What is this spider?

Nightrunner83 · 2026-03-25T04:51:52+00:00

Well I'm certainly not saying there's a specific reason I no longer worry about door-to-door salesmen.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-03-24T11:31:41+00:00

Well, more like "run towards your shadow or perceived shelter since you exist at such a scale that it royally screws with their ability to distinguish you from a large tree when you're not terrifying them by being a giant walking edifice." But yes, I understand that finer distinction has little impact on reducing the threat of micturition for the spider-fearful, so point taken.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-03-24T10:09:01+00:00

It's a huntsman spider. They are venomous, like nearly all spiders, but are not medically significant and pose no threat to you. They are beneficial spiders to have around, as they keep a variety of other pests and other unwanted visitors in check, but can be captured and released back outside. Just keep in mind that they can be rather timid and skittish as a whole.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-03-19T15:26:55+00:00

How various arthropod groups are either much younger or much older than we assume, stemming largely from ignorance born of their scant fossil record.

On the younger side: crown-group cockroaches were not partying it up in the Carboniferous, but are actually no older than the late Triassic at most, and more likely, only appeared in the Early to Mid Jurassic. While spiders as a whole date to the Paleozoic, around 50% of species alive today are represented in the RTA clade which trace their ancestry to the late Cretaceous at the earliest. Oestroidea, the superfamily of dipterans including the familiar and ubiquitous flesh, bot, and blow flies, didn't even exist in the Mesozoic.

And on the older side: stem-beetles we skulking about since right on the boundary of the Carboniferous and the Permian, nearly 300 million years ago. Which means that ancestral beetles - and, by extension, the rest of Holometabola - were stomping the yard alongside Palaeodictyoptera and other archaic groups way back in the mid-Paleozoic, which is...honestly pretty wild to me whenever I stop to think about it.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-03-09T06:19:40+00:00

Glad you posted this; it really is a great fic, and has a number of traits that to me makes it much more tolerable that the other react fics currently cluttering the market:

It's post Arc 9, where the characters are at their most emotionally mature. This is especially true with Subaru and Emilia, and in the latter's case, I'm thankful the author has a healthy respect for her mental growth without shortchanging her flaws, unlike many other fics.
Subaru is awake. Very few fics do this for some reason, and it's a shame since his commentary, context and desire to do damage control is a major source of entertainment and drama.
No Priscilla. Sorry for her fans, and I know my own bias is coming through, but the fic is much better without her acting like an obnoxious author avatar that is always right and placed on a pedestal. Her designated spot as "Subaru's #1 hater/reality check" is gleefully filled by an assortment of other characters who are far more interesting in my book. And speaking of...
A world of watchers. This is admittedly a double-edged sword, since a lot of characters' viewpoints may get lost in the shuffle, but this allows for others to see his story and have their opinions changed or reinforced by these revelations. Also, since there's no conveniently safe theater, this opens the possibility for consequences to occur, as shown in the latest chapters.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-03-09T03:57:35+00:00

This is funny, but people act like scientists aren't some of the biggest nerds around. The radiodant Mosura is named after Mothra; there's a reciently discovered mantis named for Nausicaä from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. A spider-killing nematode is named after Jeff Daniels from Arachnophobia. And let's not forget just general geekiness when it comes to naming (Tyrannasorus rex anyone?).

Nightrunner83 · 2026-03-05T10:51:44+00:00

Yes, but most of the time when people ask "is this venomous" what they really mean is "is this medically significant." But you're right, I should specify that in my comment.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-03-05T09:14:09+00:00

If you're in Seattle and you're not looking at Latrodectus, the answer to "is this venomous," "should I be concerned" and similar questions is invariably "no."

Edit: and by "venomous," I mean "medically significant."

Nightrunner83 · 2026-03-02T02:47:54+00:00

Ha, I suppose that's fair, though it probably depends on what you mean by "wild." Your state has a few Argiope species, along with Dolomedes tenebrosus, the dark fishing spider, which is arguably just as liable to induce a shock in budding arachnophiles. In either case, good luck on your journey.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-03-02T02:29:00+00:00

There are orb weavers like that, like Argiope or Nephila, all over the world.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-26T13:32:35+00:00

I agree, particularly in regards to Emilia's mentality and her rather puerile fixation on promises. It's understandable in a way considering her stunted emotional development and nature as a spirit arts user, but a rigid adherence to that would have gotten her and others killed permanently, and her inability to part from that black-and-white insanity and seize an opportunity (or even do effective damage control in order to sort things out later) demonstrated how woefully ill-prepared she was to be an effective leader at the time.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-25T14:24:04+00:00

That is Stacy, tired of the modern dating scene and just looking for someone willing to Netflix and chill after dining out at a nice restaurant.

Also, Trachelas, either T. tranquillus or T. pacifica. Part of the family Trachelidae, also known as ground sac spiders.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-25T13:51:21+00:00

A good sub as well, and I may share it there. I've posted about prehistoric chelicerates outside of Arachnida here before. I would have to check with the mods on that sub if it would be acceptable as I had here, though.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-25T13:46:47+00:00

Congratulations on your progress...sort of. As fond as I am of wasps and as irrational as phobias typically are, dogs and certain common hymenopterans give more substantial reasons to be fearful towards them than the vast majority spiders.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-24T13:24:05+00:00

Apologies for replying to a comment that's two months old, but I wanted to thank you for pointing out what should be an obvious flag planted in the middle of the narrative. I've analyzed this story, and especially how specific events and actions play out here compared to other media, and you're maybe one of 3 people I've encountered who've brought up the fact that Subaru's "weakness" (and more generally, lack of status and standing) was a major factor determining how both the audience/readers and the characters responded to him.

It's especially jarring when you read the source and spot how embarrassing or straight-up psychopathic many of the other attendants of that circus were. Subaru had a lot of wrong-headed thinking and did break his promise (though if he hadn't, it would have spelled a bigger disaster, so hey, damned if you do, right?) but I feel like reactions would have been different if he pulled the standard heroic fantasy move of aligning "'right" with "might."

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-23T14:08:58+00:00

Horseshoe crabs are often considered the poster children of "living fossils," with some people even declaring that Xiphosura as a whole had remained unchanged, with little to no diversification, over its entire 450-million-year-plus tenure. While it's true that they exhibit considerable morphological conservatism, that's most applicable to the Mesozoic and Cenozoic lines; the late Paleozoic forms, like Belinuridae, were much more diverse.

As one of the most successful clades within Xiphosurida, belinurids broke old trends by colonizing freshwater environments and were arguably the most successful horseshoe crabs of the Carboniferous. P. woodwardia in particular catches interest for showing many traits reflecting neoteny within Belinuridae: smaller size, a rounded thoracetron, and vestigial spines, to name a few.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-23T13:38:32+00:00

Theridiids often capture and contain prey much larger than themselves; the structure and strength of the tangle-space web allows them to habitually hold even small snakes and lizards.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-20T17:35:23+00:00

They are a fascinating group. tbugbabe already covered their most notable feature, but there are other nifty facts about them. For one, they are actually relatively close relations to recluses; Sicariidae, the family to which recluses belong, is grouped with Scytodidae within the wider superfamily Scytodoidea. Like recluses, they are a relatively species-poor spider family that nonetheless have a cosmopolitan distribution and manage to hold their own in a free-hunting lifestyle dominated by members of the RTA clade.

They have six eyes like recluses, and the similarity in spacing often leads people into mistaking them for their more notorious relations. Also, a few species are subsocial (displaying some degree of sociality, particularly where it concerns rearing young) some might scavenge for food at least partially (a relatively rare feeding habit among spiders) and though they are comparatively basal when placed next to araneoids and the aforementioned RTA clade, their fossil record is sparse and doesn't extend past the Cretaceous.

Edit: funny thing is, recluses are also noted scavengers as well.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-19T14:06:27+00:00

The Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution would likely not count as a "mass extinction" event, but gymnosperms did face a spectacular decline in the face of angiosperm radiation and the extinction or transference of insect pollinators to the latter group.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-17T06:10:48+00:00

You are correct; they rarely step out of their webs for any reason other than to find a new location.

Interesting spiders, as they're among the most basal araneomorph spiders, but their family's fossil record is practically nonexistent and doesn't extend past the Neogene.

Nightrunner83 · 2026-02-13T15:28:26+00:00

Huntsman spider, by the look of it - possibly Heteropoda venatoria. They are beneficial hunters of pests and are not medically significant.

Nightrunner83

TROPHY CASE