Tried to film Dana grabbing her dinner tonight and vastly underestimated the distance and speed at which she can sense - and strike - prey. This genus of spiders absolutely astounds me.

A species I don't often get to see, I came across this lovely little Dolomedes triton yesterday, the Six-spotted fishing spider. I didn't realize how comfortable they are when fully submerged, with a layer of air sticking to them. And they're instantly dry when they resurface. Love these spoods.

Today was a bit rough but this lovely picture of my little Larinioides made it a bit brighter.

This is definitely the coolest pitfall traps I've ever seen. @cataranea.bsky.social , @ibycter.bsky.social

Trying to photograph a spider: ME: You'll hate the plastic tub, here's a nice rock to sit on like where you came from SPIDER: No I don't think I will ME: Please just get on the rock for a nice picture SPIDER: No we hates it ME: Could you just SPIDER: We hates you too

Okay, this is kinda wild. @xcspence.bsky.social , you might love this.

This one is a little different, but if you want to see how some spider science gets done (and how you can do it, too), you can see what I learned from @cataranea.bsky.social and @ibycter.bsky.social when they put me up for three days in St. John's! youtu.be/6c2XqAsHnuo

Any of my Bluesky people out there have experience identifying Ctenids? Bonus points if you're in Arizona. Asking for a friend.

Some of Temu's AI-generated product images are something else. I just... don't know what to say about this one.

Trying to record music in my office and a major challenge is moving instruments around without putting them right through the webs of my orb weavers.

So with the size of the wildfires here in Nova Scotia being expressed in hectares, helpful people put this graphic on the internet and the math is right but WHY ARE THEY NOT SQUARES???

May I offer you the tiniest baby Ogre in these trying times 🤎 #EmotionalSupportSpood

After about a million delays, this is finally done. youtu.be/KLxyMur7JZ8

When you need a picture of a spider's claw tuft and the only instrument you have that gets close enough is your kids' old toy microscope. Kinda blurry but it's visible!

This little tiny Larinioides tho... (Whole spider is maybe the size of a lentil)

iNaturalist is normally pretty good at figuring out whatever I throw at it, but it seems to be having a real bad day today. Still don't know what spider this is, but I'm pretty sure it's not a bat.

Finally saw Revenge of the Sith, and I cannot believe there are really people out there who think it's the best film of the franchise. There are exactly two contenders for that title: The Empire Strikes Back, and Rogue One. I'm not actually sure which of those two wins. I will die on this hill.

Ok, bug nerds. I just got myself the Pentax Papilio II 8.5x binoculars and they ARE AWESOME. The selling point? They can focus on objects as little as 50cm/1.6ft away. They're basically a low-power stereoscope that you can just pick up and point at stuff. us.ricoh-imaging.com/product/papi...

Today I learned there is a ChatGPT "spider ID assistant." Please do not use ChatGPT or any other generative 'AI' to identify spiders (or anything else for that matter). A model trained on the current quagmire of misinformation and misidentified images online cannot be effective.

A featherlegged orbweaver in a pollen-dusted web. These fascinating venom-less spiders so often go unnoticed, as they're pretty tiny. I like them a lot. #Pentax K-5ii, 100mm Macro WR, flash

It's that time of year here when the cross orb weavers are emerging, both spiderlings just hatching to begin their lives and older juveniles from last fall who have overwintered at least once. Love these spiders. #Pentax K-5ii, 100mm Macro WR, flash

This jumper was a new one on me. Sittisax ranieri, Ranier's Patterned Jumping Spider. Thanks to @cataranea.bsky.social and @ibycter.bsky.social for getting me there, and for helping me figure out how to get the most out of my equipment. Cape Spear, Newfoundland #Pentax K-5ii, see alt for more

Grabbed a stick from outside to use for some spider photography, then noticed some tiny life on it and threw it under the digital microscope. Caught this adorable moment. Little guy just hitched a ride and snail didn't seem to mind.

Just spent an hour and a half trying to get two running crab spiders to fall in love so I could film the proceedings but it was like watching nervous ninth-graders trying to flirt at a school dance. Will try again later.

A first for me today. While I've come across other ant-mimic spiders, never before had I actually found an ant-mimic JUMPING spider. They definitely earn their name. Synageles venator, Palearctic ant-mimic jumping spider #Pentax K-5ii, 100mm #Macro WR, flash

Found this guy on my shed today, with his lunch still in his mouth, and he was kind enough to stay in one place long enough for me to run inside and grab the big camera after snapping a bit of video with the phone. Dolomedes tenebrosus #Pentax K-5ii, 100mm WR #macro, flash #photography

Just a couple of the lesser-known ones that frequent my front yard. Platnickina tincta, the false pirate spider, is an easily-overlooked cobweb weaver, while Castianeira cingulata, the two-banded antmimic, is a fast-running ground dweller. Neither was cooperative. #Pentax K-5ii, 100mm Macro WR

AI in the wild, folks. This was an ad on my FB feed for Temu, advertising a 1.25" to 2" trailer hitch adapter. I'm fairly certain that those don't look in real life like this one in Temu's product image.

I know I'm normally just a spider guy but this winter firefly I came across yesterday in the front yard was just adorable. #Pentax K-5ii, 100mm WR Macro, w/flash

Hey #spidersky: I know I've seen "insectary" as a word in papers, so is "arachnary" a thing? I need to know what to call that space in my house my wife graciously tolerates.

"Yes, revolution comes with laws, with injustice, with tons of danger, fear, sadness, but at the end, revolutions happen because love exists. And there's a need to give yourself for someone, or something." -Diego Luna

Zelotes sp., I think? I love how shiny and black these are. This spider was very resistant to anesthesia. Which is not a sentence very many people have occasion to often say. Yes, he's fine.

(To myself) "Do not cheer for Dedra Meero. Do not cheer for Dedra Meero. Do not cheer for Dedra-" (Dinner table scene) "DAMMIT."

Anyone want to see exhausted me interview exhausted @spiderdaynightlive.bsky.social about his book, how it works, and what went into writing it? Now you can. youtu.be/BczBmRasoiE

Sometimes, to get the shot, what you really need is a very sketchy setup that brazenly endangers expensive equipment because whatever's happening is happening right now and you might not get the chance to shoot it again. Needed both hands free to get this cellar spider footage but this worked.

Maddie was being very cooperative while she had her dinner so I thought I'd see what kind of photos I could get out of the Sony ZV-1 with the macro lens attached. It still doesn't hold a candle to the Pentax but it's not bad, either. (Platycryptus undatus, tan jumping spider).

This is absolutely true.

I never realized how adorable Araniella were. Those oversized posterior median eyes and their miniscule size make them look like shy little wide-eyed darlings. #spidersky #Pentax K-5ii, 100mm WR Macro, Promaster 7500EDF flash w/ diffuser

The subtlety...

Well, this is the most creatively descriptive criticism I've ever received on a video. Truly spectacular. I mean this was high-effort feedback right here, my hat goes off to this guy.

At long last, it's finally finished. Latrodectus fans, here you go. youtu.be/DHl_wRE4H0Y

Well, this is finally happening.

This video is a beast to edit. This is the current timeline for the first 35 minutes. The video is gonna clock in at around 80 minutes total. I am so tired but I've been working on this for three months and I'm on the home stretch.

On a short editing break, I found my little Whitman's jumper having her lunch, and she sat so nicely for me. The luckless fruit fly may not have appreciated it. Pentax K-5ii, 100mm Macro WR, Promaster 7500EDF flash

This seems to be the spider I'm seeing the most of inside the house this spring. Some kind of philodromid, probably Philodromus rufus? Not quite sure. Anyway, this one here is a good boy, and was roaming the wall in my hallway. Pentax K-5ii, 100mm Macro WR

Today I totalled up all the spider species I've found here on my property, inside the house and outside. Just a single-family house on a regular lot on a regular town block, nothing big. Forty-one. Forty-one different species of spider. So far. I wasn't expecting that.

The most insidious false whisper in my head is that I'm not doing enough—if I'm not saving the whole world at every moment, what am I even doing with my day? In fact: I need to adjust my notions of how the world is saved.

Insect people: please tell me that this is what baby crickets actually look like and that my feeder-cricket-rearing endeavor has been successful, instead of just a playground for mites or something. I mean they LOOK like little tiny crickets to me (this is very magnified).

Ok this is really just screwing around but this digital microscope thing is a lot of fun. Points to anyone who knows this watch.