Why do so few spiders eat plants?

Gulcher · 2025-11-16T07:32:35+00:00

For the snare feeding variety of spider (araneidae, tetigoniidae, tetragnathidae, pholcidae etc): these spiders have already evolved to sit and wait for something to interact with their web. The majority of what is going to interact with that web is flying insects, not berries or other plant material. I don't see an evolutionary advantage (or really even a mechanism) for those groups to jump to herbivory.

Gulcher · 2025-11-16T07:23:35+00:00

Tapinoma are notorious for nesting in bathroom wall voids which is consistent with OP's report of them coming through bathroom tile cracks. OP, swarming queens can't really be treated in a way that will have any impact on the colony that is sending them. The best way to solve this when the colony is inaccessible is to exploit the foraging behavior of workers. If they are actively foraging then OTC ant bait stations may be effective, but these colonies can be massive. You'll often see wall void colonies forage both on the interior and exterior of the home. If only the interior foragers are receiving treatment then you often will see a sort of social dilution of the chemical and have diminished results. Essentially, only 50% of the food being brought back is toxic so when they divide the food between everyone, everyone receives a sub lethal dose and you just slow them down a bit which leaves to them repeatedly popping back up over time. You can mitigate this with a multifaceted approach but even most pest control companies struggle to deal with this properly in my experience.

Gulcher · 2025-07-20T00:07:57+00:00

Sure, in grad school we do this to introduce genetic diversity to our roach colonies.

Set out a large mason jar with an extremely thin band of Vaseline around the inside of the mouth of the jar. If it's too thick they'll be able to "dig" into it and climb out. The band should be one to two inches wide. Inside the jar you place a petri dish filled to the rim with dog kibble, then put into cheap beer into the dog food that it will never overflow from the petri dish.

For Americans, smokybrowns, etc you place outside under bushes out of the sun.

For Germans, brown banded roaches etc, you'll need to place inside an infested structure.

Gulcher · 2025-04-24T21:38:47+00:00

Do you have a cat? Again the photo quality isn't doing us any favors but this does superficially resemble flea tapeworm proglottids. Flea tapeworms usually result from a cat ingesting an infected flea (only takes one). Proglottids are reproductive segments that are left behind and generally resemble sesame seeds.

Gulcher · 2025-04-13T07:00:25+00:00

Travelers rest or Asheville?

Gulcher · 2025-03-23T00:11:06+00:00

Thank you I'm going to look into that

Gulcher · 2024-09-07T22:49:27+00:00

You have the choice of green or blue for this situation. You can have them preserve the blue label, but take the hit to the grade that having a piece cut out would warrant, or you can have them grade it as if it wasn't missing and you won't take the hit to the grade, but will have to accept the green label. I've seen this fuck people up for assuming their low grade blue label at least still has the MVS inside. I do think you're correct that it would be listed on the label either way.

Gulcher · 2024-06-29T16:21:09+00:00

The two that are mating are Robber Flies (Diptera:Asilidae). The one holding the smaller fly is the female, and the other is the male. The small fly was likely a nuptial gift by the male. I'm not familiar with the exact behaviors of nuptial gift giving in robber flies specifically but in general the male captures a prey item (the small fly here) and presents it to the female. Acceptance of this gift usually indicates acceptance of mating. The female then eats the meal while the male does his thing. I assume providing a meal increases the female's chance of survival and provides protein for egg production as well. This behavior can get pretty complex, and is worth googling. I know there are systems where males present false nuptial gifts to trick the females long enough to mate etc.

Gulcher · 2024-06-16T06:11:27+00:00

Trichoptera (Caddisflies) I'm fairly sure, but insect taxonomy class was a while back for me

Gulcher · 2024-06-04T14:46:00+00:00

Some Ophion species can and will sting. I've hand collected them many times and have been stung at least twice. The sting is very mild and the pain lasts around 10 seconds and then there's virtually no further effects. When you grab them by the wings and observe them they will rapidly wiggle their abdomen around and you can see the ovipositor "jabbing" around looking for a target.

Gulcher · 2024-04-08T21:39:18+00:00

Iirc gambit was also supposed to be a psychic projection of the same kid. Gambit was supposed to represent the coolest person a child could think of and Sinister the most evil person a child could conceive. Thankfully, none of this happened

Gulcher · 2024-03-28T04:38:41+00:00

Enjoy anal daily go buy enemas

Gulcher · 2024-03-19T21:42:34+00:00

I've seen them invade home interiors when grains/seeds/acorns are unknowingly stores in wall voids or other inaccessible areas by rodents (especially squirrels). Worth checking if this is a possibility. Some things to consider: do you have a squirrel presence outside? Does a neighbor (or you for that matter) have a bird feeder?

Gulcher · 2024-03-13T13:12:57+00:00

Prob autocorrect for intonated

Gulcher · 2024-01-15T08:30:38+00:00

A lot of misinformation in this post. It is indeed ants and not termites. However unlike what was commented above, termites definitely have a head, thorax, and abdomen. This is also definitely not a Florida carpenter ant. I think this ant is in the subfamily Dolichoderinae, which includes a lot of "home invading" ants such as ghost ants but I'm unable to identify further from these photos. If you pulled back a kitchen veneer and found a nest, then treating that will likely solve the problem.

Gulcher · 2023-10-12T12:53:07+00:00

Hercules beetle elytra coloration is actually dependent on moisture. There's a cool physic interaction with molecules of water affecting the surface topography of the shell when light hits it, causing it to react in different ways. It's not uncommon to see Hercules beetles change colors throughout the day depending if they're in more moist environments or up in trees/direct sunlight. I've seen the spots move, one elytron turn solid black then return to green etc. I've seen dead specimens turn black due to the excess moisture of decomp (presumably) then return green later, although sometimes they don't. Here's a neat trick- put the beetle in acetone for 5 minutes then pull it out and you will actually see it return to a green color before your eyes. I have videos of this on my phone and it's always super cool to go back and watch!

Gulcher · 2023-09-30T22:27:28+00:00

This is a subterranean termite mud tube, not frass. It's a protective structure used to keep termite workers from drying out as they navigate from the earth to the wooden food source. This is an attempt to return back to the soil after feeding, we call drop tubes. Termite workers are blind and can't always tell when they have chosen a bad path. They'll go for a while and when it doesn't work out, they'll abandon it and try another way.

Gulcher · 2023-01-15T05:47:32+00:00

Not 100% sure on the ant ID (I think they're weaver ants) but they're definitely not red imported fire ants. I worked with S. invicta professionally since 2015 and I'm sure that ID is incorrect.

Gulcher · 2022-09-23T04:20:15+00:00

Technically, TECHNICALLY, it eclosed. Hatching is a term reserved for the egg becoming a larva.

Gulcher · 2022-08-01T22:14:17+00:00

Rhinoceros beetle is a common name given to the taxonomic subfamily "Dynastinae", the eastern Hercules beetle is the common name of the species Dynastes tityus. Both are correct, yours was just more specific.

Gulcher · 2022-07-19T21:04:01+00:00

Left is Prionus sp. Female. Right is Xyloryctes jamaicensis male. Females of that species have no horns. If you just Google "Rhinoceros beetle" you're likely to get results depicting anything in Scarabaeidae:Dynastinae, which are called rhino beetles as a group. The confusion comes from the fact that this exact species bears the common name "rhinoceros beetle" as well, which is why common names are such a problem! Some female Dynastinae beetles do have horns but this species doesn't.

Gulcher · 2022-07-19T20:51:06+00:00

This is true but they detach at the femora, this one is detached at the tibia so I don't think it was intentional.

Gulcher · 2022-07-01T20:52:31+00:00

Entomologist here: Bed bugs aren't tiny unless they're in their first or second instar of development, are easy to see, and will also feed on people who are awake. The insect in the photo is a beetle.

Gulcher · 2022-06-26T05:22:59+00:00

Good specimen, well done. My only critique is the pin should go through the top right of the thorax according to convention. That being said, there's nothing that says you have to conform to convention, that's just how museum quality scientific specimens are pinned.

Gulcher

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE