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)
Questions related to Spiders
I need to know about storing conditions as well
Edible Spider and Cultural Brief
I have been looking for Articles discussing Edible Spiders?
Any recommendation
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?

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
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.
I can't take good pictures of the cheliceral denticles if the hairs are present.
- Which of the following is not a natural predator of BPH ?
(a) Bugs
(b) Red ants
(c) Spiders
(d) All of the above
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.
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.
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?
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?
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?
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?
Hello colleagues
Is there a specific way to collect and calculate the density of spiders somewhere?
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?
A question about the reason behind the predominance of spider nevi along the SVC's territory, exclusively!
I have foud that it is quite difficult to collect spiders from dense grasslands, both using the "beating" method or the vacumm.
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

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
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?
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!
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
I think due to the use of insecticides and the shortage of males they will die out.
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
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?

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
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)!
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.
I have spider plot of phosphate rock in which Tb is depleted. What will be the possible significance of such type depletion?
Need help on verification of the scientific name of the spider.
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
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
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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?





+3
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
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
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.
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.
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...
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.
Nature inspires all the sciences and yet only very few science comphrehend the nature.
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?



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
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
I am researching into culturing cells from spiders any information will be appreciated.
We have also found the acronym SPIDER, but it is also indicated to health systematic literature reviews.
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.
I know one solution is using predatory mites. Anything else.
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.

For a research project in an insecticide. already have a small mite colony in Lima beans but the colony is quickly dwindeling.
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.
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!
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

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.

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,
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?
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.
Please, does anyone have the recipe for making aritifical diet for spider mites especially the two spotted spider mites/? Thanks
I did not find in literature information on biology of this spider; it is only reported in some cklist.
The domestic house spider is a very common guest in human dwellings, but I found little literature about its biology. Is there any research?
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


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.


This spider was photograph in Abruzzo in localities near Majella mountains 400 m. on sea level.


What is the scientific name of this Spider from Abruzzo 350 m. (slm) (central Italy).


Evidently this specimen is misidentified as a palaearctic Araneus alsine.
Thank you for your help.
Joe Belicek, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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?