280 days of Urbpandemonium #55

I arrived at Alex's house, and she had just cleaned her way through the cobwebs of her basement bulkhead. I said "oh boy!" and went down to find the spiders. Most were cellar spiders, naturally. I did find, however, this lovely Steatoda triangulosa.* She's slightly different colors from the ones I've seen before, but the pattern is unmistakeable.

This is another species that probably came from Europe originally, but is so common both in Europe and North America that its not entirely clear. Unless my memory is wrong, it's also found in Australia with the apt common name "cupboard spider."

* I'm not kidding you when I report with some delight that the scientific name translates more or less to "Triangles on her fat ass."

280 days of Urbpandemonium: REPLACEMENT for #48

I done screwed up. Fewer than 50 entries in I already posted a double, adding a second cellar spider entry at #48 when there was an existing one at #2.

To make up for my blunder, here is a different animal which sometimes shares a common name with the former #48: "daddy long legs." These omnivorous scavenging arachnids are very different creatures, and separate from spiders, in their own order, Opiliones.* When someone refers to one of these things as a spider, I mark it in my brain as a very particular kind of flag. Mistaking this fragile fangless beast with its fused body segments and mite-like overall symmetry for a spiders tells me that you aren't looking at the same aspects of the animal that I am. The fact that one of my arachnophobic coworkers is afraid of Opiliones as well, is fascinating to me.

This animal suffers from common names both overabundant and entirely inadequate. Most guides settle on "harvestman," a word that's never settled well with me. "Opiliones" is a mouthful, and "daddy-longlegs" refers to several unrelated animals and is spelled differently every time you look at it.

* "Opiliones" derives from a word for shepherd. Apparently at some point of time and space sheep-herders stood on stilts to watch their flocks? I don't even want to know what the justification for the word "harvestman" is.

280 days of Urbpandemonium list

1. Red-tailed hawk Buteo jamaicensis


2. Cellar spider Pholcus sp.


3. Canada goose Branta canadensis


4. House sparrow Passer domesticus


5. Eastern chipmunk Tamias striatus


6. Blueberry stem gall wasp Hemadas nubilipennis


7. Porpidia albocaerulescens (a lichenized fungus)


8. Nursery web spider Pisaurina mina


9. Ceramic crust Xylobus frustulatus


10. Beech balls Hypoxylon fragiforme


11. False turkey tail Stereum ostrea


12. Blacklegged tick Ixodes scapularis


13. Exidia recisa (a fungus)


14. Hacklemesh spider Amaurobiidae


15. Lemon drops Bisporella citrina


16. Garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis


17. Leopard slug Limax maxima


18. Soil centipede Geophilomorpha


19. Millipede Diplopoda


20. American cockroach Periplaneta americana


21. Compost mushroom Coprinopsis sp.


22. Pavement ant Tetramorium sp.


23. Canadian nightcrawler Lumbricus terrestris


24. Tree stump slime Cryptococcus macerans (a yeast)


25. Periwinkle Littorina littoria


26. Asian shore crab Hemigraspus sanguineus


27. Hermit crab Pagurus longicarpus


28. Slipper snail Crepidula fornicata


29. Dekay’s brown snake Storeria dekayi


30. Ragworm Nereidae


31. Asian multicolored beetle Harmonia axyridis


32. Grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio


33. Yellow sac spider Cheiracanthium milddi


34. Mayfly Ephemeroptera


35. Wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo


36. Eastern carpenter bee Xylocopa virginica


37. Northern wolf spider Trochosa sp.


38. Tan jumping spider Platycryptus undatus


39. Pillbug Armadillidium vulgare


40. European paper wasp Polistes dominula


41. Yellow jacket Vespula sp. or Dolichovespula sp.


42. Sea squirt Axcidiacea


43. Zebra jumping spider Salticus scenicus


44. Dog vomit slime mold Fuligo septica


45. Winecap Stropharia rugosso-annulata


46. False widow Steatoda sp.


47. Mushroom hover fly Cheilosia sp.


48. Harvestman Opiliones


49. Winter Moth Operophtera brumata


50. American dog tick Dermacentor variabilis


51. Garden centipede Lithobius forficatus


52. Pennsylvania wood roach Parcoblatta pennsylvanica


53. Ground ivy gall wasp Liposthenes glechomae


54. Chenopodium leafhopper Norvellina chenopodii


55. Cupboard spider Steatodum triangulosa
    
    Here’s the list so far, so I can keep track. Also I’m almost 3 weeks behind, better step up my game!