Latest Spider Stories
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Scientists say they have engineered a spider protein that could be the start of a new generation of anti-venom vaccines, with the potential to save thousands of lives worldwide. Researchers from the Universidade Federal de minas Gerais in Brazil say the new protein, created from parts of the toxin from the reaper spider, may be a promising candidate for developing therapeutic serums or vaccines against other venoms. Part of a family...
Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The idea that the female of a species would, after completing coitus, approach, kill and eat her mate is a sentiment that instills, if not fear, unease in many the male reader. This scenario, in fact, is exactly how the Black Widow spider got its name. However, according to researchers out of Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, the popular knowledge behind this spider might not necessarily be so. Study authors Lenka Sentenska...
Rayshell Clapper for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online After learning about human genetic engineering, many readers might want to find out about some examples of genetic engineering. Both bizarre and beneficial, the following article highlights some truly fascinating and pragmatic examples of modern genetic engineering. The Biotechnology Forums, a website for professionals and students in biotechnology (the area that studies genetic engineering) recently explained some of these...
NEW YORK, March 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pikes Peak record holder Rhys Millen and Winter X-Games snowboarder Chanelle Sladics "race" through the Rocky Mountains Video shows McLaren 12C Spider driving on Loveland Pass can be viewed and embedded via the official McLaren Automotive YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/McLarenAutomotiveTV Video produced and directed by J.F. Musial from www.youtube.com/DRIVE To mark the start of deliveries of the 12C Spider in North America, McLaren...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Butterflies are vibrant and colorful insects, with colorations designed to deflect predators. A new study from the University of Florida reveals that some of these predator driven defenses may be caused by enemies one-tenth the size of the butterfly. Since Darwin sailed on the Beagle over 150 years ago, scientists have theorized that the main influence on the evolution of coloration in butterflies came from large predators such as...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Movies and comic books are primarily based on fantasy, but a new study shows how one particular concept involving Spider-Man might be more feasible than most superpowers. University of Leicester physics students found Spider-Man's webbing strength would hypothetically be strong enough to stop a moving train. In the movie Spider-Man 2, the Marvel comic character uses his webs to help stop a runaway train before it plummets off the...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Bio-inspired, man-made materials may one day offer up designs that are more lightweight, tougher, and stronger than other options out there. A team writing in the journal Science say they have identified characteristics of biological materials they think engineers will be able to emulate in future materials. Two engineers at the University of California, San Diego examined three characteristics of biological materials, including...
Researcher and team are the first to measure all of the elastic properties of an intact spider's web, drawing a remarkable picture of the behavior of one of nature’s most intriguing structures. The work could lead to new “bio-inspired” materials that improve upon nature. As fibers go, there’s never been anything quite like spider silk. Stretch it. Bend it. Soak it. Dry it out. Spider silk holds up. It is five times stronger than steel and can expand nearly a third greater than its...
Pensoft Publishers Two wasp species, Calymmochilus dispar and Gelis apterus, have been recorded as parasitoids on ant-eating spiders in a study published in the open access journal ZooKeys. The host spider, Zodarion styliferum, belongs to the largest genus of predominantly ant-eating spiders. Their distribution area includes Europe, Asia and North Africa, significantly with at least 35 species reported for the Iberian Peninsula only, marking a record in numbers in Portugal, where this...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Scientists are unraveling the mysteries of what makes the fiber that spiders spin five times as strong as piano wire. A team from Arizona State University found a way to obtain a wide variety of elastic properties of the silk from several spiders' webs using non-invasive laser light scattering techniques. "Spider silk has a unique combination of mechanical strength and elasticity that make it one of the toughest materials we...
Latest Spider Reference Libraries
Image Caption: House Centipede, Scutigera coleoptrata. Credit: Bruce Marlin/Wikipedia (CC BY 3.0) Scutigera coleoptrata is one of many species of house centipedes. This species is native to the Mediterranean, but it is capable of moving to other region of the world including most of Europe, South America, North America, and Asia. It is thought to have first ventured from its native range into Mexico and Guatemala, and its range has now stretched into Argentina in the south and Canada in...
Arachnology is the scientific study of spiders and related specimens: including scorpions, pseudo-scorpions and harvestmen. These animals are collectively known as arachnids. Ticks and mites, on the other hand, although are in the arachnid family, do not typically fall under archeology studies; these small creatures are usually studied under Acarology. Arachnology derives from the Greek words arachne (meaning spider), and logia (meaning sayings). People who study spiders and other...
The Zebra spider (Salticus scenicus) is an ordinary household jumping spider. In the same vein as other jumping spiders, this spider does not build a web. Four pairs of large eyes allow the Zebra spider to quickly locate prey, pounce, and hunt. It has been noted and observed by humans that the Zebra spider is considered curious and cat-like while hunting. This spider seems to be aware of its audience and the spider responds to his audience by lifting his head and studying its observers....
The Redbacked Jumping spider (Phidippus johnsoni) is one of the largest and most common jumping spiders in the western parts of North America. It is not to be mistaken for the highly venomous and unrelated Redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti). The Redbacked Jumping spider may inflict a painful bite in self defense if threatened, although there are not any serious medical consequences. Adult Redbacked Jumping spiders are usually about 0.4 inches in length. Although the female has an...
The yellow sac spider (Cheiracanthium punctorium) is a spider that is found from Central Asia to central Europe. The yellow sac spider can reach about 0.6 inches in length. This spider can penetrate the human skin. The bite of this spider may feel similar to a wasp sting though it may be a bit more severe, however susceptible persons may have stronger reactions such as nausea. Female yellow sac spiders build about a 4 centimeter egg-sac in tall grass. It is aggressively defended and opens...
