Cave Spiders in Hospital
- Thread starter Pipster
- Start date
AndyF
New member
Pipster said:
Well, shockingly yes, exactly that. They mapped out species and sexs of spiders (don't ask, I don't know) to try to work out when they "did it" and layed eggs. They were able to prove that this particular spider bred in autumn and layed eggs over the Winter, rather than the "text book" version that says they bred in spring (or smoehting like that) They also mapped out the distance from the entrance to prove when they hibernated which was also wrong in the text book.
It was painstaking work, involving a trip every week for two years, measuring and looking for spiders. The photos were excellent, I was well impressed....
A
andymorgan
Guest
Pipster said:
A very good point actually, they must be able to migrate over large distances, unless they were much more common in the past iand are now restricted to a few refuges.
cap n chris
Well-known member
Perhaps they tunnel?
Tunnel Web Spiders?!!!!
Tunnel Web Spiders?!!!!
Slug
Member
I've just watched a report on Anglia T.V., They were moved earlier today,( By some braver people than Me. 
).
75 of the buggers were removed, plus a few egg sacks. The developers have consructed a new "Air Raid Shelter" for'em all to live in, where they'll be monitored by Cambridgeshire wildlife bod's.........But How DID They get there?
). 75 of the buggers were removed, plus a few egg sacks. The developers have consructed a new "Air Raid Shelter" for'em all to live in, where they'll be monitored by Cambridgeshire wildlife bod's.........But How DID They get there?
Slug
Member
Slug said:I've just watched a report on Anglia T.V., They were moved earlier today,( By some braver people than Me.
75 of the buggers were removed, plus a few egg sacks. The developers have consructed a new "Air Raid Shelter" for'em all to live in, where they'll be monitored by Cambridgeshire wildlife bod's.........But How DID They get there?
Correction 750.
Les W
Active member
Meta Minardi only spend pert of their life underground, they then leave and travel great distances on the wind with a silk thread "parachute" before finding a suitable site some years later where they breed and reproduce underground.
There waas an extremely interesting talk at the cave science symposium in bristol, some years back.
I would guess that was how these particular spiders managed to populate the shelter even if they are not meta minardi.
You can easily sex spiders as the males are generally much smaller than females. Some spiders also make excellent parents and remain near the eggs until they hatch, protecting them from predators.
There waas an extremely interesting talk at the cave science symposium in bristol, some years back.
I would guess that was how these particular spiders managed to populate the shelter even if they are not meta minardi.
You can easily sex spiders as the males are generally much smaller than females. Some spiders also make excellent parents and remain near the eggs until they hatch, protecting them from predators.
whitelackington
New member
Those Meta menardi are a lot more common than u think.
First thing I noticed when I discovered Canada Combe Cave,
Hutton, North Somerset was them, great big cave spiders with their huge egg sacks.
They seem to like warm dry, none draughty caves on Mendip,
I expect there are far fewer up North as they are cold, wet & draughty. :yucky:
Meta Menardi: http://www.nicksspiders.com/nicksspiders/metamenardi.htm
Yup seen plenty of them in Stoney Middleton
Amazing to think that they create a silk "parachute". Infact I think I've seen something similiar on a tv documentary where the spider casts a really long thread of silk which is then picked up by the wind. The spider can be transported over a huge distance. Thats probably how they ended up at the old air raid shelter at the hospital.
I'd imagine it'd be a bit like a 5 year old kid flying the worlds largest kite on an incredibly windy day; pot luck where he ends up.
Yup seen plenty of them in Stoney Middleton
Amazing to think that they create a silk "parachute". Infact I think I've seen something similiar on a tv documentary where the spider casts a really long thread of silk which is then picked up by the wind. The spider can be transported over a huge distance. Thats probably how they ended up at the old air raid shelter at the hospital.
I'd imagine it'd be a bit like a 5 year old kid flying the worlds largest kite on an incredibly windy day; pot luck where he ends up.
whitelackington
New member
While these large spiders are hanging around in nice warm humid Mendip caves, do you think they are eaten by BATS
