Not too much to say about these relatively common spiders other than to note the funnel-shaped webs they spin, hence the name "Funnel-Web".
This monster of a Mygalomorph was found crossing a dirt road in Bay Area in California.
This is a very uncommon family of Mygalomorphs (which include the Tarantulas) called Cyrtaucheniidae.
My first photo of a scorpion. This TINY scorpion, no more than a centimeter or two long was found under a rock. It was rather chilly and he was not inclined to budge or try and sting me
This very small spider collects bits of dirt and debris on its web and then conceals itself among them so it can ambush its prey.
This is a fairly large wolf spider in the family Lycosidae, it blends perfectly with the sand
This pretty little jumping spider caught my eye while it walked along a pine tree. The bright red setae on the legs and chelicerae were incredibly pretty.
My first decent picture of a Salticid. If you do it correctly, pictures of these tiny spiders can be absolutely amazing.
This shot shows the large pedipalps really well, which indicates this is a male
One of my earliest attempts at macro-photography, this female Black Widow was found in an abandoned outhouse in western Missouri.
I turned over a log and what to my wondering eyes did a appear but a poisonous spider but I had little to fear. This is a female black widow spider, and it is in fact poisonous - but aside from hurting and giving you mild flu-like symptoms for a day, it does no lasting harm and won't be a danger unless your very young or very old. That being said, these spiders don't bite unless seriously provoked andyou're not likely to find them anywhere that should casuse you problems. These prefer under boards and rocks, old shed, things like that. Be nice to them, there is no reason to kill these spiders.
I did NOT know what this was when I was taking pictures of it from about 5 inches away. It was only later when going through spider families that I came upon the family Sicariidae, or Six-eyed Spiders, and that's when my stomach kind of flipped over. I'd heard of that family before, and the only thing I could ever remember hearing in relationship to it is that it's the family to which the Brown Recluse belongs. *shiver* I caught this guy and am saving him for my spider bio class this fall.
Caught this little jumper by sweep-netting on campus. Quite cute!
Hiding in thistle, completely ignoring all other insects
This colorful crab spider is called Misumenops celer, and in this photo it is devouring a small fly (maybe a Stratomyid)
Another jumping spider (I'm very fond of them) Caught while sweep netting around campus
This large spider is in the Nursery-Web Spider's family Pisauridae. Found this one under a board, and it scared me half to death
You can see the egg sac that is being carried around by the female spider (its the white thing)
This is the female of the same species, strong sexual dimorphism, though that seems to be pretty common in some groups of spiders
This is a Running Crab Spider from the family Philodromidae. This individual is eating a Crane Fly.