| Today I thought we'd take a break from carnivorous creatures and focus on something herbivorous: millipedes. Actually, to be completely accurate they're detrivores, which means they eat detritus (what accumulates on the forest floor.) Now, at first that may seem a little gross. Who knows what there is disintegrating under that seemingly harmless layer of dead leaves? Well, the truth of the matter is that you'll probably never know thanks to these handy little critters. They can be compared to the familiar earthworm. They perform much of the same duties as an earthworm, but amazingly convert much more of the dead leaf litter and other things into soil than a worm. As you can probably guess, millipedes like dark, moist environments. Unless they stay moist, millipedes will dessicate (dry out.) So uh... how do you identify a millipede? Or, even better, how is a millipede different from a centipede? Generally millipedes have many more legs than a centipede. An easy way to remember this is that "milli "means million, and "pede" means foot. "Centi" means hundred. So quite literally they are the million foots and the hundred foots, although neither one ever has that many legs. :) Also, centipedes are very fast and move similarly to a snake, while millipedes plod along slowly. One reason to know the difference between them in your head is to realize that centipedes have fangs and venom to capture live prey, and may not hesitate to bite if threatened or under the impression that your finger is food. Some of the larger centipedes have strong, painful venom as well, so it is best to leave them alone. Millipedes, however, are perfectly harmless. In the pictures on the side, the first two images are of millipedes, but the last one is of a centipede. You can see how fast the centipede is moving by the blurring of the legs. Just don't eat millipedes. ;) Their only method of defense is a type of poison they exude from pores in their sides. If not ingested, the worst it will do is leave a brown stain on your hand for a few days. So there you go... that's what millipedes are and how to identify them! I hope this was helpful to some of you that may have been confused about the difference between millipedes and centipedes. (Or just plain interesting if you had never wondered before now!) |
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Why would anyone want to keep a spider as a pet? I can hear you questioning my sanity at this very moment. Well, there are lots of reasons. Some people want to overcome their arachnophobia (and this is a very effective method by the way), or a general dislike and fear of spiders. Some, like me, are just curious about the spider itself and keep it for observation. Another personal reason I keep spiders is because during the winter most of them die off, so I can't go find one whenever I please like in the summertime.
Alright then, now that I've given you some good reasons for doing it, how do you actually go about keeping (ugh) a spider? I'll show you how to keep a jumping spider alive below. :) Finding Your Pet Finding them is easy. All you have to do is go look someplace sunny, such as a wall or fence. That's where I find the most jumping spiders. To catch it on a flat surface, place a glass or small cup over the spider slip a paper between the glass and wall. If it's not on a flat surface, try using the paper to gently "flick" the spider into the glass. Or, if you're especially brave (my personal favorite method) is coaxing the spider onto your hand and then into the cup. They won't bite unless pinch-grabbed or pressed against the skin. In other words, don't ask to be bit, and you won't get bit. :) Caging Caging is also easy. Just find a big plastic jar such as the ones cheese puffs sometimes come in, or a big plastic pickle jar, and you're set. Just drill or melt (using a hot nail heated over a candle) three rows of holes spaced 1 to 2 inches apart into the jar. Make sure the holes aren't any bigger than the "head" of the spider, technically called the cephalothorax, and so it won't be able to escape. Plenty of holes is a good thing, because without enough air flow the jumping spider will become listless and die. Then, turn the jar upside down so the spider's "tent" like I mentioned in the prior post isn't built on the underside of the lid. If it's on the lid, you'll rip its tent apart every time you open the jar. They like to build high, so turning the jar upside down will guarantee no problems. Also, leftovers after the spider finishes eating will be dropped onto the lid for easy removal. Another important note is that only one jumping spider can be kept per jar because they will cannibalize each other. Food and Water It is important to know and understand before we start this section that spiders have very slow metabolisms. Therefore, feeding a descent-sized prey item once a week or even less is all they really need. Jumping spiders love flies, small crickets (store bought only, wild ones are too big), moths, and just about anything smaller than themselves. Avoid feeding them anything dangerous like ants which can bite, and small bees or wasps which can sting. Use a spray bottle and give the container a light mist once every week or two, and they will drink the water off the sides of the jar. Don't give them a water dish as they may drown. I hope you enjoyed my post and found it helpful or informative. Comments are welcome, I want to know what you think! By definition, jumping spiders are any spider from the family Salticidae, and some of their distinguishing characteristics are four large eyes on the front of their "faces" and cat-like hunting maneuvers. It is believed that jumping spiders can see very well, and from personal experience I believe they can. They are always very alert to their surroundings, looking in every direction to see what's going on around them. Don't worry, the thought of a spider that can track your every move might be alarming to you, but they aren't very big at all. Some of the biggest species get to a little over 3/4", but they are the minority. Most jumping spiders fall far short of that. Now, what do these interesting little spiders eat? Bugs, of course! I have observed them take down prey items over twice their size, which is always amazing. When hunting, jumping spiders flatten themselves to the surface they are on and creep forward slowly. When they get within a couple inches to half an inch of their prey, they glue a strand of web onto the ground (in case they miss and end up dangling somewhere,) and jump! Yes, jumping spiders can jump. :) Then they latch onto the prey until it stops struggling. In addition to being masterful hunters, each of them has their own unique, quirky personality, something not often found amongst other spider-kind. Some will only take on prey much smaller than themselves, some will take on large prey, some love to explore and some are more of the homebody type. How do I know this? I keep jumping spiders as pets, but that in itself is a whole 'nother topic for the future. :)
Another thing that some people might find peculiar about them is that they don't really spin webs. Not cobwebs, anyway. They do spin a sort of "cocoon" to rest in, something I call their tent, in addition to the anchoring I mentioned above when hunting, but that's about it. Their tents may be rather white and thick if the spider inside is going to lay eggs there, or is about to molt (shed their skin) so that they can grow. This post could not even be considered to scratch the surface of the jumping spider world, since the entire Salticidae family is made up of about 5,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders. I hope you'll stick around to learn more about these fascinating crawlies in the future. :) Hello world, my name is Katelyn, and I have a confession to make: I'm a bit of an all-around bug freak. Before you hit the "back" button on your browser and search for something more normal to read, I'd like to ask you a question. Can spiders be cute? "No!" you might shout emphatically, but I'd love permission to show you spiders differently. Sure, you might be thinking of the last eight-legged terror you saw scurrying across your kitchen floor as you sipped a cup of ice water fresh out of the fridge. But could spiders possibly be cute, too? Most of us live our lives believing superstitions revolving around spiders, thus causing us to kill them on site in most instances. Maybe even the picture of the spider above is causing you to shudder. Perhaps your cursor is hovering threateningly over the "back" button again. Before you make the fatal click, look at this photo. Many people ask me what it is when they haven't had a spider-discussing intro slapped onto the table in front of them. It's a spider, isn't it? Count 'em, there's eight legs. :) This particular specimen is a species of jumping spider. I'll elaborate more on jumping spiders (what they are and how to identify them) in the coming days. This is an adult female Thiodina hesperia, to use the scientific name. Now you may say to me, "You still haven't proven anything. I don't call this cute." Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I can't make you see this as cute if you don't want to. All the same, big eyes and a very alert disposition make this equal cute in many people's minds. In the world of spiders, it doesn't get much better than this. :)
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