actually Are that eager to please ... when it suits them ... LOL


Here is Another spider I found in the back yard the other day:



looks like she has some food stored away here ;-)

Another view of the same spider:



I am not sure exacly what species this is - but it Appears to be one of those in the same genus as the Saint Andrew's Cross spider - an Agriope species.
er ... maybe that is enough spider photos for one post? LOL
btw - if the photos end up All over the place in this post - blame the blog editor, and me fiddling with settings - decided to turn some option on to see if the photo layout thingy worked ok/better now, but it didn't, so I had to go back and change it back, and then go and change all the weird crappy css code it had stuck in there (which is what messes things up so much) to make the photos do what I wanted ... but, seeing I know about "3/5ths of 5/8ths of stuff all" about web design/css code/etc (and what I do know is stuff I have learnt by messing around with things I probably shouldn't have), I might have missed something and it might all go screwy again when I post it - LOL

btw - talking about "screwy" - here is a hat I made last year - with a plastic spider on it!



I made it to wear to that "Garden Tea Party" textile art exhibition ... and maybe other places, now that I have it ... although I am sure if I wore it somwhere Mum could see it she would walk on the other side of the street!
(btw - photo is not that good - the light stuff got washed out - the snake actually has some green on it and the other white stuff is actually some crochet stuff ... one day I might remember to try and take a better photo - maybe put the hat on something instead of just holding it in my hand at "arm's length" for the photo)

Anyway ... this post is getting Awfully long (but I guess those who don't like spiders stopped reading ages ago, if they even started - lol) 
Also - I noticed I have Actually missed the deadline to put this in the linky thingy for ABC Wednesday ... Again ...
but - seeing I still have more spider photos, And Also intend to take even more, I might do Another Arachnid (or Arthropod?) post in About 6 months time - when we Are up to the letter A Again ...

Oh - I Almost forgot - the Arachnid links I said I was going to put down here!

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/Spidaus.html - a good spider ID website I was told about by someone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachnid - good starting point if you want to know about Arachnids ... Also - An interesting picture on the right hand side - a page from a book - which I have a copy of saved on my computer - it is Available on the Project Gutenberg website - I downloaded it because i thought it might be really good for design ideas/inspiration for quilts/embroidery/etc ... or just because it is interesting ;-)
er ... I suppose I should include a link to that? - hmmm maybe I didn't download it - can't find it where I would have put it - I probably just printed it and filed it away with all my other weird arty/crafty/quilty patterns I collect ;-)
(can't seem to find it on the project gutenberg site either ... but there seemed to be a few other places, in the search results from google, that had it ... or at least part of it)

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Spiders/ - more intersting spider info (including stuff about the Tasmanian cave spiders)

http://thomasshahan.com/photos - Amazing spider photos ... I think I want this guys camera! LOL
he has links on there (might have to hit the "home" button and go to his main page - worth it just to see the cute picture on there ;-) to his flickr photostream (wow!), and his youtube videos (even more wow!), and some other odd stuff - lol 
There is also a selection of some of his best photos here - http://triggerpit.com/2011/01/02/bug-close-up-beautiful-spider-photos-by-shahan/ (someone sent me that link on Facebook - that is how I found his website/etc - lol)

And if you go to my youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/aykayem - and look down near the bottom of the page - there are currently 3 4 other youtubers who I am subscribed to - and 2 3 of them were becasue of their videos of spiders and other similar things ;-)
(the crossing out  and corrections were because I have also just subscribed to the one I mentioned above ... not sure why I didn't do that when I found it the other night ... thought I had actually ... but I guess not ... must be old age? (or computer glitches? ... or just brain glitches? lol)


Also ... now that it is after Midnight  ...

A: I should be posting my B post About now rather than still doing my A one ...

and ...

B: it is Australia Day ... so Bung another Banger on the BBQ and I will try to Be a Bit sooner with my B post ...
(But don't get too excited ... I do have other things to do in my life Besides Blogging so I might not actually get that one done in time either - sigh)

Yucky?

Yes ... time for a letter Y post for ABC Wednesday ... Yes - this might actually be sort of on time (if I finish it today, that is).
I was tossing up wondering what I should post about ... noticed I had already done one called "Yikes ..." kind of want to do something with spiders in it (kind of related to some fun I have been having on faceobook - putting spiders in my profile picture, and posting status updates with links to spider websites ;-)   and the profile picture I have up there at the moment is a golden orb spider, which has a Yellow web - so maybe I could do one about Yellow stuff? ... [Andrea starts rummaging around in my photos looking for more orb spiders and other yellow stuff] ... hmm found a few Yellow flowers and I have a Yellow dog ... but there are already photos of those on my blog ... but I found a few Yucky things I have taken photos of - I know ... seeing most people don't like spiders, or some of the other stuff I like taking photos of - how about I do a "Yucky" post - and put a whole pile of gross stuff all in the one post and get it out of my system? lol

so ... in no particular order ... here we go ... a bunch of Yucky photos I took last Year:

A Huntsman of some sort::



I think it was on the wall outside the back door (can't remember offhand, but the background looks like the outside wall of our house)

A garden orb weaver that I found while walking the dog one evening:


actually I think I nearly walked IN to that web while taking a photo of the tree!
I also have photos of these in the back yard ... again - nearly walked into one of them when it built its web on the hills hoist (clothes line)


A soggy wet worm:



on the path somewhere during one of the lots of rain we have had recently.

A soggy wet dog - having a good old time, in the water that was running down the floodway in the rain:



he was actually playing one of his favourite games - fetching rocks/stones we threw INTO the water!

A spider on my hairy arm:



I found this when tidying up on/under my desk at work, picked it up and then realised it wasn't a daddy long legs ... so I looked for it on a spider website I found last night, and discovered it is a spitting spider!
fascinating spiders those - http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/Scytodidae/Scytodidae.htm

Dried up cow poo in a paddock:



taken while walking the dog a couple weeks ago.


Dead things in spiders web:


taken in the same paddock as the cow poo.

Spiky spider in a spiky weed:


this was the owner of the dead dragonfly in the previous photo ;-)
I am not sure what it is - went looking on that spider website ( http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/Spidaus.html ) and found that it is probably some species of orb or wheel weaving spider ... and ended up LOL @ a newly described genus called ... Backobourkia (I wonder if that is where they found it? - "Back o' Bourke" is an Australian expression for any place that is way out in the middle of nowhere ;-)


Soggy wet mud where i had just spent the night camping:


yes - that blue tarp was where I had just been sleeping - I woke up, carefully climbed out of my swag, packed it, and my pillow/quilt/etc up on the table with my other gear, and took this photo - and the only thing that got wet was my feet, the water bottle and flip flops (thongs/jandals/whatever else you call those things) beside it, and that blue tarp! - I had managed (not sure how after half a dozen beers ;-) to find the ONE spot in the tend that was about 1mm higher ground than the rest of the ground in there! ... but if I had woken up about 10 minutes later I probably would have got wet because the water kept running in. This was the Sunday morning of the big 4WD show out at Queanbeyan in about Febuary last year - it kind of got rained out ... this was one of the things I was going to post about for the letter F ... but kind of didn't get time.

half disected hearts in a science class at the school I work at:


one of the less mangled ones, where you can actually see the valve and stuff like they were supposed to - some of the students mucked around (as usual) and kind of ended up with diced mush ...
Another spider ...
with a packed lunch?


and I didn't notice until I was looking at the photo deciding if I wanted to put it here - the spiders bundle of food looks like it has maggots crawling out of it! - so of course I had to put it here in my YUCKY post!
Most people go to the beach and look at waves and shells etc - I take photos of spider webs on the rocks!


this was in the middl of the year when DH and I went to Tasmania. (I also took photos of the water and the sand and shells and stuff)

Also taken on the Tasmania holiday - my bowl of miso soup going all curldy and weird looking:



Miso soup seems to do that ... actually made some quite interesting patterns at times. When I first tasted it I thought it was a bit Yucky ... kind of tasteless and weird ... so, I figured I might see if putting some wasabi in it made it taste better - it sure did - YUM!  (Miso soup is now one of my favourite foods ... but only if I have some wasabi to put in it ;-)

again ... go to the beach and take photos of ... Yucky old seaweed and slimy foam?!


well ... I liked what it looked like!
(that was some beach in Tasmania too - it was evening and DH sat in the hotel room reading a book or something and I went for a walk on the beach in the dark ... slopping around in the wet sand/etc as the tide went out ;-)


er - I only got through about half of my "2010" folder of photos - but I think that might be enough for one blog post!

... and I only used SOME of the photos of spiders and caterpillars and mud and stuff that I have - I found so many spider photos that I may have to do Arachnids for my A post! ... and I could do one for Insects and Mud and Prickles and Caterpillars ... but I might have to start doing some nice ones too - like Art and Crochet and Beads ... and I guess You are all wishing I had done Yarn for my Y post! (I might have if I had actually thought of that before now - LOL)

if you want more "yucky" stuff - go to that spider website ...
or maybe visit the what not to crochet website - lots of yucky stuff there! (ditto whith a few of those other "what not to ..." type websites)

hmmmm ... just did a search on amazon - and there are a LOT of books about Yucky stuff! - In fact there are a whole pile of them: Search Amazon.com for yucky or ... Search Amazon.com for spiders 


ok - time to post this before I have to do my usual and say "I WAS going to post this Yesterday but ..." (and then still not post it until it is a week, or even a year, later - lol)