Spider and web

[Armen Gharib]

Again during my last trip I took the pictures of this spider which was fairly big and again with my Minolta 50mm Macro 2.8 , it was risky but I like risk

[David Kilpatrick]

An arthropod with binocular vision and a slight case of cataract... impressive eyes. I bet this spider could tell just how big you were and how far away, which reduces the risk. Do you think this was a poisonous spider? My main fear of spiders, in the UK, is harming them. They seem so fragile that it's hard to pick them up and move them. I have some very impressive big spiders in the house, we don't kill them because they are clearly eating something and we would rather have the spiders than more of the things they eat!

Even the small ones do a good job - here's an Alpha 100 macro/flash shot I posted a long time ago, worth showing again - this is the old wooden shutter of the window next to my computer desk:



David

[Armen Gharib]

David the spider posted by me is very widespread in Armenia and a bit poisonous, it will not kill but it may have some affection..
And what about the small ones, I am agree these are hard workers . Here I have an another scenario similar to you with the best workers an ants.

[Birma]

Great (if scarey!) spider shot Armen. No way would I be able to get that close . Like DK, I always think that the spiders in the house must be eating something so it is better to keep them, but of course they may be just eating other spiders . If I knew all of my spiders would eat wasps like in DK's lovely study of a wasp supper then they would be most welcome.

I remember reading somewhere that all spiders are poisonous. It is just that the UK ones are not powerful enough to puncture most human skin. Apparently you can get in to trouble if you swallow one as the skins in your throat is thinner and they can get their teeth (mandibles?) in and inject their poison.