10-22-2020, 01:36 PM
When I first moved to west Michigan, I became interested in the natural flora and fauna and the local history from the territory era onward. The native tallgrass prairie remnants became of particular interest and so I would wander the public land (or not so public) looking for native grasses, plants and wildlife that include rare plants like native Prairie Smoke and threatened insects like the Karner Blue butterfly.
One insect of special interest were spiders. I have found a small trapdoor spider I can't identify online and two types of Northern Black Widow. The first black widow I saw was in a prairie remnant on a big clump of prickly pears. I tried to kill it with my shovel when I saw what it was. I've found many of them since and I find them to be extremely shy and avoid living in houses or out buildings, so I don't harm them and leave them be.
Now in my swamp, I've found them around my house, but this one is a very pretty sub-species I would relocate when I found them. The usual markings on the female Northern Black Widow are black body with a broken red hour glass on the underside of the abdomen. This one near the house has sky blue, red and white markings on it's back and a broken hourglass outlined in white underneath. I found several of these, a couple were even around the front porch and on the door jam. I found one just this season. I capture these ones and release them out by the ditch and power line easement.
The wolf spiders around here get big and really like hiding under tarps. For a large predatory spider, they are not really that aggressive though. One of the biggest ones I found is when I had some stuff under the front porch with a tarp over it. I reached under the porch without looking and I grabbed something that pinched my hand. I looked and there it was looking me right in the eye. I grabbed him pretty hard and he never bite hard enough to penetrate, so I give them a lot of respect, unless they get into the house.
One insect of special interest were spiders. I have found a small trapdoor spider I can't identify online and two types of Northern Black Widow. The first black widow I saw was in a prairie remnant on a big clump of prickly pears. I tried to kill it with my shovel when I saw what it was. I've found many of them since and I find them to be extremely shy and avoid living in houses or out buildings, so I don't harm them and leave them be.
Now in my swamp, I've found them around my house, but this one is a very pretty sub-species I would relocate when I found them. The usual markings on the female Northern Black Widow are black body with a broken red hour glass on the underside of the abdomen. This one near the house has sky blue, red and white markings on it's back and a broken hourglass outlined in white underneath. I found several of these, a couple were even around the front porch and on the door jam. I found one just this season. I capture these ones and release them out by the ditch and power line easement.
The wolf spiders around here get big and really like hiding under tarps. For a large predatory spider, they are not really that aggressive though. One of the biggest ones I found is when I had some stuff under the front porch with a tarp over it. I reached under the porch without looking and I grabbed something that pinched my hand. I looked and there it was looking me right in the eye. I grabbed him pretty hard and he never bite hard enough to penetrate, so I give them a lot of respect, unless they get into the house.