Eastern Cave Long-jawed Orb Weaver - The Spiders in Your House
Vložit
- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- Meta ovalis, the Eastern Cave Long-Jawed Orb Weaver, is a cave-dwelling spider found in Eastern North America. I found this one at Fort Charlotte on Georges Island in Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada. See what we know and what we don't about this fascinating spider, and learn where you might find it. Also, learn some of the history of Fort Charlotte, the expulsion of the Acadians, the origin of the term Cajun, and how it all played into Canadian and American history.
All un-credited photos and video herein are my own; all others are credited in video.
Want the "LESS WRONGER IS MORE BETTER" mug for your desk? Get it here! spidersinyourhouse.myshopify.com
Support me on Patreon (and get exclusive content)! www.patreon.com/user?u=86046992
Want to learn how to identify LOTS of spiders? Check out Sarah Rose's "Spiders of North America", the first book I reach for when identifying spiders (I earn a small commission if you purchase through these links).
If purchasing from the United States: amzn.to/3OGznzN
If purchasing from Canada: amzn.to/44Wz5dR
References
Mammola S, Isaia M (2014). Nice differentiation in Meta bourneti and M. menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) with notes on the life history. International Journal of Speleology 43(3):343-353.
Rose S (2022). Spiders of North America. Princeton University Press.
Rector MA (2009). Foraging in the Cave Environment: The Ecology of the Cave Spider Meta Ovalis (Araneae: Tetragnathidae). (Doctoral Dissertation, the Ohio State University).
Smithers P (2005). The early life history and dispersal of the cave spider Meta menardi (Latreille, 1804) (Araneae: Tetragnathidae). Bulletin of the British Arachnologoical Society 13(6):213-216. - Věda a technologie
Parks Canada don't want you to know this, but the spiders in Fort Charlotte are free. You can take them home. I have 397 Eastern Cave Long-Jawed Orb Weavers at home.
Ha! Should have snagged one... ;)
Thanks to you, I can now exist within a dozen feet of an upside-down cellar spider and feel trepidatious fascination instead of outright panicking horror.
That is wonderful to hear. Glad you were able to trade fear for fascination.
This might help you, or make matters worse. But I sleep with atleast 5 of these critters right above my head. And I mean right above me, 20-30 cm at best to the closest one.
I wonder how many people will start asking the tour guides about the spiders at the fortress as a result of this video? I wonder how many tour guides will be utterly confounded by this phenomenon? I guess I have another reason to go back to visit Nova Scotia now. 🕷🕸
+
I actually wondered exactly the same thing... the guides would be so delightfully confused.
Fort Charlotte itself is really cool, too; the spiders ice the cake.
What would be really funny is if we found out that somehow these spiders live like 50 years or some shit
Your sense of humor is terrifying.
@@therongjrwhy? That'd be really interesting!
@@fireblow6842 exactly. Just like how snapping turtles have been found with musket balls in their stomaches. And tarantulas already live like 30 something years for females so a spider having a long life like that would be absolutely crazy to think about. Bats already throw off what we know about aging in animals with lower intelligence.
Well, the oldest spider on record was 43 years old when she died. Her name was Number 16, and one dedicated biologist went out and checked on her every six months or year for that entire time. It's quite the story.
@@travismcenery2919 I wonder how much such a high age affects the spider regarding speed, reflexes and life experience
Your scientific curiosity is a thing of beauty. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
My pleasure!
@@travismcenery2919you also have golden humor
These are the spiders in your Christmas tree
I'd never heard of this Christmas tradition before but this video showed up in my CZcams feed today
The legend of the Christmas spider
I've actually got one of those Christmas tree spiders, and we've had that tradition in my family for years. It's a great tradition!
Really enjoyed this small episode! As much as I love hearing about the spiders in our houses, it's fun to hear about others. Wouldn't mind if this became a more consistent thing
I'll keep that in mind. Glad you enjoyed it.
Not gonna lie, for a minute there I was really wondering how the Akkadians got to Canada
The history of the Acadians is fascinating as well as tragic.
Interestingly, in Poland, Meta menardi (the European cave spider) is often percieved as the most venomous spider in the country, at least by the mainstream media. However, there are no cases of confirmed M. menardi bites in the literature, and this species is both uncommon (restricted to caves, adits, etc. in the southern regions of the country) and reluctant to bite (a friend of mine couldn't get it to do so).
It's almost certain that M. menardi isn't the most venomous spider in Poland and I hope someone will finally disprove the deleterious claims about this species.
I have never heard that before (but I'm in Canada). Interesting. I wonder how they got that reputation; there might be an interesting story there. But in my digging around, I couldn't find anything about the venom effects either.
Unfortunately disproving the claim probably won't change it's image. People seem to be weirdly emotionally attached to myths and misconceptions about the dangers of spiders.
@@rogercroft3218 it's an uphill battle, yeah. I went into that in the Giant House/Hobo/Barn Funne Weaver videos quite a bit. The story of the hobo spider is actually kind of wild.
Well, in eastern and Central Europe, they tell us that sitting on concrete outdoors will make you sick. 😊
Great video...your enthusiasm for spiders is admirable. Without the "freedom units" translation, I would have been totally lost.
Glad I could be helpful.
9:57 Love this. (I'm American🙃)
I learned two things so far today and it's early yet.
1. Acadians are today's Cajuns (I love anthropology!)
2. Spider silk is affected by electrical fields.
I never stopped to think about static electricity and its effect on spider silk.
Amazing, isn't it?
Saw these in the de Soto caverns in Alabama. Neat species, honestly. I think that the evolution of tactile receptors in orb weavers make them ideally suited for hunting in places where prey are also sensitive to vibrations, but are less specialized to do so than the spiders who hunt them. Orb weavers are less vulnerable being on a surface in the dark because they are obviously less visible. I guarantee the reason why the spiders find caves has to do with the pressure of natural predators of orb weavers, particularly birds, and the fact that most birds tend to avoid caves. Bats also tend not to be big spider predators. The web may simply be there to warn bats that they shouldn't go poking their little leaf noses around that area. This is all speculation, but I think such speculation when done in a way that at least seems scientific is entertaining.
Travis, don't worry about converting to Standard measurement. Honestly, if it weren't for real estate, car manufactory, and transportation, the US would be using the metric system. It's just tied up in money and land, so it's not going anywhere. Fahrenheit is more easy to read than Celsius for cooking and practical applications and converts from Kelvin better if you're a nuclear reactor technician. Just saying.
All of that sounds very plausible about this spider. Of course, it begs the question, why don't they all live in caves? But I guess there are only so many caves... Lots to explore there.
And the unit conversions are a thing that is both somewhat helpful to a lot of people and a little bit of fun at the same time, honestly. To be fair, Canadians do this weird thing where there are some thinks (like baking) where we still use primarily Imperial measurements. It's sort of a mix. But all official stuff is metric.
Do these spiders tend to cohabitate with bats? That would def provide bugs for them.
Thank you especially for this video. This is completely interesting and informative!!
I am a caver, from S.W. Pennsylvania USA
and personally have observed, several of them just as you have described in all three light zones in caves. My other observations align with the shape of their webs in relationship to how deep in the caves they were. The ones that were living in complete darkness, were only so far into the zero light zone. Then the cave lacked their presence deeper into the passages. I am not sure if that would be due to, lack of food, lower temperatures or both situations!!~*
🦇 💕🖤🕸🕷🖤💕
That is an interesting note. I would love to know if others have the same experience.
@@travismcenery2919 I have shared this video with friends of mine, that are out experiencing much more caving and exploring than I get to do . They possibly may at some point, share their findings with you !!~* 🦇🖤🕸🕷🖤🦇
Thanks for the unit conversation!
Very interesting. Guess that's proof that one may never know what they're going to find unless they look. Very awesome and informative video as always. Thank you for everything you do. 🕷️❤️
You're most welcome, and thank you! It really is amazing what you find when you just look closely.
Here's a comment for the algorithm. Love the vids! So cool how these guys will leave their webs to hunt.
I thought that was really cool, too! And thanks for the comment.
I had an absolutely beautiful golden orb weaver that set up shop behind the driver side mirror of my car and she lived back there for about 3 years. Every morning she had a full web spun and was eating insects and when i remote started my car she crawled behind my mirror. i didn't bother her and she never bothered me. When i washed my car I avoided that mirror and let her do her own thing. During that time I had a substantial less amount of bugs outside and she was fed good. she had babies one day and I came out to thousands of baby spiders all over my car and they all found their way. She didn't show up on my car again so I assume she died and the babies were her way of passing the torch. She provided a free service thati can never pay back. she lived so bugs I didn't want around could die. RIP golden orb weaver
What a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing.
Hello, just want to let you know that you’re one of my favourite spider channels. Hope you and your family have a happy new year!
Thank you. I'm honored you enjoy my videos so much. Happy Neww Year to you as well.
loved the history and backstory of finding these spiders, great video!
Glad you enjoyed!
Love my LWIMB mug! Drink my morning coffee in it all the time! Also love this species! The light/dark component of their lifecycle is fascinating! What a great strategy for finding new caves to inhabit!
Love the acronym for my mug! Glad you like it. I too, drink my morning coffee out of it as well.
I've found Pachygnatha in my back yard! Interesting to know they stop building webs as adults
Superb history lesson as well as research on the spider!
Glad you enjoyed it.
I saw a bunch of huge Meta menardi inside a water treatment plant manhole once, was pretty stressful to see them while seting up material but they were pretty chill and got cool pictures out of it. Always keep an eye out for the cool crawlers out there!
That sounds like a likely place for them. They're really neat, cool-looking spiders in my opinion.
Finally, a spider that shares my interests when it comes to dwelling locations.
I beamed a Cheshire smile throughout this episode. Something about this show reminds me of my ultra fanaticism of TV as a child. I’m hooked 🪝🕸️🪰💓🕷️
I'm honored that I brought you so much joy.
These little dudes are quite amazing indeed! Thanks for sharing this with us! You always do such great work.
Thank you.
I remember that I found a long-jawed orb weaver once, took some photos, and I had to try to identify at least the family - and got it to Tetragnathidae. I don't remember specifically which species I found, but I was intrigued by the way that it was clinging to a plant stem with half of its legs pointing straight forward and the other half pointing straight back. It makes sense given where I found it, which was right next to a major river.
Thats why I love spiders. So varied and unique, so many different behaviors. Great stuff, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Another great episode! Well done. Your powers of observation, as well as those of your wife and family, and your tenacity in research are phenomenal. Thank you for the engaging video.🕷🕸📖🤔
And thank you for your enthusiasm! Glad you enjoy my videos.
You do an outstanding job of packing these videos with interesting facts! Thank you and keep on keepin' on!
Thank you!
SPIDERS! ASOLUTE UNIT! CAVES! METRIC TO IMPERIAL CONVERSION! MUG! EW FLY! ANIME REFERENCE! LIZARD PEOPLE?! PATREON CREDITS! CHEERS! BLOOPERS! SPIDERS!
mfw mikasa ackerman spider: o:
Travis, I sooo look forward to your uploads!! Thanks, and happy new-year to you and the clan. We are praying ticslly neighbors!
Thank you so much, and same to you! If you're not far away, then you almost definitely have these spiders near you somewhere. They're not particularly rare, we just don't often encounter them due to their choice of habitat. Check iNaturalist, you'll probably find some observations near you.
Love the videos and your sense of humor. Keep it up!
Thanks so much!
great video as always! I love learning about individual spiders on your channel. this species is very interesting.
Glad you like them!
Happy holidays!
Your videos have helped several of my work shifts go by faster and more informatively; so thank you. I have several of them dotted through a work playlist and it's always nice when the opening jingle starts playing. And it has helped with my unease around spiders; though I don't think I'll ever get to the stage where I could hold larger spiders in my hand or in a cup/paper combo.
Housing a false widow in our kitchen window is enough :)
Tyndel
I'm really glad I could help out, both with your unease and with passing the time at work. I know what that's like... ;)
Happy holidays to you too!
came for the spood knowledge, stayed for the art and comedy. I laughed so hard at the little doodles and your teacher skit
Hehe, glad you enjoyed it! It's fun to play with greenscreens sometimes. ;)
Thank you for the Xmas present. Your videos are my favorite.
Glad you like them!
insanely fascinating, and that spider is incredibly beautiful - orb weavers in general happen to be my current Meta ;)
I can't wait for you to get published some day.
It's occurred to me to write something someday, but that would be way down the line. Thanks for the comment!
Hey Travis! Excellent video as always! Hope you and your family are having a great holiday season! I'm amazed but not surprised that they can sense electric fields. Spiders impress me every day. Hot take: Guren no Yumiya deserves a way better show than Attack on Titan :)
I'm hoping at some point you can do videos on black widows, brown recluse, and garden orb weavers. I'm an exterminator and I LOVE sharing your videos with my clients. I focus heavily on educating my clients about the benefits or at the very least "lack of need to panic" of certain "pests" around the house and minimising chemical usage, and of course, spiders are on that list! We don't have black widows or brown recluse in the area I work, however many clients are still paranoid about them. You explain these so well and I would love to be able to quell my client's fears with a little more authority (for lack of a better term.) I even passed your channel along to my routing manager! Personally, I've been bitten by black widows twice, and both times I felt a little nausea, cramping, and pain at the site. I was okay after about 5 hours and totally fine within 24.
Thanks so much for making these videos! My clients, coworkers, and I really enjoy them!
Happy New Year!
- Charlotte
Happy New Year to you too! And thank you so much for passing the videos along to people, that helps me out. As for the widow and recluse, stay tuned - I might be tackling them sooner rather than later, though those will be big undertakings. They're important spiders to get right. But I'll have good help on those.
And I do actually love that song (actually most of the AoT themes). Honestly I thought AoT was the perfect show for a lot of that music, but opinions vary, I suppose. Cheers!
See what you mean similar to the steotoda genre great video educational and enjoyable thanks for that keep it up Travis love your content
Thanks so much! Yes, it does have a Steatoda-esque look to it. I was surprised when I realized it was actually an orb weaver.
Heck yes, a boxing day treat for fans of Mr McEnery.
A wonderful surprise!
Thanks, glad you liked it.
This is so interesting, I love your channel
Glad you enjoy it!
Thanks Travis once again great entertaining information. I wonder if they are in the caves and tunnels because there's less competition for food and they are away from their predators.
That's definitely a possibility. I did this video pretty quickly, but perhaps I'll reach out someday to a couple of the people who actually studied them and ask about it.
I GOT NAME DROPPED WHAAAAAAAT
Hehe, was waiting for you to notice that... didn't want to steal one of your signature phrases, but it was just so applicable in this context, so I had to credit you. ;)
Fascinating history!!!!
Cool history and cool spider! A++
Nice video, and cool find!!
Found this spider in a very old abandoned mine in southeastern PA.
That sounds fascinating.
Thanks so much for this video!
I found one last summer in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We were camping and had the bikes outside under a cover. Guess it thought that was a cave. While packing to leave, I found it on one of the bikes. We took pictures and sent them in for ID. No spiders were harmed in this interaction.
Great to hear that you were able to do that without harming the spider. That's wonderful dedication and respect for life!
I got a good laugh out of your cutaway clip to show the metric conversion 😂
Wonderful video as always, and your pictures of this beautiful girl were amazing. What a lucky find, that you caught her tending to her egg sac! You can even clearly see the eggs inside. It's funny that the deep part of the cave is a child-free zone, and that the young punk spiderlings will be sent outside to play and won't return until they're mature. Those spiders are on to something.
Ha! I hadn't thought of it that way but you're completely right. "Off you go then, until you have your head on straight, then you can come back."
I'm waiting for a video about the black and yellow orb weaver. Beautiful spiders
I have them in my area, so I'm definitely going to cover them. Probably this summer or fall, as they're nowhere to be found right now.
yay. new spoder video. and so quickly after the last :D
Yeah, there wasn't a lot of information out there on this spider so I was able to get this one together pretty quickly. I'm also working hard to speed up the pace of video releases (though it's tricky), and I kept really focused doing this one.
Yesssssss history!!! I love this so much. History and natural history combined are my fav.
Glad you enjoyed it! Wasn't sure how the blend was going to go over, so I'm happy it appealed to you.
Also because of you I have eight jars of youngling wolf spiders that I've been observing since they hatched. It's super cute how they all have their own little personalities. Gonna release them in spring. I set up a whole 10 gallon bioactive terrarium full of creatures from outside, I love it. @@travismcenery2919
What a beautiful spider ! I love the gold dust marking.
Me too - I found these to be really beautiful spiders.
I've spent more of the holiday break than I'm willing to admit learning about spiders. Thanks for yet another lesson
Never be ashamed at the search for knowledge, especially about spiders. 😉
You're the best Travis
Another great video! 😎
Thanks so much!
Cool video 😎👍👍✌
I can’t wait until I can go spider hunting again, I bought all of my (2) friends bug ID field guides for Christmas so me and the boys are gonna get IN IT
Sounds fun! I'm looking forward to the outdoor spider season too - lots of species I'll be on the hunt for.
Thank you for converting to freedom units for us freedom users.
“Freedom Units?” How dumb is that. Join the rest of the world.
It's not like it's up to us random citizens lol I wouldn't mind switching over, personally, but there's not a whole lot I can do about it! Except Fahrenheit, I like Fahrenheit and I'm keeping it @@cedarwaxwing3509
Thank you for the Freedom Units, Travis
Anytime! ;)
New video!!! 🎉🎉
Still the best channel ever
Thank you!
"strike prey in the air on a dragline like they're Mikasa Ackerman"
Einfach Legende!
I love when people get my Attack on Titan references. ;)
@@travismcenery2919 hehehehe, yes!
I see, you're a man of culture! I like that. Do you know "berserk" as well? My recommendation for it if not. ^^
What a pretty spider.
I thought so too! Love those markings and the legs. Very striking.
Brain see your video, brain press play. Spooder moment.
Hey there, I live in central Illinois and there is a fairly big spider that comes out in the late summer early fall and makes some pretty big orb webs. I did some research and I'm pretty sure they are Neoscona crucifera. Could you do a video on these so I could learn more about them? Keep up the great work!
I'm planning on covering a very similar species. Nescona crucifera doesn't occur here in Nova Scotia, but Araneus diadematus does, which is a VERY similar spider and is high on the priority list to cover. Out of season at the moment, but I'll get to them!
They might change hunting styles for niche partitioning, to relieve pressure of overlapping prey for the species. Especially in prey deficient places like caves...
Thank you for the freedom unit conversion 😂😂😂😂
I didn't know that spiders used electric forces to carry them with their balloon, I always just assumed the caught the wind.
HALIFAX MENTION🎉 but seriously I really want to go out into the walking trails and see what cool bugs I find this spring/summer . There’s even a pitcher plant bog close to where I live!
the dedication to knowledge and the pursuit of it is so inspiring lol, keep up the amazing videos
Thank you!
Great video! Thanks.... lol (freedom units)
Lmfao!!! I love the intro!!!😂
Thanks! Had some fun with that one.
Cool
Love me some ontogenetic niche partitioning cave spiders!
Nice dig at NASA :) Thanks for the interesting video.
If Mark Rober has taught me anything, it's that mistakes are part of the learning process.
seen this spider in a sandstone mine in southern germany
I would think that was probably Meta menardi if it was in Germany - I don't think M. ovalis occurs in Europe. But they're practically the same spider.
George Island!
I’m thinking it has something to do with water. Spiders drink water. Maybe the caves provide moisture and protection from the weather.
You might be close, actually. That Stefano Mammola paper is all about how M. menardi and M. bourneti inhabit caves with very slightly different temperature and humidity levels. Other spiders can usually find water above ground without too much trouble, but these ones might need a certain moisture level in the air. It's a good question.
@@travismcenery2919 Well, they might be missing out on morning dew, but they’d get constant humidity in exchange. I’d like to find out how they utilize that.
Please tell us about fishing spiders, the largest spider in my state, (NY).
Serpa Design on YT found one in his shower. It’s a beauty!
They're on the list. Stay tuned, I'll get to them!
Change it back to house! If I don’t hear the original jingle on a new video, I don’t get my free hit of dopamine
Not to worry, it'll go back to that! I just adapted the opening for this particular video. Glad you like the main jingle, though!
The shy goth spider.
Apt description. I like it.
I wonder if they like the constant temperature allowing them to live a full life cycle instead of seasonal
It's still somewhat seasonal, in terms of when they reproduce, but the reduced fluctuation in temperature and humidity could definitely be a factor.
All those huge, very heavy cannons are pointed - down. how do they get the business end up? What does the spider eat?
I love seeing nerds excited about their Special Interests lol
A little OT but I'm curious, you mentioned in a previous video that orb weavers are closely related to the cob web spiders.
What is this relationship?
Are they sister families, or did one evolve from the other? And which evolved from which?
I don't actually have a good answer to that. I know that the webs of juvenile false widows show remnants of an orb structure, so there seems to be an ancestral relationship there, but I confess I don't have an understanding of the details.
@travismcenery2919
Fascinating. I'll have to delve deeper here.
Taxonomy is my gig and I confess I haven't done a lot with spiders.
Amongst a number of like 1000 content creators, that attempt using comedy to make complicated topics seem more accessible to new audience, there is always this ONE person, that really believes to have some talent for comedy...
.....and is right about it! Congrats, you are now permitted (by myself) to call or think of yourself as "the one funny truffle in a pile of 1000 stones"!
!Sadly, its mostly the other 999, that never get the point without explanation(kills the funny part), that fail at every aspect of comedial sense.
I am a caver. There are LOTS of flies in caves!
“Freedom units” lol
Lol, thanks for the "freedom units". 😆
One of your vids popped up in my recommended, so now I'm watching all of them, newest to oldest. I love spiders and insects in general! 🕷️🕸️🧡
Saw the flag…to get to the island did you catch a Ferry or a Fairy?
We took a Ferry, only because fairy wasnt an option, that would have been awesome.
We have some orb weavers making webs in our rabbits hutch, and they are too good at their job, as there is more food in there than any spider could dream to eat. Not the prettiest web once filled with 100s of insect corpses
Hehe, I bet! They do important work though!
I think it's a question of a niche they can exploit.
You might be right. It's interesting how they've adapted to specifically seek them out.
"young punks" lol