One for Cali.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

[pErvinalia]

Ha! I was just going to post that! Do you follow I Fucking Love Science on facebook too?

[Ian]

I do.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Of course I do!

[pErvinalia]

I love that page!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

[Cormac]

Very cute spider.
Is it like half the other life forms in OZ. Toxic?

Well, all spiders are venomous, that's the mechanism they rely upon to subdue and digest their prey. Only a small number of spiders, however, have either [1] venom capable of precipitating a medical emergency in humans, or [2] chelicerae and fangs capable of penetrating human skin.

In the case of that spider above, it's a Salticid or Jumping Spider - there are 5,000 species belonging to the Family Salticidae - and this Family consists of small spiders that aren't known to be dangerous to humans. Indeed, Salticids are frequently observed behaving in an interesting manner in the presence of humans, almost as if the spiders recognise that their small size and expressive-looking arrangements of eyes bestow upon them a certain level of cuteness not associated with other spiders.

Incidentally.one species, Euophrys omnisuperstes, has been found living on the slopes of Mount Everest, at elevations up to 6,700 metres above sea level, where it appears to live on a permanent basis. This makes the spider the highest-living of all scientifically described invertebrates. Other creatures may ascend to higher altitudes temporarily (the Bar-Headed Goose is reputed to do this), but this spider is the highest permanent resident of any spot on Earth, apart from some hardy bacteria and a species of moss found on the mountain's slopes. It's certainly the highest permanent resident Eumetazoan.

What does it eat way up there?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Very cute spider.
Is it like half the other life forms in OZ. Toxic?

Well, all spiders are venomous, that's the mechanism they rely upon to subdue and digest their prey. Only a small number of spiders, however, have either [1] venom capable of precipitating a medical emergency in humans, or [2] chelicerae and fangs capable of penetrating human skin.

In the case of that spider above, it's a Salticid or Jumping Spider - there are 5,000 species belonging to the Family Salticidae - and this Family consists of small spiders that aren't known to be dangerous to humans. Indeed, Salticids are frequently observed behaving in an interesting manner in the presence of humans, almost as if the spiders recognise that their small size and expressive-looking arrangements of eyes bestow upon them a certain level of cuteness not associated with other spiders.

Incidentally.one species, Euophrys omnisuperstes, has been found living on the slopes of Mount Everest, at elevations up to 6,700 metres above sea level, where it appears to live on a permanent basis. This makes the spider the highest-living of all scientifically described invertebrates. Other creatures may ascend to higher altitudes temporarily (the Bar-Headed Goose is reputed to do this), but this spider is the highest permanent resident of any spot on Earth, apart from some hardy bacteria and a species of moss found on the mountain's slopes. It's certainly the highest permanent resident Eumetazoan.

Droppings? Bugs? Small tourists?

What does it eat way up there?

[Calilasseia]

Very cute spider.
Is it like half the other life forms in OZ. Toxic?

Well, all spiders are venomous, that's the mechanism they rely upon to subdue and digest their prey. Only a small number of spiders, however, have either [1] venom capable of precipitating a medical emergency in humans, or [2] chelicerae and fangs capable of penetrating human skin.

In the case of that spider above, it's a Salticid or Jumping Spider - there are 5,000 species belonging to the Family Salticidae - and this Family consists of small spiders that aren't known to be dangerous to humans. Indeed, Salticids are frequently observed behaving in an interesting manner in the presence of humans, almost as if the spiders recognise that their small size and expressive-looking arrangements of eyes bestow upon them a certain level of cuteness not associated with other spiders.

Incidentally.one species, Euophrys omnisuperstes, has been found living on the slopes of Mount Everest, at elevations up to 6,700 metres above sea level, where it appears to live on a permanent basis. This makes the spider the highest-living of all scientifically described invertebrates. Other creatures may ascend to higher altitudes temporarily (the Bar-Headed Goose is reputed to do this), but this spider is the highest permanent resident of any spot on Earth, apart from some hardy bacteria and a species of moss found on the mountain's slopes. It's certainly the highest permanent resident Eumetazoan.

What does it eat way up there?

Courtesy of this webpage from the BBC:

The Himalayan jumping spider is a tiny spider that lives high up in the Himalayas, and has been found at altitudes as high as 6700 metres above sea level. Its only source of food at these extreme heights is stray insects that are blown up the mountainside by the wind.

You can see some video footage of this spider in action here.

[Cormac]

Very cute spider.
Is it like half the other life forms in OZ. Toxic?

Well, all spiders are venomous, that's the mechanism they rely upon to subdue and digest their prey. Only a small number of spiders, however, have either [1] venom capable of precipitating a medical emergency in humans, or [2] chelicerae and fangs capable of penetrating human skin.

In the case of that spider above, it's a Salticid or Jumping Spider - there are 5,000 species belonging to the Family Salticidae - and this Family consists of small spiders that aren't known to be dangerous to humans. Indeed, Salticids are frequently observed behaving in an interesting manner in the presence of humans, almost as if the spiders recognise that their small size and expressive-looking arrangements of eyes bestow upon them a certain level of cuteness not associated with other spiders.

Incidentally.one species, Euophrys omnisuperstes, has been found living on the slopes of Mount Everest, at elevations up to 6,700 metres above sea level, where it appears to live on a permanent basis. This makes the spider the highest-living of all scientifically described invertebrates. Other creatures may ascend to higher altitudes temporarily (the Bar-Headed Goose is reputed to do this), but this spider is the highest permanent resident of any spot on Earth, apart from some hardy bacteria and a species of moss found on the mountain's slopes. It's certainly the highest permanent resident Eumetazoan.

What does it eat way up there?

Courtesy of this webpage from the BBC:

The Himalayan jumping spider is a tiny spider that lives high up in the Himalayas, and has been found at altitudes as high as 6700 metres above sea level. Its only source of food at these extreme heights is stray insects that are blown up the mountainside by the wind.

You can see some video footage of this spider in action here.

Wow! That seems like a fairly precarious existence. Obviously not so precarious though!

[Calilasseia]

It's possible that some of the springtails it feeds upon are also high altitude permanent residents. Springtails are detritus feeders, that will basically chow down on any small particles of organic matter than come their way, and they're important parts of many ecosystems as a result, because they convert particles of around 0.1 mm or so in size into droppings that are about 25 microns across, which makes the resultant droppings nice and easy for certain bacteria to handle. Indeed, there are entire ecological textbooks devoted to what is referred to in the literature as 'particulate organic matter' (POM for short), and the breakdown of leaf litter and other larger scale organic detritus into handy bite sized chunks for smaller creatures, is a niche that is occupied by a lot of arthropods. Ants and millipedes begin the breakdown of the bigger pieces, and the mess they leave behind after doing this becomes the food for springtails. Springtails are amongst the most numerous multicellular organisms on the planet - a typical patch of temperate forest soil 1 square metre in area contains anything up to a million of them - and they've been found in places as seemingly hostile to small arthropods as the sands of the Sahara Desert and the ice fields of Antarctica. So if someone is given funding to go hunting for springtails on Everest, they'll probably find at least one resident species that the spiders can turn to, when bigger prey blown in by the winds is scarce.

Indeed, if you do some browsing on Google Scholar, you'll find an entire body of literature devoted to aeolian ecosystems, of which high mountain ranges are just one.

[Cormac]

It's possible that some of the springtails it feeds upon are also high altitude permanent residents. Springtails are detritus feeders, that will basically chow down on any small particles of organic matter than come their way, and they're important parts of many ecosystems as a result, because they convert particles of around 0.1 mm or so in size into droppings that are about 25 microns across, which makes the resultant droppings nice and easy for certain bacteria to handle. Indeed, there are entire ecological textbooks devoted to what is referred to in the literature as 'particulate organic matter' (POM for short), and the breakdown of leaf litter and other larger scale organic detritus into handy bite sized chunks for smaller creatures, is a niche that is occupied by a lot of arthropods. Ants and millipedes begin the breakdown of the bigger pieces, and the mess they leave behind after doing this becomes the food for springtails. Springtails are amongst the most numerous multicellular organisms on the planet - a typical patch of temperate forest soil 1 square metre in area contains anything up to a million of them - and they've been found in places as seemingly hostile to small arthropods as the sands of the Sahara Desert and the ice fields of Antarctica. So if someone is given funding to go hunting for springtails on Everest, they'll probably find at least one resident species that the spiders can turn to, when bigger prey blown in by the winds is scarce.

Indeed, if you do some browsing on Google Scholar, you'll find an entire body of literature devoted to aeolian ecosystems, of which high mountain ranges are just one.

Cali. A pleasure and an education, as always.

Thanks.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

9637_383978671688229_1438520005_n.jpg (40.58 KiB) Viewed 1396 times

[Cormac]

Avian acne?

[MiM]

PunkerParrot by Photoshop?