The COOL-ass bug thread

[Super Hans]

You should try dropping these out of a window - say, two or three floors up.

They parachute down by stretching out their legs and when they hit the ground, they run away.

[Pingdong]

really? I wont try it as I would fear busting open their abdomen, but interesting to know! Are these the same sp. we find here on the mainland? I get them in my bathroom (also a dark cool damp place) a lot. They are the biggest spiders I have seen here in Taiwan (not counting pet tarantulas).




Ants nest in the trees.

[Super Hans]

Nice pictures!
Orchid Island is just great, huh?

I'm not sure whether you get them on the mainland, but I assume you do.
Parachuting is harmless for the spiders because it is an escape strategy. I found out when I tried to catch one on a balcony a long time ago and it jumped off, I've seen it several times since then - if you try to catch them, they'll jump into thin air regardless of how high up they are.

[Nuit]

Saw this encounter today in Taroko:

1 medium sized maybe Giant Wood Splider (Nephila maculata), black and yellow markings, but not as big as others I've seen.
It was sat in the middle of its web, guarding what I thought at first was a large egg sac, but looking closer it appeared to be (at least) wrapped mummified remains of another spider. The male ?




Buzzing around the web, attacking whatever the spider was protecting was a hornet. It didn't give up, and I watched for a good 10 minutes. Everytime it flew in, the spider fought it off with aggressive pincer movements of its front legs. Then the hornet would fly higher, and try another angle, or lazily pretend to fly off only to come in again. The spider would edge round its 'treasure' to defend the other side.

[Pingdong]

thats cool man, never seen these guys fight a hornet before. Nephila maculata = Nephila pilipes which is what you found. those guys also have parasitic spiders in their webs feeding off the remains. take a close look sometime, the ones i see are red.