Creepy things

Working outdoors a lot, I’ve run into some pretty scary looking spiders and other creepy crawlies. With Halloween tomorrow, I felt it an opportune time to revisit some of these encounters.

Nearest I can tell the spiders shown below are jumping spider, wolf spider, and a marbled orb weaver. The third photo is an American Dagger Moth caterpillar — a real stinger! Be careful of these cute little critters. The fuzzy hairs (setae) are hollow, and when they touch the skin, they can break away and release toxins from poison glands.

Fun spider facts:

• As their name suggests, the jumping spider can jump up to 50 times its own body length.

• Wolf spiders are large and intimidating. The one pictured was at least 3” in diameter. They are known to attach their eggs to their abdomen and carry them around. Once the babies hatch, they will continue to ride around on the mother’s back until they are large enough to fend for themselves.

• There are many colorful varieties of the orb weaver spider. The one shown is in the lighter orange/beige family. They are known to spin large webs to capture their prey.

Shown above is a common dragonfly, one of my favorites. They may appear scary with their armored look, but they are actually quite docile, and even have the ability to fly backwards, as well as straight up or down and hover in place. They are most often seen flying around water bodies, particularly ponds, as their nymphs (young dragonflies) live in fresh water.

One of the first winged insects on Earth, dragonflies have amazing eyesight and a 95% success rate at catching insects, such as mosquitoes, midges, moths and flies, making them one of the most remarkable predators on the planet! Their 360-degree vision has inspired new technology, from drones and robots to artificial visual systems.