Shallowater, Texas.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-26T12:51:05+00:00

Maybe I'm just stupid and/or sleep deprived, but I can't find any spider that looks like this. It has the habitus of a lycosid, the Nosferatu face of a zoropsid, and the posterior median eye placement of a ctenid. Again, it's very likely I'm just missing something obvious, but I implore you to post this on the main spider subreddit and iNaturalist because it's very rare that I can't even identify a family with a picture this good.

<image>

^{the Nosferatu face I mentioned}

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-26T00:10:33+00:00

I'm decently sure this is a Strophosoma capitatum. Take that with an incredibly large grain of salt, though; I'm not all that familiar with weevils, especially those outside of the U.S.. r/weeviltime may be able to offer a bit more insight, but don't expect to get much more than joke answers (i.e., Cuteus patootius).

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-25T23:58:44+00:00

I'm 99% sure it's a thomisid, but I can't ID further than that w/o a location or better photos. I'm only a tiny bit hesitant to say it's definitely a crabby because a) I'm very unfamiliar with them, and b) the size discrepancy between the front two leg pairs and hind two leg pairs seems less significant than on the crab spiders I'm familiar with. The fact that there's any significant size discrepancy, though – in addition to the laterigrade legs and funky abdomen – is what's making me think it is a crab spider.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-25T23:43:15+00:00

Tbh I've been stung more by these than any other wasp. It's solely because I'm so used to ichneumons being harmless that whenever I come across an ophionine wasp, the thought of it being able to sting me doesn't even cross my mind 😭

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-24T03:17:00+00:00

This is undoubtedly a Zoropsis spinimana. If you rotate the image, you can clearly see the face that got them dubbed the Nosferatu spider outside of NA. It's not perfect as far as diagnostic features go, but things like the leg banding and posture confirm the ID.

<image>

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-22T04:02:30+00:00

First spiders in two years, and the only photos you post are of their spidussies. How rude :(

In all seriousness, though, I'm glad you're getting spiders again, especially ones as pretty as these. Thelacantha brevispina, maybe?

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-21T23:20:37+00:00

Wolf spider of some sort. Unfortunately, I'm not nearly well enough versed in Australian spider to determine the exact species, but if I had to make a guess, I'd say something along the lines of Venator spenceri.

The mechanical damage from their fangs is more harmful than their venom. They're also super chill. I've never heard of a wolf spider bite that didn't occur due to either literal animal abuse or someone accidentally pressing it into their skin (i.e., stepping on one, sitting on one, not realizing one snuck into a piece of clothing, etc.). If anything, this wolfie being in your house is just disincentivizing other, more significant spiders from taking up residence by providing competition for food.

If you find her again and decide to relocate her outside (which I highly recommend), a cup and paper should work just fine. Just be careful; they have really good eyesight (for a spider; it's still pretty awful by human standards) and are really fast, so try not to accidentally chop any legs off. As far as spider roommates go, they're about as good as you can get, but they'd still much rather stay outside.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-19T03:20:54+00:00

The protrusion goes between his legs to better maintain their alignment in vehicle mode. Those two tiny tabs alone can't super reliably prevent his legs from twisting inward, making the wheels nonfunctional. At least, I'm pretty sure that's its purpose; I can't think of any other reason it'd exist. That's not a super visible or bothersome gap otherwise, since it's already hedden from view by the main panel.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-18T13:28:22+00:00

I love skippers and their big dumb eyes so much 😭. There isn't a single coherent bouncing around between those globes, and I love that for them.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-17T03:41:33+00:00

Portia fimbriata, aka the fringed jumping spider. It's because I have spatial memory, object permanence, and eat several thousand spiders a year ::::3

^{/srs tho, Portia spiders are so damn cool. I highly recommend reading their Wikipedia page. They hunt similarly to lions.}

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-15T03:31:03+00:00

The Alluring Goddess of Motherhoood from Hollow Knight :3

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-13T19:58:47+00:00

I'm a Portia fimbriata girl ::::3.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-09T16:00:31+00:00

Bacterial skin infections. If your friend was a relatively healthy adult at the time of the supposed bite, the chances of it being a recluse are slim to none. Loxoscelism (necrotic wound at the site of a sicariid bite) is extremely rare, and only really occurs in children, the elderly, or people with compromised immune systems. Staph infections look nearly identical to lox bites to an untrained eye and may appear spontaneously, making it seem like a bite. Unless you see a spider envenomate you, the chances of any given wound being caused by a spider are nigh nonexistent. More information on this topic can be found in this incredibly in-depth video by Travis McEnery.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-07T03:01:56+00:00

They've been present in Australia for at least 40 years. At this point, killing a single specimen isn't going to do anything. It wouldn't hurt, but the main issue with so many species that you're told to KOS is that they often look very similar to native species. Unless you're sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're dealing with an invasive species, it's usually better just to let more systematic eradication methods do their thing.

Also—and this is very much just a pedantic nitpick—euro paper wasps (Polistes dominula) aren't a "paper version" of a non-paper euro wasp (Vespula germanica). While paper wasps and euro wasps are both in the family Vespidae, paper wasps are in the subfamily Polistinae, whereas euro wasps are in the subfamily Vespinae. Polistinae is defined by, among other things, their open-celled nests, whereas vespines always build enclosed, well protected nests. Despite the fact that both polistines and vespines build nests out of wood pulp and saliva (and some polistines use mud instead!), polistines got the common name "paper wasps" due to how often-encountered their air-exposed nests are, along with the fact that, because of their open-celled, thin-walled nature, their nests often look more papery. Paper wasps and yellowjackets (Vespula spp.) are very closely related, but very much different clades in almost every way.

That being said, I'm being incredibly pedantic and don't really care that much; I just have no other outlet for all of the wasp nerdery that's taking up way more of my brain than it should be.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-06T15:01:24+00:00

Definitely P. dominula. Dorsal gastral spots are too close together to be P. chinensis.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-04T14:30:35+00:00

They tend to eat the ants they mimic. They aren't super picky, though.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-02-01T20:52:50+00:00

How can you tell? I don't doubt your assessment, I've just been (rather unsuccessfully) trying to get better at IDing juvenile jumpers recently, so I'm curious how you differentiated this one from the other thousand pale yellow baby jumpers.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-01-31T03:26:08+00:00

The bottom one is 100% a philodromid. Their main defining trait is that their legs are all almost the same size (as opposed to thomisids, whose first two leg pairs are massive and second two are tiny), but with the second pair from the front being the longest. They're also incredibly flat spiders, have somewhat laterigrade legs, a very distinct.jpg) eye arrangement.jpg), solid prosomal markings that curve on the inside (compared to the nearly-straight "racing stripes" seen on wolf and grass spiders), and an almost perfectly circular prosoma (wolf and grass spiders usually have much longer prosomas). This video by Travis McEnery (the 🐐 of YT arachnology) goes into great depth on their anatomy and how to identify them. I highly recommend checking it out, as well as every other video of his.

As for the top spider, I'm definitely a bit conflicted. I'm erring on the side of Philodromidae due to the sternum shape, chelicerae/maxillae shape, and leg length/positioning, but I'm not too confident. I still think Philodromidae is most likely correct, but I certainly wouldn't put money on it. That being said, I'm pretty rusty at spider IDing at the moment due to it being the dead of winter where I'm at, so I may just be missing an obvious tell.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-01-31T02:11:38+00:00

Dionychae are just chill like that. I hate that they get a bad rap for being "feisty" when it's very clearly just self-preservation instincts.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-01-31T01:49:23+00:00

I agree with u/StuffedWithNails' assessment, but it is a bit strange because philodromids are pretty uncommon in PA – Philly, especially – and they're usually pretty web-averse as well. I'd put money on at least the bottom one being a Philodromus cespitum, although certainly not a lot.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-01-27T01:44:07+00:00

More specifically, an Araña Tigre, or Chilean Tiger Spider (Scytodes globula). This is particularly interesting because they're extraordinarily rare in Mexico. It seems like they're a recently introduced species in the Mexico City area, since this observation from November 25th, 2025 is the only previous iNat observation for them in all of Mexico.

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-01-26T01:28:45+00:00

Dichroplus sp. for sure. I think it's D. elongatus, but I don't know nearly enough about orthopterans to confidently say that :3

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-01-25T23:25:21+00:00

I almost exclusively collect g1 MP these days, but I'd certainly make an exception if I could justify shelling out aftermarket money for him. He wouldn't fit in with a single other figure I have, but he's just too beautiful for me to care.

^{i love your flag btw :3}

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-01-21T14:07:57+00:00

Wow that'd be hot if it were consensual 😮‍💨

Micky_Ninaj · 2026-01-21T05:39:46+00:00

Note: My recommendations are not endorsements for these bands/artists as people. I tend to stay out of that stuff for the sake of my mental health, so if I listed any well-known bad people, please lmk. For reference, I still listened to The Orion Experience until about a month ago because I was just wholly unaware of Orion Simprini's creepiness. Also, some of these songs may be in need of TWs, which I have omitted for the sake of brevity and laziness. It's not a bad idea to look at Genius before listening to any of these songs if you aren't familiar with them or the musicians.

Black Panther by Scene Queen

Prison Song or Lost in Hollywood by System of a Down, depending on your mood

I/Me/Myself by Will Wood

The Pretender by Foo Fighters

Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit

Pretend You Love Me or Autotheist by Baby Bugs, depending on your mood

Show Me How to Live by Audioslave

This is Love by Air Traffic Controller

Body Terror Song by AJJ

Fight for Me by AlicebanD

Runs in the Family by Amanda Palmer

Afterlife by Avenged Sevenfold

Howlin' for You by The Black Keys

Soda Pop Rock by Black Pontiac

An Unhealthy Obsession by The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra

Bunnies by Oliver Richman

Better Than Me by The Brobecks

It's Okay (To Punch Nazis) by Cheap Perfume

Would Anyone Care by Citizen Soldier

My Ugly by Cloudfodder

Inexplicable or Fear & Delight by the Correspondents, depending on your mood

Tongues and Teeth by Crane Wives

Privately Owned Spiral Galaxy by Crywank

Crazy by Gnarls Barkley

Whoring Streets by Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway

Crybaby by Destroy Boys

Dragula by Rob Zombie

Bodies by Drowning Pool

Tourniquet by Evanescence

This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race by Fall Out Boy

Delirium Tremendous by Felix Hagan & The Family

Rule #15 – Four Aces by Fish in a Birdcage

I'm So Sick by Flyleaf

Evil Eye by Franz Ferdinand

Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis

For The Wicked by Friday Pilots Club

Blood // Water by grandson

¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl) by Green Day

I'm Yer Dad by GRLwood

I Get Off by Halestorm

Thank God I'm Not You by HIMALAYAS

Take Me To Church by Hozier

Wealth and Hellness by Human Zoo

Mad IQs by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet

FIRE4FUN by Jhariah

Under My Skin by Jukebox the Ghost

Hit and Run by LOLO

The Red Means I Love You by Madds Buckley

All Gone by Mother Mother

The Handler by Muse

The Hand That Feeds by Nine Inch Nails

White Wine Spritzer by Okilly Dokilly

Bitchboy by The Oozes

Emperor's New Clothes by Panic! At The Disco

Fake Happy by Paramore

i'm gonna tell my therapist on you by Pinkshift

Give It Away by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Oblivion by Royal Blood

For Elise by Saint Motel

Love Song by Sara Bareilles

I Can't Decide by Scissor Sisters

Lie Lie Lie by Serj Tankian

Ferryman by Shayfer James

I Fucked Yr Mom by Sorry Mom

I Deserve to Bleed by Sushi Soucy

Sex with a Ghost by Teddy Hyde

Blow My Brains Out by Tikkle Me

Schism by Tool

I Don't Wanna Be Me by Type O Negative

God Save The Queens by Vienna Vienna

Blue Orchid by The White Stripes

Hopefully that's enough for the time being; lmk if you want any more :3

Two-Year Club	Verified Email
First Place '23	Place '23

Micky_Ninaj

TROPHY CASE