January 3rd, 2007
our new year’s house guest
On New Year’s eve, Don found this small ground spider (Gnaphosidae) in the kitchen. To be more specific, he tells me that it ran onto his hand while he was helping himself to a chocolate truffle (don’t kid yourself… spiders know a good truffle when they see one). He brought the spider to me to examine and photograph. It’s not unusual to find Parson spiders (Herpyllus ecclesiasticus) running around the house in winter, but on closer examination of the photo, it looks like this was actually Sergiolus montanus. I’ve previously found them in the garden, but not indoors. This is a species page on them from the Nearctic Spider Database, with a photo of one that was found and photographed in my garden in April.
By the way, lest it sound like our house is overrun with spiders, that not entirely the case. While there are a few hanging about, this is not exactly what one might call a spider metropolis. To visit the true mecca spiders, one must venture out into the Spider Ranch part of the gardens in summer.
Tags: Sergiolus montanus, Gnaphosidae
January 4th, 2007 at 3:18 am
That must be a good luck omen or something.
Maybe good luck for me that I didn’t find it crawling across my hand!
;-)
I have some sort of a little spider that keeps me company (lol) in my cubicle at work. Usually I find it when I water my plants, but every so often it ventures onto my keyboard.
January 4th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Mommeeey! Just kidding:0) “What’s That Bug” actually posted my picture of a marbled orb weaver on their blog. I was so pleased. Still, it’s a little tough for me to be as relaxed as you and Don about spiders waving hello from the counter top.