365 urban species. #265: Funnel Web Spider

[urbpan]

Photos by cottonmanifesto. Location: Park bench, Olmsted park, Brookline.

Funnel web spider Agelenopsis naevia

Funnel web spiders are some of the most commonly encountered predators in the urban ecosystem. Their webs are horizontal sheets, which catch insects when they drop from above, or stumble into them. The spider hides in a silken tube at the back of the sheet, waiting to feel the vibrations of the trapped prey. When it happens the spider darts out, delivers a paralyzing bite, and drags the insect back into the tube to be consumed in concealment.

There are dozens of spider species that weave funnel webs, varying by geography, and by where they prefer to spin their webs. Some species are known to prefer indoor spaces, while others tend to choose fields and lawns. Hedges and trees are used, and a variety of man-made structures. Often the spider will incorporate a natural or man-made cavity into the web, spinning their tubes into the pipes of a chain-link fence or the hollows of a tree. A. naevia is a common species in New England, sometimes given the common name "grass spider."

Comments

[wirrrn.livejournal.com]

Hey,

Indeed! Metal objects warmed by the sun but with nice nooks and crannies that the spider can hide in are pretty much almost immediately claimed by Red-Back Widows (the Aussie variant of the Black Widow) over here..

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Apparently mailboxes in las vegas (and, I imagine, other places) are attractive to black widows.

[wirrrn.livejournal.com]

Hey,

Red-Backs tend to avoid mail-boxes here, as they are also often home to Black-House Spiders, which eat them. Red-Backs are famous for liking to build webs beneath the seat of outhouse toilets, which causes envenomation problems for people (especially men, for obvious anatomical reasons) who need to use them in the night. They also love playground equipment, the corners of garage doors and the space under the capping of asbestos fences...

[dragonwrites.livejournal.com]

so...austalian park benches are potentially dangerous...good to know. i've always wanted to get over there one day.

puts me in mind of the classic far side cartoon where the ambitious spider has built a web across the bottom of a playground slide. wish i could post it here, but i can't find the image, and gary larson is kind of cranky about that sort of thing.

[wirrrn.livejournal.com]

Hey,

Potentially dangerous, yes. Like all Widows, Red-Backs are extremely timid and will drop and play dead/run for it when harrassed rather than get aggressive. They only bite when they feel like they're being squashed. There's also an Antivenom available- no-one in Oz has died of a Red-Back bite since it was brought out.

I remember that one. "If we pull this off, we'll eat like kings!"