Spider round-up

Arachnophobes turn back now! I'm afraid of spiders, too, but there were too many in the recent weird news to ignore:

• Trogloraptor marchingtoni (pictured), a 4cm beast discovered in an Oregon cave, has given rise to a whole new taxonomic family based on its sickle-like claws. "Almost nothing is known about the new species' behavior; even what it eats remains a mystery. In fact, the researchers have tried feeding captured spiders various foods, but to date the arachnids have refused the offerings and perished."
• Sinopoda scurion, a 6cm cavedweller discovered in Laos, is the first of the 1100 species of huntsman spider without eyes. "We already knew of spiders of this genus from other caves, but they always had eyes and complete pigmentation."
• Prethopalpus attenboroughi, a 1.04mm species of goblin spider discovered on Horn Island in Australia's Torres Strait, is the 2nd species to honor British broadcaster David Attenborough. "It is incredible that in the 21st century our scientists are still documenting and describing so many new species."

In addition to the new discoveries, species already described have engaged in noteworthy behavior. A golden silk orb-weaver, which can reach sizes upwards of 5cm, has been photographed in Australia eating a snake. "It was the most exciting thing I've ever seen," said George McGavin after his team captured slow-motion footage (video here) of prey triggering the trap of a net-casting spider in Central America. That could not be said of the photos of a spider that had crawled into a Chinese woman's ear and lived there for 5 days before being flushed out. Here in the U.S., drought and high temperatures is causing an increase in the spider population and driving one of the most deadly - the brown recluse - to seek refuge inside homes.
“All spiders have a venomous bite, but only a few can be medically dangerous to humans, and the brown recluse is a top concern,” cautions entomologist Jim Fredericks. Omaha resident Dylan Baumann complains, "It's terrifying just thinking that might happen to me." He has killed 40 of the spiders and had 6 visits from the exterminator in an attempt to curb the infestation. Reading such anecdotes, it's hard to keep in mind that on the whole spiders are good for the environment. "The world would be a poorer place without spiders," proclaims Mark Harvey, senior curator at the Western Australian Museum, discussing a new 4cm-wide "albino" trapdoor spider that has yet to be formally named.

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Cobwebs in the corners of the Cabinet:

Weird webs

Silkstorm

Gossamer

World's heaviest insects

Spider prey

X-raying fossils

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