Carabid Beetles and Cicadas
Goldenrod Flower Crab Spider playing dead by rolling up in a little ball. I never get sick of finding these beauties.
Anonymous asked: Hi! I'm new to the blog, and I was wondering, what the story of Kim is. I looked through all the posts that were tagged, but I'm just curious, when did you(?) decide to adopt her? How? What's the story? Sorry if this is weird! I'm just so curious- it's not everyday you find a blogger with a pet black widow!
It’s not weird at all! I found her while watering my neighbor’s plants. They have a two year old so I decided it would be best to just relocate her. (I often spot widows on their trash cans and just move them to an area with no children with little curious fingers, if my neighbor was to find them, I’m sure she’d smush them-she often tells me of stories like this while profusely apologizing, so everyone wins this way) I took her home and put her in a large kimchee jar and took some photos. I started feeding her and have grown attached to watching and keeping her in her little home in our garage. She’d probably live in a similar setting minus the frequent meals and protective screen so she’ll probably make it to the maximum life span (up to 3 years). I just posted a picture of her the day I found her- she was still immature and had a marbled red/white/black body. Very different from the way she looks now.
Here is a photo of Kim the day I found her, a year ago. Notice the pretty marbled pattern on her abdomen? Black Widow females don’t get that trademark black glossy body until they reach sexual maturity.
Here is the very first Kim post.
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I’m pretty sure this is the actual egg sac that Kim, my Black Widow has laid. It’s small and a little ball of silk. Maybe a fertilized one would be more robust?
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My Black Widow laid an egg sac!! Kim looks all skinny!
WHAT do I do? I have read that if I remove it she may waste away and die. I am assuming it is not viable since she is in a jar with a mesh lid and I doubt any males have gotten in. Also, she was immature when I found her over a year ago so I doubt she’s been holding sperm.
Apparently, she may get aggressive around her eggs so I’ll have to be careful when feeding her. She’s usually so skitish and shy so I’ll have to remember to be careful.
Anyone have any pointers? Or advice? I’d rather leave it be, if possible.
I shall go catch her something to eat and take some photos for you!
This is referred to as a “dwarf flightless scelionid wasp”…the male has wings, while the female hangs around on the body of a spider, including widow spiders, to parasitize its eggs!