Insects, arachnids, and the like...

[BarovSoap]

My Polish friend collect tarantulas.

[PiturcaClaudiuStef]

you learn so much new stuff in this thread

this should be named "discovery channel topic:insects"

[minespatch]

I remember when I went to a county fair and the handler let me hold a tarantula. Kind of shocking that their fur is actually natural fiber-glass.

[Stonetribe]

On 11/5/2016 at 11:12 PM, Battal said:

We actually found a preying mantis on our farm once.  It was big enough to take up an entire glass jar. 

Yeah, Praying Mantis's can grow pretty large compared to most insects. It really adds to their charm. 

[BarovSoap]

On 07/11/2016 at 5:06 PM, minespatch said:

I remember when I went to a county fair and the handler let me hold a tarantula. Kind of shocking that their fur is actually natural fiber-glass.

The rosehair tarantula has a defense in which it uses its rear legs to flick hairs off of its back, causing a tingling red sensation on the skin and giving it enough time to run away. This is also where it gets the name.

[Stonetribe]

22 minutes ago, BarovSoap said:

The rosehair tarantula has a defense in which it uses its rear legs to flick hairs off of its back, causing a tingling red sensation on the skin and giving it enough time to run away. This is also where it gets the name.

Yes! This is known as Urticating Hairs and there are other species of tarantula that do it as well. It can irritate the skin, but it's about five times worse if it gets caught into your eyes or the back of your throat. In fact, I think it could be argued that one would rather be bitten by a tarantula than to get hit with a face full of hairs.

[Stonetribe]

While we're on the topic of tarantulas, this seems as good a time as any for this next thing I have planned. This being a thread about bugs, spiders will obviously come up fairly often. Out of all the creepy crawlies though, spiders are generally one of the most, if not the most, feared and disliked. Now it's important to note that there is nothing wrong with being afraid of spiders. Their appearance can easily be intimidating with all those legs, and the feeling of having a spider or insect crawling on your skin is incredibly distinct and unnerving. But it is also important, perhaps even more so, to acknowledge the fact that spiders could hardly be considered dangerous and fear them for that reason. While the first two reasons are certainly still a factor, the vast majority of people fear spiders because they think they can and want to do them bodily harm. This couldn't be further from the truth though. So before my first highlight on a spider, this is going to be more of a education rant about the many reasons of why a spider does not want to bite a human and why they pose a near nonexistent threat to us compared to what many believe. I'd like to mention that in my mind, I literally go over this speech at least once a week. I am 100% serious when I say that, so I really hope this comes out decent enough on my first time typing it out.

 

So let's see, where to start? I suppose it would be good to go over a few things first. An important thing to keep in mind while reading this is that spiders are smarter than most people would think. By that I don't mean that they're actually really intelligent. (which isn't to say that they can't be, jumping spiders in particular have been observed behaving in ways that would suggest that they are smarter than the average arachnid) What I mean is that they have some degree of basic common sense and survival instinct. Most all animals do, and spiders are no exception. If they didn't, they almost certainly wouldn't be around today because they'd have long been extinct. So what do instincts cover? Well, one of the most universal rules of thumb in nature is that big things eat little things. It's not the case 100% of the time of course, but there's no denying that the majority of a predator's diet consists of prey smaller than they are. Spiders are fully aware of this. Granted, they aren't (usually) a meal sought out by people, but nearly all of the reasons why spiders are not dangerous or aggressive to humans stem from the fact that we are much, much, larger than they are.

 

Just because we are so massive compared to them, it takes nearly zero effort for a person to kill a spider. Many would prefer the aid of a rolled up newspaper or a tissue to avoid the mess sure, but when it comes down to it it's as simple as putting our foot or hand down. With one swift motion, a spider can do nothing to retaliate. This is why when confronted with something as big as a human, a spider will desperately want to run away rather than try to fight back. Biting a person is the absolute last thing that nearly any spider would want to do for a multitude of reasons. For starters, biting would only serve to alert us to the spider's presence and the fact that they tried to hurt us. If a rabbit sees a wolf, the first thing that goes through it's mind isn't to run up to it and start gnawing on it's leg. The first thing it will want to do is get as far away as it can. How often do you think birds or rabbits will let us walk right up to them and just pick them up? Scarcely. Perhaps the most well known example of this is the dodo bird, commonly one of the first things that comes to mind when you think of extinct animals. Disregarding their poor ability to escape even if they did, it is widely believed that the very reason the dodo bird went extinct was because it did not fear and try to run from humans and other predators. Speaking of going extinct, many people believe that their fear of spiders is a natural one. That allowed our caveman ancestors to survive. This however, also isn't the case. It's the opposite really. See, if our ancestors jumped around shrieking every time they encountered a spider, they would not have been able to successfully hunt without scaring of prey, resulting in them starving. No, arachnophobia is largely a learned fear. Humans are more likely to become fearful of something when they see others being fearful of it, especially when at a young age.

 

I'm not a psychologist though so let's get back to spiders, (not that I'm an arachnologist either) Spider's aren't as defenseless as the flightless dodo. Thanks to their fangs, webs, and venom, they are well equipped to be successful predators. Like mentioned above though, big things generally eat little things. So while these weapons that spiders have at their disposal are effective at dispatching the intended prey that they were designed for, they are largely futile when used with the intention of doing harm to something like a human being. Let's start with the venom, as that's easily what frightens people the most. Well, the simple fact of the matter is that though it is sufficient at incapacitating creatures smaller than the spider, most all species of spider venom is neither potent enough, nor delivered in a large enough quantity, to cause any kind of serious harm in remotely healthy human beings. The only kind of case where it can be an issue is when the bite victim is extremely young, extremely old, or is vulnerable due to certain similar allergic reactions like bee stings and even then it's an easily treated injury. Hell even in Australia , a place where (Along with free healthcare) the local spiders do tend to possess stronger venom than other spiders, (Which remember, is a pretty low bar to begin with) there hasn't been a single confirmed spider bite death (Baring one possible case earlier this year where it is unclear whether an antivenom was even applied) since 1979. When you compare that to the frequency of fatalities associated with the things we do everyday like say, riding in an automobile, the notion that spiders are deadly would seem laughable.

 

It doesn't stop there though. Let's talk about the probability of a spider biting you in the first place and how rare that even happening is. Like mentioned above, a spider will almost always try to run away rather than fight back. While the odds are unlikely, it does happen some times. This is most always when the spider is physically unable to get away and feels that it has absolutely no other options than to bite in hopes it can make us move enough so that he can make it's escape. In this study, spiders have been observed to hesitate to bite even in this kind of scenario. It might surprise you that most spider bites aren't even from actual spiders, but instead misdiagnosed and falsely attributed to them. Further more, in the rare event that a spider does bite something as large as a human, it's likely that they won't even inject any venom, known as a dry bite. Why a spider would do this is actually interesting and one of the lesser known facts on why we have little reason to fear spiders. It concerns how spider venom is produced. It's not something that most people think about, but many would guess that venom is like saliva, something that a spider just always has and can use any time. This is certainly not the case though. Venom isn't just a tool at the spider's disposal, it's a resource, a valuable, expensive resource. Venom is produced in venom glands, and it takes both time and energy to make. Seeing as how they have much shorter lifespans than us, time is much more important to spiders. When they use their venom, they definitely want to use it on food so that the can get back a net gain of the energy needed to make it. Venom is needed to incapacitate prey, so if it's wasted on a human, (which as we've established does very little to stop us in the first place) they not only risk not having it ready the next chance they get to catch food, but they risk not having to energy to run away from danger or use the venom against something where it actually would make a difference, like say another hungry spider.

 

Alright, I think that's about it. Sorry to write such a big wall of text, but I feel very strongly about this topic. This is exactly the kind of factual reading that I think can really help someone start to overcome the omnipresent fear of spiders. If spiders give you the creeps, I hope that reading this makes you feel just more comfortable, even by the slightest amount.

[Mobbstar]

8 hours ago, Stonetribe said:

spiders are smarter than most people would think

Yeah, that's how Peter Parker senses trouble!

8 hours ago, Stonetribe said:

it is widely believed that the very reason the dodo bird went extinct was because it did not fear and try to run from humans and other predators

I'm pretty sure dodo wasn't good food, compared to chicken or pig. If I recall correctly, they starved to death as the colonialist's livestock claimed all the wild food for themselves.

Spiders are useful at keeping flies and wasps out of the house, I heard.

[Stonetribe]

Right, that's another thing I should have mentioned. Not only do spiders do us no harm, but they improve human life every day by helping keep the critters that do pester us in check.

[PhelsarusBeel]

I'm fine with spiders for the most part. Never care when they are in my room really. Unless it's near my bed or similar cause I may like you but that doesn't mean I have to share my bed with you.

Also never kill them really. I just take an empty cup and a sheet of paper and catch them and release them outside.

The only thing I can't really stand is bigger spiders. I know they are harmless n all and I don't run away like someone with arachnophobia would but I'm still seni freaked out by spiders that can grow as large as my hand <.< Maybe I just need to interact more with those tho since those tend to be the rather exotic ones aka not common in Europe meaning unless in petshops or zoos I never see them.

[Stonetribe]

16 hours ago, Mr.P said:

I'm fine with spiders for the most part. Never care when they are in my room really. Unless it's near my bed or similar cause I may like you but that doesn't mean I have to share my bed with you.

Also never kill them really. I just take an empty cup and a sheet of paper and catch them and release them outside.

The only thing I can't really stand is bigger spiders. I know they are harmless n all and I don't run away like someone with arachnophobia would but I'm still seni freaked out by spiders that can grow as large as my hand <.< Maybe I just need to interact more with those tho since those tend to be the rather exotic ones aka not common in Europe meaning unless in petshops or zoos I never see them.

That's understandable. Going off appearance, it makes sense that the bigger hairier spiders would give someone more trouble than the smaller ones. It's good that you avoid squishing them too. That's another thing to be mentioned, if finding a spider in the house is too much for one to handle, then it's highly encouraged to escort them outside by placing a cup over them and sliding a piece of paper underneath. I know if might be harder for some people than others, but it's a big step towards overcoming a fear of spiders.

[Pyromailmann]

I don't like bugs.

I'd kill them if I got the chance.

[BarovSoap]

I found a thing, how precious

[minespatch]

I really love peacock spiders. They're just so cute.

[Stonetribe]

Oh how tempted I was to follow up my spider rant with some big hairy tarantula, but I managed to resist the urge. Let's look at the Happy Face Spider.

Before I continue, no this is not photoshopped. No, some dude did not paint on its abdomen. And yes, mother nature thought it would be hilarious to put a smiley face on a spider. The Happy Face Spider, (or HFS, for now on) is exclusively native to the Hawaiian islands of Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Maui and Hawaii itself. They only grow up to be 5 mm long, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you how you can identify them. They exhibit fairly standard spider behavior. They usually spin their webs on the underside of leaves and wait for an unsuspecting insect to become ensnared in it's trap. It will then proceed to wrap the victim in silk and eat it's innards. The most obvious source of interest is the HFS's peculiar pattern displayed on it's abdomen. Just like a snowflake, no two HFS patterns are alike. Some even lack the markings altogether. As to why these spiders were bestowed upon these curious markings is a bit of a mystery. The most probable solution scientists think is to confuse larger predators, such as birds. The only problem is that a smile isn't something that would usually deter a bird from choosing it as a meal.

My own personal theory, though certainly wrong, is that the markings aren't meant to prevent birds from harming them, but human beings instead. A young girl probably wouldn't feel any remorse stepping on a spider that crawled out from under her dresser. But if she were to come across a colorful spider with a goofy looking Happy Face on it, she might actually find it amusing and even want it to stick around.

[minespatch]

Reminds me of that crab with a face. Suede talked about it in his video:

Spoiler

 

Then there's that one spider portrayed in Yokai Watch I found interesting:

Spoiler

He mentions the spider towards the end. It makes sphere webs.

 

[BarovSoap]

4 hours ago, Stonetribe said:

This must have been the skulltula before it died

[Stonetribe]

Have some Earwigs!

Earwigs can be found on almost every continent barring arctic regions and can be identified by their trademark forceps pincers. They're not particularly large insects, only growing as big as an inch or two. Although they posses wings, they hardly make use of them. Earwigs are nocturnal feeders and during the day, they prefer to hide in dark, damp and cool crevices. Most earwigs are scavengers, feeding on decaying organic matter, but some do exhibit predatory behaviors. Earwigs are also commonly epizoic, meaning that they live on other animals, most usually a mammal, and feed on various body secretions like sweat or skin/scalp flakes. If threatened, Earwigs will produce a foul smelling liquid in conjunction to flashing their rear pincers and attempt to pinch if it is continued to be disturbed. Intimidatingly appearing as they are, earwigs pose no threat humans. They do not transmit any diseases and even the bigger species's pincers can produce no more than a harmless clamp on you fingers. Even through all it's frightening features, female earwigs are one of the few insects (Not counting eusocial kinds like ants and termites) to display maternal care for there young. She will pay close attention to her eggs and keep them warm and well cleaned. She will also viciously defend them against any potential predators. When the time comes for the eggs to hatch, she will assist any nymphs that have trouble getting out of their casing. The nymphs will stay under the watchful eyes of their mother untill their second molt. During that time, the mother Earwig will feed her young regurgitated food.

The Earwig got it's name from an urban myth stating that earwigs had the tendency to crawl inside peoples ear and burrow into their brain. However, this is untrue as there is not a single report of an Earwig doing this. An Earwig may rarely crawl inside a humans ear, but will not go far and will soon exit the "cave" as it realizes ears make a poor place to hide during the day.

[minespatch]

There were a ton of these around my house in california. I would keep some as pets.

[Mobbstar]

I thought insect are cold-blooded. How come the mother tries to keep the eggs warm then?

Also, do silverfish actually make these sounds?

Spoiler

 

Cody used game sounds in this, but it got me wondering

[Stonetribe]

4 hours ago, Mobbstar said:

I thought insect are cold-blooded. How come the mother tries to keep the eggs warm then?

Also, do silverfish actually make these sounds?

  Hide contents

 

Cody used game sounds in this, but it got me wondering

When an animal is cold blooded, it means that it can't produce body heat on it's own and must rely on the surrounding temperatures. This results in them being more susceptible to the cold than warm blooded animals. I'd imagine that earwigs warm their eggs by moving them to a new location but I might want to look into it a bit more.

As for silverfish, I wouldn't recall reading that they produce any kind of sound, though I can't say for sure.

[BarovSoap]

This one was nearly an inch in length! Also was bright multicolors, but its hard to see...

[PiturcaClaudiuStef]

18 hours ago, Stonetribe said:

Have some Earwigs!

Earwigs can be found on almost every continent barring arctic regions and can be identified by their trademark forceps pincers. They're not particularly large insects, only growing as big as an inch or two. Although they posses wings, they hardly make use of them. Earwigs are nocturnal feeders and during the day, they prefer to hide in dark, damp and cool crevices. Most earwigs are scavengers, feeding on decaying organic matter, but some do exhibit predatory behaviors. Earwigs are also commonly epizoic, meaning that they live on other animals, most usually a mammal, and feed on various body secretions like sweat or skin/scalp flakes. If threatened, Earwigs will produce a foul smelling liquid in conjunction to flashing their rear pincers and attempt to pinch if it is continued to be disturbed. Intimidatingly appearing as they are, earwigs pose no threat humans. They do not transmit any diseases and even the bigger species's pincers can produce no more than a harmless clamp on you fingers. Even through all it's frightening features, female earwigs are one of the few insects (Not counting eusocial kinds like ants and termites) to display maternal care for there young. She will pay close attention to her eggs and keep them warm and well cleaned. She will also viciously defend them against any potential predators. When the time comes for the eggs to hatch, she will assist any nymphs that have trouble getting out of their casing. The nymphs will stay under the watchful eyes of their mother untill their second molt. During that time, the mother Earwig will feed her young regurgitated food.

The Earwig got it's name from an urban myth stating that earwigs had the tendency to crawl inside peoples ear and burrow into their brain. However, this is untrue as there is not a single report of an Earwig doing this. An Earwig may rarely crawl inside a humans ear, but will not go far and will soon exit the "cave" as it realizes ears make a poor place to hide during the day.

 

 

 

they also said other rumours:that they lay eggs there in the brain of the humans and that's why i was always afraid of them when i was little,also that they can kill you if they lay eggs there