Saturday, June 27, 2015

A Saturday Spider Story...!

Remember the days of the Saturday night horror movies? Many of them had some scary spiders and such, right?

Well, sometimes Mother Nature can go one better than the old movie monsters. That's where this guy comes in.

Darwin’s Bark Spider


Photo credit: Ingi Agnarsson, Matjaž Kuntner, Todd A. Blackledge

 This next spider hails from the island of Madagascar, one of the richest hot spots of plant and animal diversity in the world. The Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini), officially discovered in 2009 but known about since early 2000, is no exception to this rule. It is to date the only spider in the world that builds its web systems over bodies of water like rivers and small lakes.

 While that alone makes it unique, this spider also makes the biggest orb web of any single spider known to science. Some Darwin’s bark spiderwebs stretch to cover an area of 3 square meters (30 ft2). The web’s strength has been described as about 10 times stronger than kevlar body armor. This would make this particular spiderweb the toughest biological substance to date. This incredibly impressive specimen earned the right to be named in honor of Charles Darwin on the 200th anniversary of On The Origin of Species.

I don't think I'm ready to know that a spider big enough to hang a web across a creek or small lake may be out there waiting for me. Maybe I'll stick to the old fashioned movie monsters, ya know?

Coffee out on the patio this morning, OK?
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5 comments:

  1. ChickenmomJune 27, 2015 at 6:24 AM

    There must be a reason for those critters, but I have never figured out what it ever was.

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  2. Dizzy-DickJune 27, 2015 at 9:08 AM

    I suppose that they catch small birds and big bugs. And a frog or two and fish that jump a little too high? Nature never ceases to amaze and amuse me.

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  3. JOJune 27, 2015 at 9:11 AM

    Very creepy but interesting all the same. I just know with all these people going there most of these species will vanish. Yea I know its all in the name of science.

    Coffee on the patio sounds good.

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  4. HermitJimJune 27, 2015 at 11:12 AM

    Hey Phyllis...
    If you find out, let me know. I haven't figured out what good they are either!

    Thanks for the visit this morning!



    Hey Dizzy...
    I figure it has to be something like that. If they could catch 'skeeters that would be great!~

    Thjanks for stopping by today!



    Hey Jo...
    Scary about says it all. I don't want to see one!

    Thanks for coming over today!

    ReplyDelete
  5. MamahenJune 27, 2015 at 11:25 AM

    Wow! I think i'll pass on seeing that guy...patio is good..i'm on my way :))

    ReplyDelete