not so itsy-bitsy

[piranha]

this is my "pet" spider. zie's been making zir web behind my nightstand lamp for more than 6 months now. how silly is it that i have taken to catching flies for zir, now that it is winter and only the ones in the composter survive?

[ETA: thanks to beaq i now know what species this is: araneus diadematus, female. it's a common garden spider, not so common inside.]

Comments

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

I had a pet spider in one apartment--it lived quite well, I now blush to admit, on cockroaches. When I did finally have the apartment sprayed & sprayed, I put the spider outside to live (that was in North Carolina).

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

see, my flist is so nice. :) you put spiders outside before spraying!

[huashan.livejournal.com]

Excellent spider picture! My jumpers always stay up on the wall so I never get a good chance to take pictures of them.

[beaq.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've ever seen an orb weaver inside.

orb weaver!

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

ah, that's what it is -- to be precise, araneus diadematus, female, and yeah, apparently a garden spider.

it's not really that surprising that it is inside -- we have bindweed coming in from the outside, and all kinds of insects -- clearly nature thinks the shack is pretty much ready to be taken over.

thanks! i know extremely little about spiders. this one is fascinating to watch; she does a lot of interesting things, like eat her own web complete with small insect carcasses. and she is so FAST when something gets caught in the web. and of course the web building; awesome. i wonder how long she'll live. it's not like she's gonna mate inside.

[suzimoses.livejournal.com]

Not looking, not looking.

I'm glad they have someone who isn't me to love them.

suzi