Science topic

Spiders - Science topic

Arthropods of the class ARACHNIDA, order Araneae. Except for mites and ticks, spiders constitute the largest order of arachnids, with approximately 37,000 species having been described. The majority of spiders are harmless, although some species can be regarded as moderately harmful since their bites can lead to quite severe local symptoms. (From Barnes, Invertebrate Zoology, 5th ed, p508; Smith, Insects and Other Arthropods of Medical Importance, 1973, pp424-430)
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I need to know about storing conditions as well
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I am trying to find a stain(dye) that might help identify spider silk but nothing clear at the moment. Does your department or another department do a variety of tissue staining? If so, I can suggest somethings to try.
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Edible Spider and Cultural Brief
I have been looking for Articles discussing Edible Spiders?
Any recommendation
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I recommend this search (below) of Scholar . google for some articles (avoid the spider crab articles). Some of us have some 'observations' or examples that it would be nice to put into some article.
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Why the surface of electrospun fiber membrane be easily peeled off like a spider web, and layered with the fiber membrane below ? The polymer is PAN, the solvent is DMF, with a concentration of 12% and a receiving distance of 12cm. Is it because of high humidity?
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increase the concentration up to 15%, thickness is also low(increase it) and after collecting dry in a vacuum oven
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Is there a list of the spider families in which are absent cheliceral teeth and/or serrula?
I know that some families lack of chericeral teeth (e.g. Thomisidae) or serrula (e.g. Zodariidae) but a complete list would be useful. I tried by using keys, but these features many times are not cited because they are not a strictly taxonomic key (except for some cases, such as Gnaphosidae).
Thanks in advance
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Dear Emanuele,
For most established, older families, you can easily find reference in Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman (2007). https://www.africamuseum.be/sites/default/files/media/docs/research/publications/rmca/online/zoology-documentation/spider-families_of_the_world.pdf
For newer families not included in their work, or subfamilies which have since been elevated, you should try to consult the works that elevated/described these families. If not present in those works, you might like to try contacting the authors of those works directly. If you get stuck with any of the newer Mygalomorphae families you can email me, I'll try to help as I've examined representatives of almost all extant families of mygalomorphs. It's also very important you check circumscriptions of any families which recently underwent extensive revisionary work.
In some taxa, it's very obvious - such as Theraphosidae where cheliceral teeth counts are included in many descriptions (thereby present), and only a handful of genera have maxillary serrula (example: Plesiophrictus), this being the exceptional character state.
Best wishes,
Danni
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Recently, I published two new spider species in Forests and registered two new species in Zoobank after the paper was published.
However, the World Spider Catalog currently contains the following. https://wsc.nmbe.ch/refincluded/17040
  • Jang, C. M., Yoo, J. S., Kim, S. T. & Bae, Y. S. (2023). Rocky area inhabiting daddy long-legs spiders, Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Pholcidae) in mountainous mixed forests. Forests 14(538): 1-8. [N.B.: this is an electronic journal and the Zoobank registration is missing, see ICZN Article 8.5.3; therefore the two described species are not valid.] doi:10.3390/f14030538
  • Pholcus deokjeok: 3, f. 2a-j (mf, nomen nudum, Zoobank registration in this electronic journal is missing, see ICZN Article 8.5.3)
  • Pholcus gangneung: 5, f. 3a-j (mf, nomen nudum, Zoobank registration in this electronic journal is missing, see ICZN Article 8.5.3)
I knew what regulations I violated. Since this journal is an electronic journal, it should have been registered and specified before publication or in publication.
I want to reinstated zoological nomen nudum (invalid name) to be valid. But I don't know the procedure how to solve this.
While writing a simple paper with a list format, I want to know if I register these two new species in Zoobank again, simply present the LSID number (newly registered number, not original), and explain why it became nomen nudum by giving the rev. stat., stat. revalid., or sp. revalid. with species name.
I would greatly appreciate it if someone could let me know if there is anything I can do to make these two species as valid species not a nomen nudum.
I look forward to someone's positive response.
Thanks for reading.
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Dear Chang-Moon,
You need to publish the descriptions and illustrations in full again and register the new publication in Zoobank, whilst also following all other criteria in the ICZN for electronic publications. Contrary to the above post, you cannot refer to the illustrations in the previous publication because it is not available for the purposes of zoological nomenclature.
Kind Regards,
Danniella Sherwood
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I can't take good pictures of the cheliceral denticles if the hairs are present.
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Hello Victor; Try gently rubbing the side of an insect pin across the surface. That might remove enough of the hairs. Try it first on a species that you have more than one of! Best regards, Jim Des Lauriers
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  1. Which of the following is not a natural predator of BPH ?
(a) Bugs
(b) Red ants
(c) Spiders
(d) All of the above
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Red ants
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A house located in a city centre with a large garden that is full of all types of spiders of all colors brown, bland, black, brown, green yellow .... very large Small and medium .. I have 2 questions please:
-- first how all these guys can come to this garden (knowing it was empty for 10 years). --- secondly how we can eliminate these spiders because it comes home especially in the period from the end of August until the month of September.
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you are experiencing a spider infestation in your home or garden and would like to manage it, here are a few strategies you could consider:
  1. Remove clutter: Spiders often seek out cluttered areas to build their webs and hide in. Removing clutter and debris from your home and garden can help reduce spider populations.
  2. Seal up entry points: Check for any cracks, gaps, or holes in doors, windows, and walls that could be allowing spiders to enter your home. Seal up these entry points to prevent spiders from getting in.
  3. Use sticky traps: Sticky traps can be an effective way to catch spiders without harming them. Place the traps in areas where you have seen spiders or spider webs, and dispose of them regularly.
  4. Use natural repellents: Certain scents and essential oils, such as peppermint, eucalyptus, and vinegar, are known to repel spiders. Spraying these substances around your home and garden may help keep spiders away.
  5. Hire a pest control professional: If you are experiencing a severe spider infestation, you may want to consider hiring a professional pest control company
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I would like to ask about the depth of analysis for producing a paper on identification of species using DNA barcoding technique. For example, I have sampled 3 species of spiders in cave and extracted their gDNA, design COI primers, run PCR and managed to obtain their respective barcodes for species identification. The similarity precentage of all the sequences was between 99-100%. If the species could be determined after BLASTn search, do I still need to proceed for phylogenetic analysis or other relevant analysis? Is the data enough to produce a paper because many papers that I have referred include a number of in depth analysis. Please enlighten on this. Thank you.
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The fewer data you can use, the better; then your paper will be more elegant and enlightened :)
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I have DNA sequences of the same gene of two similar looking spiders. Pairwise distance between these sequences is 3.5%. Is this difference enough to consider these spiders of two different species? What should be the minimum percent difference between two DNA sequences in order to be considered of two different species?
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Hi dear,
First of all it would be helpful if you mentioned the gene name.
In case of invertebrate species identification we generally go for mitochondrial COI gene as it is recognised as the gold standard for species identification of all eukaryotes since 2003 as well as 18s rDNA also. For COI we generally consider that if the COI sequences from two individual shows 97-100% similarity between themselves and also with the COI of a perticular species submitted in NCBI-GenBank, then we can say that the two individuals indicate same species and the species is that perticular one with which they showed 97-100% similarity in GenBank. You can also check the species similarity in BOLD (Barcode Of Life) database also. It is a straight forward case.
You should also go for some other analyses also like you have to form NJ tree with the sequences of various spider species, here based on the clusters you'll get an idea whether they are same or not. If the two sequences present in the same cluster, then they are belonging to same species. You should go for other trees as well.
And regarding pairwise genetic distance which you have mentioned here, is not constant, it depends on the taxa you considered in your study. For a perticular taxa you should find out the threshold i.e the minimum interspecific genetic distance using Kimura-2-parameter (K2P) model, if the calculated genetic distance between the two spider individual is beyond the threshold, then they should be considered as different species.
Along with the molecular analysis you have to choose minute morphological analysis also.
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I recent completed a study looking at insect diversity in a metal polluted landscape using pit traps. I am interested in specifically focusing on predatory insects and want to adjust my methods to collect primarily spiders and beetles. Does anyone have any suggestions that might allow me to collect large amounts of predators?
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Hello Paul; Every collecting method has its own biases.
1. Large diameter pitfall traps (more than 3 inches diameter) catch many spiders, solpugids, and other cursorial ground predators but are unlikely to catch dragonflies.
2. Beating sheets are effective in sampling foliage-gleaning insects...if you have quick hands.
3. Aerial nets would get odonata but the collecting effort is intense.
4. Aquatic predators...odonate nymphs, etc...require other kinds of nets or traps.
So, the suite of predatory functional groups you are interested in will dictate your choice of methods. What groups do you have in mind? Best regards, Jim Des Lauriers
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Good seeking capacity, a vast prey range, the large number of pests devoured in a lifetime, overwintering as an adult stage, and adaptations to different locations are all potential qualities of spiders that make them effective biocontrol agents. Recent agricultural trends have highlighted the importance of spider conservation in agro environments, positioning spiders as a viable natural pest control tool. How far have spiders been incorporated as a pest biocontrol agent and has it been successful and efficient?
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Yes.
Have a look at this useful RG link.
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Q1: In many articles on jadeite and jadeitite(Shi 2008,CÁRDENAS-PÁRRAGA2021, Meng 2016, Abduriyim2017, et al.), scholars draw spider diagram based on trace element data and REE from LA-CIP-MS. But the number of elements in the horizontal coordinate is often different. What is the principle on which this is selected?
Q2: When some of the results of the test are below the detection limit(bdl) , or the corresponding elements are not detected (nd), how should they be reflected in the diagram?
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Trace element abundance plots (spidergrams) are used to illustrate the rare earth element or mantle incompatible trace element contents of a sample. The order of trace elements is usually shown in the order of decreasing ionic radii. In the case of the REE, where the lighter elements such as La have the larger ionic radii (due to the lanthanide contraction with higher atomic numbers), the LREE are shown on the left and the HREE on the right part of the spidergram. Elements concentrations below detection limit cannot be plotted. The computer program plotting the spidergram usually interpolates their values between its neighboring elements.
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Hello colleagues
Is there a specific way to collect and calculate the density of spiders somewhere?
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Hello Azhar; Spiders are commonly sampled using pitfall traps. To collect larger species the traps diameter needs to be fairly large, perhaps larger than 10 cm diameter. This sampling method selectively focuses on ground-dwelling species. For web-spinning and arboreal species other methods need to be considered.
I'm acquainted with a spider specialist who might be able to provide some of his personal experience. David Bixler (bixlerpardosa@aol.com) specializes in wolf spiders. Tell him that I gave you this contact. Best regards, Jim Des Lauriers
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I have look for research paper about sample size of DNA Barcoding must not be less than 11 - 15. Is this apply for spider study as well since the spider genitalia are species-specific. How many samples should i do for this study?
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It depends on the question you are asking. If you are interested in systematics, than sample size is not really that important (certainly not in terms of statistical significance, or whatever). What you need is a sample of each taxon large enough to ensure that the character states you are observing are representative of the taxon and not of individual organisms.
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A question about the reason behind the predominance of spider nevi along the SVC's territory, exclusively!
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Spider angiomas (nevus araneus) are not vascular proliferations; they occur as a result of the dilation of preexisting vessels.
Mayby, due to positive pressure in SVC, and more distriution of estrogenes and other vasodilatation substance, in comparisson with negative presure in IVC.
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I have foud that it is quite difficult to collect spiders from dense grasslands, both using the "beating" method or the vacumm.
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Hello Julian; For ground foraging spiders, pitfall traps are widely used. Wide-mouthed traps (15 cm or more) are able to catch fast, agile species. The fluid used will depend on how frequently the traps are refreshed. Water or ethanol with a few drops of detergent work if the traps are visited daily. Propalene glycol evaporates slowly and is not toxic. Ethylene glycol doesn't evaporate but is toxic. Best regards, Jim Des Lauriers
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I need to present some data in a form of a Radar graph and I don't want to use excel and I need another software.
What is the best way of making this kind of chart that can be accepted academically?
Thank you for your help and software
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Hai,
Please help!!
I am doing a study on REE in some rivers.
To find the relative enrichment of LREE or HREE how should I do.
I did the normal calculation of Sum of LREE/sum of HREE and if the value is greater than 1 it LREE enrichment and Less than 1 HREE. However, I did this simple calculation in the Obtained concentration of data from ICP-MS and I am getting a High LREE enrichment.
The problem I am facing is this is not the case for a normalized pattern where if I do the above calculation it shows HREE enrichment and also the spider plot show the same. I also did some other ratio calculations with normalized data all showing HREE enrichment.
Which should I follow? the normalized data or non-normalized data to find the REE Enrichment of my water samples.
It would also be a kind gesture if anyone can provide me with the equation to calculate the REE enrichment for example for (La/Lu)PAAS.
thank you for your kind consideration
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What you're looking for are normalised values. Naturally occurring LREE are almost always more abundant than HREE simply because of their greater average abundance in the crust.
What you want is to see whether the LREE are enriched even more than the usual overabundance over the HREE. You do this, as you said, by normalisation.
You can get good PAAS numbers for normalisation here:
Note that they use ppm (μg/g), so your units needs to be the same, in case you have them reported as mol/mL or something similar.
Because you're looking at water samples, you might have tetrad effects and Ce/Eu anomalies so you might want to look at the method described here:
And the associated app:
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We try to freeze mating web spiders using liquid nitrogen, but they always separate, even before the liquid falls on them. They are tiny spiders (-2 mm) of the Pholcidae family. Among the options we have already tested are:
1)Cutting off part of the web where they copulate decreases the ability to sense the liquid as it fell.
2)Remove the web completely.
3)Using a funnel and a hose so that the nitrogen vapor does not disturb the mating pair and at the same time direct the nitrogen in a more precise way
4)Throw the nitrogen as fast as possible on the mating pair
However, we were unsuccessful. What recommendations can you give us?
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I have used CO2 to numb roaches and take pictures and measurements. I have never done it during copulation, or in spiders, but with insects it gives very good results. Perhaps you can use a combination of both techniques so that the couple does not disengage.
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I am looking at doing an honours research project on Dolomedes tenebrosus. It would involve marking them with paint in the field, but there are no resources that I can find explaining the proper handling and no one in my area has done research on them before. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!
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Alyssa, Do you need to identify each as a separate individual or just as a member of the group? Do you collect/observe them during the day or at night? Fluorescent powders work to mark many individuals as a group, but I think I have five different colors so could mark that many individual spiders to be recognized. When more individuals need to be identified, most people use paint dots in a pattern. Have you found references to these studies? With both of these methods, the markings can 'fade' but I have also considered trying to mark with internal fluorescent vital stains, but do not know if it would be possible with a spider as large as this Dolomedes.
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I want to use a fluorescence microscope to observe in situ the venom gland of a cleared spider using a 488 nm laser. Any recommendation on what dye to use that would be particularly attached to the venom sac or anything around it? Thank you
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I might suggest trying Acridine Orange. A recent review of uses might give you some ideas of what it shows and how it might be used.
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I think due to the use of insecticides and the shortage of males they will die out.
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Dear All. I stop answering in all my Questions. Wish you all good luck.
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I'm currently developing a project looking at instances of cultural and symbolic violence towards nature, whether this creates/contributes to stigma, and how it compares to, or causes, physical violence (i.e farming of livestock, crushing insects due to fear). Particularly interested in snakes and spiders as used to symbolise an evil, violent, or manipulative trait in a human, or other sentient antagonistic force in a piece of fiction.
Seeking to answer questions such as:
Is our use of certain creatures to represent these things in any way unethical?
What does symbolic violence towards 'strange' creatures indicate about our tendencies to do this with differential prejudice towards humans? And is challenging symbolic violence towards living creatures necessary on all levels to combat it between human groups?
So, does anyone have recommendations for reading on this? And, are there any available studies analysing the impact of nature representation on societal approach to specific animals?
Thanks,
Connor
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Interesting that in the film based on Hermann Hesse's novel, Siddhartha, it is a cobra which kills Siddhartha's beloved wife, though snakes were considered holy and wise in some versions of theology. Also interesting is that the Rod of Asclepius- Ράβδος του Ασκληπιού - emblem of healing for medicine is a snake (not to be confused with the caduceus which also has a positive connotation as the staff of Hermes). The myth of Tiresias has him changing genders when he strikes and wounds snakes as they are mating, and then switches back with the when he witnesses them again seven years later-- all this leading to him being blinded by Hera when he reports on which gender more enjoys sexual pleasure. Snakes were autochthonous- "sprung from the earth" - much as Athena sprang from Zeus's thigh. They had wisdom. Obviously also snakes and dragons as well as rats are somewhat revered or at least respected in Chinese astrology, since all 3 creatures have zodiacal years. The moral of all this may be that it is an ill wind that blows no good and that, as with humans, there are powerfully positive and negative individuals in all species. Cross-cultural influences shared by ancient Hindu, Greek and Egyptian mythology (Hermes Trismegistus) may have many antecedents in earlier Mesopotamian mythology as well- the caduceus may have originated with the Sumerian god Ningishzida, god of the underworld and the autochthonous vegetation which sprang.therefrom. By the way, lest anyone be under the delusion that I knew all this before I started writing, I owe huge thanks to Wikipedia for all but Hesse's novel and the myth of Tiresias. I confused the caduceus with the rod of Ascepius like many others in the USA, including health organizations who use the caduceus with its two snakes rather than the rod with its single snake and is entwined around a more primitive staff.
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Spider plots (aka spaghetti plots) are usually used in oncology trials to "illustrate" the behavior of a continuous variable (y axis) measured over time (x axis) according to a group (usually RECIST criteria, as shown in the figures).
What is the best way of making this kind of chart?
Which software should I use ?
Any R script?
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Please let me recommend our poster:
Listing 5 shows how to create a plot if you have many panels and you want to use well-balanced and easy-to-distinguish colors and symbols to denote panels.
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Spider is generalist predator on many pests spp. especially BPH, WBPH, gall midge grubs, stem borer etc., infesting paddy. Many farmers are spraying different pesticides for each pest continuously with an interval of 15-20 days mostly during tillering to panicle initiation stage. To reduce their no. of spray and to minimize the input cost, their is a need for such biological/ ecological engineering techniques, so please suggest.........your suggestions are utmost valuable to the farming community, thank you
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The farmers have rarely realized the importance of the biocontrol potential of spiders in the paddy ecosystem. They quickly apply insecticide as the first line of defense against insect pests. Because they offer immediate results. However, educating the farmers about ecosystem services offered by beneficial insect groups by ground-level workers found useful.
The following measures may be recommended for conservations:
1. Go for seedling dip ( chlorpyriphos @ 0.02% for 12-14 hours) method before transplanting paddy in the main field which offers protection against the aforesaid pests up to 30 days.
2. Advise farmers to use granular based insecticide for the management of insect pest (As granular insecticides are least harmful to the above-ground insects).
3. Advise the farmers to avoid movement in every row of paddy fields as it may destroy the spider web, instead, they may use the alley for any field operation.
4. Diverse natural or semi-natural habitats adjoining crop field as well as a more complex landscape structure containing comparatively undisturbed habitats, e.g. fallow fields, field margins, or hedgerows, can provide refuges or source habitats for various species of spiders (Care should be taken while leaving the plants in the hedges, as they may serve as an alternate host for multiple diseases).
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I am looking for information as to whether some insects (or spiders?) similar in pattern of colouration (red anteriorly, blackish posteriorly, white transverse bands) to some Cleridae (Clerus, Thanasimus) or female Mutillidae do occur on the Indochinese Peninsula? If possible, I would be very thankful for a picture or short description (only size, proportions, colouration)!
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There are some species of Bembidion (Coleoptera: Carabidae) with similar patterns in Indonesia. And of course Callimerus (Cleridae, potentially already included in your question). If the question is still valid I can try to dig out some images.
Best regards
Thies
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Hi everyone! What is the best way of marking a money spider with a body length of 1.6 - 2 mm. Using a non-toxic and odourless acrylic paint seems the best option so far, but how to apply it safely without harming a spider? Does anyone have experience? Any suggestions are appreciated.
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One of the methods used in the past is fluorescent powders. Getting some on the abdomen may mark them for a period of time, but you will be limited in the number of spiders you can have marked (based on recognizable colors) and you would need to darken the room (or work at night outside) to ID the individuals.
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I have spider plot of phosphate rock in which Tb is depleted. What will be the possible significance of such type depletion?
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Dear Rabah Kechiched
Thank you very much.
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Need help on verification of the scientific name of the spider.
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Yes, according to the morphological characteristics and pattern of coloration, your specimen agrees very well with Oxyopes macilentus. Compare with this picture.
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Dear Everyone!
I am looking for a pdf. version of the following paper:
SCHAWALLER, W. 1982. Spinnen der Familien Tetragnathidae und Dipluridae in Dominikanischem Bernstein (Stuttgarter Bernsteinsammlung: Arachnida, Araneae). Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturkunde, Ser. B, 79: 1–10.
Could anyone help me out with it?
Thank You!
Márton Szabó
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Dear colleagues,
I would like to measure the frequency of spider web vibration in my experiment. I'd like to use a laser doppler vibrometer. However, I am a student so it will be probably the most effective and economical to borrow this device somewhere.
I want to ask you if you know about a workplace (ideally Central Europe) where the device could be borrowed? Or do you know about other ways of measurement?
Many thanks
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It is a very interested question
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For example, will being familiar with a visual scene( e.g spider scene) affect my emotional response the next time i see that content. I want to measure human emotional response when a particular visual media is displayed on a TV and the same content on AR device.
I am trying to avoid familiarism bias in my study. Is there a paper to further explain this phenomenon?
Thanks
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It depends on what you mean by "scene" and how you define "emotional response," as well as how far apart the two presentations are (1 second, 10 minutes, 1 week?). Here are some articles regarding static images and physiological variables.
A study that measured heart rate response to AR spiders/roaches saw no changes in HR across 2 separate trials (1). However, this study was conducted on phobic individuals, who may show disrupted amygdala habituation (2).
In non-phobic individuals, the amygdala shows a "novelty response" and subsequent habituation to biologically relevant non-human stimuli, such as images of snakes (3). In that particular study, a similar effect was shown with skin conductance response (SCR). However, with both measures, you still see activation during repeated trials, which suggests that the stimuli are still evoking a response, just not as great as on the first presentation.
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The above information is put up in relation to a project on diversity of terrestrial spiders which use to spun golden colour. Any further input to the subject will be highly appreciated.
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Many thanks for your valuable input.
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We grow HHSTEC cells (human stellate cells) in our lab.
Recently we discovered this kind of fibers ("spiders") in our culture (T75). They appear in short forms or longer clusters.
What can this be?
Is this an infection?
Thanks for helping!
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Hi Renske,
It seems a filamentous fungus contamination. You could open new cells and check your medium.
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We really need help from a spider expert to verify our initial identification on the spiders we had collected.
The spiders were collected in the Philippines.
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Hi Elaizza, I am not an expert on spiders but I have been following the use of iNaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/ to see if it could be useful in getting help to identify marine invertebrates. It seems to be a great way to get expert opinion from around the world. Check it out! Ellen
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I am currently planning to undergo a project on spiders which use to spin yellow colour web only and hence I need an uptodate classification for proper identification of the species. Thanks for any cooperation.
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Thanks.highly appreciated.
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I am really in great need of experts for my unidentified spiders.
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Dear Esther, You should also tell from where you have collected your spiders.
Philippines?
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I'm trying to document the insects, spiders, etc that live in or visit my backyard habitat. The other day this creature (or two of them, maybe in mating postures) showed up in the yard on a stand of goldenrod, which hasn't bloomed yet here. Can anyone tell me what it (they) might be?
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I am thinking these are the appendages of some arthropod. I can't make out the white material but am wondering if the owner of these legs was infected with a fungus and the rest of the body has been eaten or has fallen away, leaving behind a few legs.
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Recently I took a photo of this whip spider in a northern peruvian cave (1000 metres above sea level). Could you please help me to identify the Genus and Family? Thank you very much.
Greatings from Peru.
Stefan
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If it's a Heterophrynus armiger, it could be the first record in Peru?:
What do you think José A. Ochoa ?
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Hello everyone,
I am developing a project to work with the Micrommata genus on males' coloration and in this regard, I have a question for you.
How does the typical habitus of mature formosa males look like?
I found pictures of specimens from Cyprus in which males show a cryptic coloration (light brown with dark brown longitudinal stripes), but unfortunately I couldn't see the pedipalps to determine whether these males were adult or not. By contrast, here:
it's claimed that males are brown with a reddish stripe on a green abdomen, and it's also said that females present a red stripe as well ("same male coloration"), which would be puzzling as not occurring among all the other Micrommata species. This is also stated in Levy 1989, in a revision of Israel spider fauna. I have seen several formosa females pictures and they showed no red stripes at all.
I know intra-specific color variation occurs abundantly in Micrommata, likely also between populations, but I just wanted to know if you have a better idea of how a typical formosa male habitus should look. And perhaps also formosa adult females' one as at this point I'm a bit confused :)
Thank you very much in advance for your time!
Cheers,
Paolo
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Dear Paolo,
I am collecting the samples within this project.
So I am field surveyor. Identification is carried out my Kadir Boğaç Kunt from Turkey. I forward your questions and Robert Bosman's reply to him by email. If I hear from him I will let you know.
Thanks a lot for our interest on our research project.
Thanks
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Studying new areas with ID guides that either I don't read the language or find them intensley inaccurate I wondered what other people preferred to do for ID.
I have vast database stores for my own projects but I do find that I long for another method that doesn't mean staring at computer screens all day.
Especially of note is the ability to do significant number ID, Araneae.com is great for a handful of specimens for example but 1000's it will be tedious. Just curious.
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I addition to the other suggestions, for France and Belgium, the website of Pierre Oger "Les araignées de Belgique et de France" at (http://arachno.piwigo.com/) may also be very helpful. The illustrated species are furthermore connected to different other ressources such as the the Spinnen Europas website (https://araneae.unibe.ch/), the World Spider Catalog (wsc.nmbe.com) and Wiki des Spinnen-Forums (https://wiki.arages.de/index.php?title=Araneae). Personnally, I started with the guide book "Guide des araignées de France et d'Europe" of Michael J. Roberts (see here: http://arachno.piwigo.com/index?/page/livres).
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Taxonomic writeup includes a description of the specimens. These descriptions detail certain factors related to the specimens such as color patterns, sizes, morphological features, etc. These descriptions are given in the publication/thesis in a certain format/style.
My question concerns spiders. While describing spiders, do taxonomists follow certain preordained/prescribed formats for the descriptions? Similarly, do standarized genitalic terminologies exist? If not then, for instance, do taxonomists look up recent publications from a certain author or recent publications on the group of spiders they are working on (say family Lycosidae, or genus Hamadruas, etc) and use the format followed by the author/in the publication as a model for their own description?
Awaiting valuable input. Thanks.
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Dear Kumail,
here are some references that were helpful during my few outings into the world of spider taxonomy:
Ruiz GRS, Maddison WP. The new Andean jumping spider genus Urupuyu and its placement within a revised classification of the Amycoida (Araneae: Salticidae). Zootaxa. 2015; 4040 (3): 251–279. pmid:26624665
Ramírez MJ. The Morphology and Phylogeny of Dionychan Spiders (Araneae: Araneomorphae). Bull Am Mus Nat Hist. 2014; 390: 1–374.
Levi HW. Techniques for the study of spider genitalia. Psyche. 1965; 72: 152–158.
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In our case, prey might be both terrestrial and aquatic so I need primers that amplify at least:
- Diptera (including chironomidae)
- Lepidoptera
- Coleoptera
- Collembola
- Trichoptera
- Plecoptera
- Ephemeroptera
... without amplifying spiders !
Of course, I have already selected LCO 1490 / HCO 2198... But maybe there are other options...
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Hi,
Sorry I made a mistake, I wanted to say LCO 1490 / MlepR1 which as been used for coastal spiders gut content. I must also add that I will target Pardosa species which are not amplified by this pair.
My problem is that I do not know if it is efficient for Trichoptera, Plecoptera and Ephemeroptera.
Tharaka, thank you for the useful comment, I will have a look at the paper...
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This little black spider jumped off the wall when it saw me coming with the camera. It landed in the dirt upside down and held still enough for me to get a few images. It was probably 1 or 2 mm in length (not counting legs). Is there an expert in ventral views of tiny spiders living in Michigan, USA? Seen on March 23, 2018.
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Although it's a bit difficult to give a correct identification with these pictures, I would say that's a female probably Steatoda (Theridiidae). Hope that helps!
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Nature inspires all the sciences and yet only very few science comphrehend the nature.
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I loved Hasker Davis' answer. An excellent explanation. Only thing that I might add are two properties that are somewhat particular to spiders and other little creatures. First, when a spider falls, it opens its legs wide to increase the resistance offered by the air that passes. For this reason, the smaller the spider, the longer its legs are, and the furrier it is (more surface area to offer resistance). If a huge, overweight tarantula falls from the tower of Pisa, it might just hurt itself, but a tiny spider, as Hasker Davis said has a great surface area with respect to its mass, and the resistance offered by the air is exponentially higher than that afforded the poor obese tarantula, and so the terminal velocity of the tiny spider is tiny. The second thing has to do with our miraculous atmosphere. If the tiny spider were to decide to jump from the tower of Pisa (I live in Italy and just love Gallileo) with no atmosphere, it would plummet down like a ball of lead, and I assure you it would not be a happy camper when he/she/it arrives on the sidewalk of the Piazza dei Miracoli! But guess what, if we had no atmosphere, the spider would never have evolved. Ever seen spiders on the moon? ;-)
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Image 1 and 2 show the juvenile spider from a dorsal and ventral view. What is the stage? Is it sub-sub-adult? length 7mm.
Image 3 shows the the 3x2 different spinnerets. What are the functions meaning which filaments are produced?
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Dear Viktoria,
Does the 7mm measurement corresponds to the body length only, legs not included ? In general, a picture with scale is preferable.
I think it would be hard to give the exact stage of this juvenile, but the size corresponds approximately to one of the later instars, and it's not adult nor sub-adult, hence sub-sub-adult is probable.
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Manfrin et al. 2018. Dietary changes in predators and scavengers in a nocturnally illuminated riparian ecosyst. Oikos. DOI: 10.1111/oik.04696.
Artificial Light is affecting spider diet as a consequence of changes in aquatic-terrestrial insect prey fluxes.
best
Alessandro
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You can do it
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Hello,
Does anyone knows if there is a company or a laboratory working on designing cameras for spiders? Does anyone have experience with this topic?
Cheers
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where did you find it? can you contact the researcher involved?
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I am researching into culturing cells from spiders any information will be appreciated.
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Thank you Arvind this definitely gives me a starting point.
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We have also found the acronym SPIDER, but it is also indicated to health systematic literature reviews.
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Hi Elaine,
PICO is almost (but not always) exclusive to clinical trials i.e. RCTs. It depends what you mean by systematic literature review if it's a meta- analysis then PICO can apply. It it is a literature view alone - then the PICO formulae does not usually apply.
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Hello! I'm working on tarantula spiders (Family theraposidae) and my colleague is working on Wolf spiders. Our sampling site is in the island of Mindanao, Philippines in where long land travels are the usual cost for transportation (sometimes also includes travelling via sea) and we have repeatedly encountered the same dilemma, losing live specimens, especially the wolf spiders (70-100% mortality) and very small tarantulas (80-100% mortality; for bigger tarantula 30-50 % mortality ). And it really is a problem since there are specific species that we are unable to bring back alive in the lab and studying their behavior proves to be impossible because of this. With that, I hope I can ask help from those who have encountered the same problem yet managed to overcome it. What is/are your secret(s) if I may humbly ask? Your cooperation is highly appreciated! Thank you! :)
Note:
Our containers are small salad cups ( transparent cups with cover and tiny holes enclosed in a bigger plastic container with many holes) and land travels are usually 6 hrs- 12 hrs or more.
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definitely,
keeping the temperature humidity and using co2 to sleep it is a good technique to avoid death
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I know one solution is using predatory mites. Anything else.
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Thanks.
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Hi, I have been searching papers that indicate a full/complete solubility of native spider web in chemical solutions such hexfluoroisopropanol or lithium bromide but could not find any. I have tried a number of solvents but only partial dissolution was observed. Everytime I dissolved native spider webs in such solvents, the remaining undissolved particles were there. Is this normal?
The picture attached is the extraction solvent that i am developing right now using alcohol+high concentration of SDS. So far the fibers dissolved; leaving behind the remains.
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Hi, Dr Jo. I recommend trying amino acids based ionic liquid or natural deep eutectic solvents that are based on amino acids or sugars. I hope that might help.
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For a research project in an insecticide. already have a small mite colony in Lima beans but the colony is quickly dwindeling.
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Dear Nathan,
At first be sure that the specimens of your colony belong to T. urticae.
I recommend you to avoid to rear your mites directly on whole plants (seedlings) to avoid contamination (many mites will leave the host plants and other mites from the same species (or not) will have the o
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Dear Colleagues,
I was wondering if someone who has had plenty of experience experimenting with pitfall traps as a method of collecting arthropods (especially spiders), could share his/her experiences regarding: 1) Does the material that the pitfall trap is made off, affect its ability to capture spiders? To be more precise is glass better than plastic or vice versa? and 2) Does the nature of the fluid used inside the pitfall trap, affect its ability to capture spiders? To be more precise, which of the different fluids used viz, supersaturated saline, alcohol, water, ethylene glycol, formalin, etc are more efficacious? P.S, I managed to locate one article detailing a comparison of the different fluids used in the pitfall traps but, I suppose actual experiences are sometimes more informative as compared to controlled studies. Thank you.
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Yes, I captured a lot of spiders just using water + dish-washing liquid (some drops) in my pitfall traps.
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I need to collect and export live and alcohol fixed spider specimens for my research in these countries. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any explicit information on this regard. Does anyone have this information or could point me in the right direction?
Thanks a lot!
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Thanks a lot Siti Khalid!
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I have once made an observation that a spider apparently resided on a wall that had almost the same colour as the spider him-/herself. I lived at this location for several months and could see the spider almost daily.
I am certainly not an expert on spiders, nor am I an expert on animal cognition. I tried to question why the spider apparently chose this location. Since houses are painted repeatedly, evolution seemed an impossible explanation (this would imply survival of the fittest, because the spider was best adapted to the environment, where several generations of the spider subsequently resided there). This house was the only house in this area that was painted in this colour.
Rather, it seemed that the spider deliberately chose this location, because the spider recognized his/her own look and therefore knew that he/she is least likely spotted on this wall, which gave him/her an advantage to catch prey and to remain unseen by predators. This, however, would require remarkable cognitive abilities. I would be grateful for an opinion of an expert or for stimulating discussion among lay people like myself. See below for a picture of the spider.
Many thanks and best wishes,
Rainer
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I work on (teleost) fish and am not a spider expert. There are spiders that can change colour and choose backround see e.g. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279567360_Camouflage_of_predatory_crab_spiders_on_flowers_and_the_colour_perception_of_bees_Aranida_ThomisidaeHymenoptera_Apida
However, I also want to point out that selection per se may remove those spiders that do not blend into the background. Only those that are camouflaged will be left. This will act in the present generation. In the speciation litterature selection against immigrants is termed "immigrant inviability".
Best regards,
Ola
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There were same DNA templates from spiders. However, I found it is easier to do PCR and sequence successfully in mitochonarial genes like COI (Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I ), 16S (16S ribosomal RNA) and 12S (ribosomal RNA) than nuclear genes like H3 (histone subunit 3 protein coding gene), 28S and ITS2 (internal transcribed spacer 2).
In this phenomenon, can I exclude the problem of DNA templates and focus on the nuclear genes part? 
BTW, i asked a colleague who research on fishes also has met this problem. 
I attached the problenatic nuclear gene 28S sequencing data as the following files, it always occurred repeat A or T and then failed to get a right result. Please help me to solve this tough problem, many thanks.
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Paralogs are not uncommon in nuclear ribosomal genes in spiders- particularly 28S. Many RTA-clade taxa have this problem. In other words, it looks to me like they are unalignable in a matrix because you are sequencing different versions of the 28S gene. 
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Dear Scientists, 
I would really appreciate some reference of the substantial comment on the biophilic design in our cities and the inconveniences that it may bring to people , and how people are ready to embrace those inconvenience. So in fact it is a question about the awareness and readiness of the urban community to embrace what the biophilic design has to offer. 
People do not want to drive or walk the dirt roads in the city, it would make their shoes dirty, they do not want loud nocturnal animals living nearby their houses, they don;t want birds pooping on their cars, in tropical countries they even do not want too much green areas because is a habitat to dangerous mosquitos, also the leaf litter looks messy on the streets, branches can fall on children etc
we talk about biophilia and biodiversity, but not the biodiversity of "ugly bugs", spiders etc.  
I had trouble finding the good reference explaining why we should still incorporate the biophilic design into our urban neighbourhoods, or to what extent, where is the limit? Is the biophilic design only for visual pleasure of people (that has a powerful impact on mental health), so let's make it look good from the windows as long as we do not have to go there?
I would appreciate your comments,
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Biophilic design is a contradiction because as top predators in the food chain, human species cant exclude themselves from the same food chain because there would be both anthropophilic and anthropophobic retaliations from natural ecosystems- the whole model of biophilic design is arrogant and highly anthropocentric- nature was never and wont be anthropophilic to accommodate biophilic design- but biomimetics-yes!urban forestry, yes!, ecological or green cities, yes! - to counter evolutionary selection pressures we need to wait till we, Homo biophilicus, AD 2***  have capacity to build Nature 2.0, a synthetic biosphere and synthetic food chains and food webs-till then those who have pathological biophobia or bioallergies need to deworm and treat  themselves first
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I want to analyse gut of boreal wolf spiders for a whole range of possible prey via Illumina Miseq and targeting the COI gene. suggestions, anyone?
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For those who is also interested in this theme: there's couple of papers where authors analyse the sequence of SSU rRNA gene to find sites universal for all living creatures. Of course you have to evaluate and test primers for your purposes and objects, but these works are of great use as a starting point.
1. Wang Y, Tian RM, Gao ZM, Bougouffa S, Qian P-Y (2014) Optimal Eukaryotic 18S and Universal 16S/18S Ribosomal RNA Primers and Their Application in a Study of Symbiosis.
2. Bradley IM, Pinto AJ, Guest JS. 2016. Design and evaluation of Illumina MiSeq-compatible, 18S rRNA gene-specific primers for improved characterization of mixed phototrophic communities.
As for universal invertebrate primers LCO/HCO they're found to fail with many invertebrate organisms and aren't now considered as universal. See Sharma & Kobayashi 2014.
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I have a lot of spider pictures - I suspect several of them are cobweb spiders.
Here's one I just saw this afternoon, the second day it has been warm lately.  
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Martha:
Thanks Martha.
You may like to have a look at this link for identification:
Best
Syed
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Please, does anyone have the recipe for making aritifical diet for spider mites especially the two spotted spider mites/? Thanks
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Thanks Davide,
But I really want a diet for the plant feeding spider mite, not really to release them but for some treatment.
Thanks 
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I did not find in literature information on biology of this spider; it is only reported in some cklist.
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Manuela:
Basic facts are provided in the link:
Best
Syed
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The domestic house spider is a very common guest in human dwellings, but I found little literature about its biology. Is there any research?
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Sebastian:
Some basic facts about Tegenaria domestica could be found in this link and references therein:
Best
Syed
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Have a prosperous new year to everyone! What spider species is this found in a commercial swimming resort in Jasaan, Misamis Oriental, Philippines. Please help in identification
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It is a cosmophasis sp.
See this pdf that maybe help identify the species.
Best regards
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Who knows the scientific name of this spider?
It makes its canvas on the grasses and it does not leak in rain or low temperatures (5 ° c).
location: region of Beni Mellal, Morocco.
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Looks like the banded garden spider, Argiope trifasciata.
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This spider was photograph  in Abruzzo in localities near Majella mountains 400 m. on sea level. 
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Zoropsis spinimana (Zoropsidae)
Regards,
Roman
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What is the scientific name of this Spider from Abruzzo 350 m. (slm) (central Italy). 
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Hi Roberto,
It is a female of Zoropsis, very probably Zoropsis spinimana.
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Evidently  this specimen is misidentified as a palaearctic Araneus alsine.
Thank you for your help.
Joe Belicek, Edmonton,  Alberta, Canada
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If the specimen is, like notated, from French Guiana, there are not 3045, but 100 species of Araneidae. All the same, of course you are right, Dimitry - based on one poor foto it is more gambling than determinating.
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I have several containers of missing sector orb weaver juveniles and I want to keep them alive obviously. How do I feed them besides chopping up insects and sprinkling it over them?
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