Habits and Traits of the Common Cellar Spider

Habits and Traits of the Common Cellar Spider People often refer to cellar spiders (Family Pholcidae) as daddy longlegs, because most do have long, slender legs. This can create some confusion, however, because daddy longlegs is also used as a nickname for harvestman, and sometimes even for craneflies. Description If you havent guessed already, pholcid spiders often take up residence in basements, sheds, garages, and other similar structures. They construct irregular, stringy webs (another way to differentiate them from harvestman, which doesnt produce silk). Most (but not all) cellar spiders have legs that are disproportionately long for their bodies. The species with shorter legs typically live in leaf litter, and not your basement. They have flexible tarsi. Most (but again, not all) pholcid species have eight eyes; some species have just six. Cellar spiders are usually dull in color, and less than 0.5 inches in body length. The largest known pholcid species in the world, Artema atlanta, is only 11 mm (0.43 mm) long. This species was introduced to North America, and now inhabits a small area of Arizona and California. The long-bodied cellar spider, Pholcus phalangioides, is a very common find in basements throughout the world. Classification Kingdom – AnimaliaPhylum – ArthropodaClass – ArachnidaOrder – AraneaeInfraorder - AraneomorphaeFamily - Pholcidae Diet Cellar spiders prey on insects and other spiders and are particularly fond of eating ants. They are highly sensitive to vibrations and will close in on an unsuspecting arthropod rapidly if it happens to wander into its web. Cellar spiders have also been observed purposely vibrating the webs of other spiders, as a tricky way of luring in a meal. Life Cycle Female cellar spiders wrap their eggs loosely in silk to form a rather flimsy but effective egg sac. The mother pholcid carries the egg sac in her jaws. Like all spiders, the young spiderlings hatch from their eggs looking similar to adults. They molt their skin as they grow into adults. Special Adaptations and Defenses When they feel threatened, cellar spiders will vibrate their webs rapidly, presumably to confuse or deter the predator. Its unclear whether this makes the pholcid more difficult to see or catch, but its a strategy that seems to work for the cellar spider. Some people refer to them as vibrating spiders because of this habit. Cellar spiders are also quick to autotomize (shed) legs to escape predators. Although cellar spiders do have venom, they arent a cause for concern. A common myth about them is that they are highly venomous, but lack fangs long enough to penetrate human skin. This is a total fabrication. Its even been debunked on Mythbusters. Range and Distribution Worldwide, there are nearly 900 species of cellar spiders, with most living in the tropics. Just 34 species live in North America (north of Mexico), and some of these were introduced. Cellar spiders are most often associated with human dwellings, but also inhabit caves, leaf litter, rock piles, and other protected natural environments.

Modern Technology essays

Modern Technology essays Capital Punishment, legal infliction of death as a penalty for violating Criminal law. Throughout history people have been put to death for various forms of wrongdoing. Methods of execution have included such practices as crucifixion, stoning, drowning, burning at the stake, impaling and beheading. Today capital punishment is typically accomplished by lethal gas or injection, Electrocution, hanging or shooting. The death penalty is the most controversial penal practice in the modern world. Other harsh, physical forms of criminal punishment- referred to as corporal punishment- have generally been eliminated in modern times as uncivilized and unnecessary. In the majority of countries, contemporary methods of punishment such as imprisonment or fines no longer involve the infliction of physical pain. Although imprisonment and fines are universally recognizes as necessary to the control of crime, the nations of the world are split on the issue of capital punishment. About 80 nations have abolished the death penalty and an almost unequal number of nations retain it. The trend in most industrialized nations has been to first stop executing prisoners and then to substitute long terms of imprisonment for death as the most severe off all criminals penalties. The United States is an important exception to this trend. The federal government and a majority of U.S states provide for the death p enalty and from 50 to 75 executions occur each year throughout the United States. Each year there are about 250 people added to death row and 35 executed. The death penalty is the harshest form of punishment enforced in the United Sates today. Once a jury has convicted a criminal offense they go to the second part of the trial, the punishment phase. If the jury recommends the death penalty and the judge agrees then the criminal will face some form of execution, lethal injection is the most common form used today. There was a period from...

Men and Masculinities - What critiques have been offered of Connell's Research Paper

Men and Masculinities - What critiques have been offered of Connell's notion of 'hegemonic masculinity' Do you agree wi - Research Paper Example 253). Connell and colleagues (1985, p. 552) were the first to break the ice by introducing the idea that men and masculinity were all produced by the relationship that the women enabled them to, which in turn gave rise to the patriarchal system of society, politics, and family organisation. While their idea was met with either insightful or defensive criticisms, the work was very influential in the sense that many other authors were also able to create input in the study of masculinity and gender studies. The revolutionary idea that in order for the feminist movement to become truly successful, there must also be changes for the men’s part as well is now even more relevant than ever, and by bringing in the focus on how to tame the prevailing patriarchal culture, the proper changes in the societal definition of masculinity can possibly be challenged and renovated along with the change in the gender roles of modern society. The main questions that challenge the idea that hegemon ic masculinity is normal are: how the collective actions and ideas of most men were able to make dominance over women and other men seem normal and enjoyable; why these same men and women allow such dominance to exist; and how can gender equality be achieved by initiating resistance to the prevailing norm of hegemonic masculinity (Levy, 2007, p. 253). A possible idea for this is that hegemonic masculinity was a concept, created as a culturally idealised subject on how a man should think or act in the society (Donaldson, 1993, p. 645). Over a period of several generations, this kind of thinking incorporated other elements such as being highly-differentiated in most societal classes, brutality and violence, as well as being tough and unemotional. These traits became the large set of ideals that men follow in order to become the role model male, which basically did not change for several thousands of years. The family with the breadwinner status becomes the head of the household due to the additional input and exertion given to support the family. This gives him or her greater control over other members of the family despite having supposed equal rights with the spouse. This became the norm for most men in earlier societies due to them having greater strength than the women. Because of the rising dominance of manual labour in many societies, it eventually created a culture where men are seen mostly as those that have greater edge over women that mostly stay at home. When particular groups of men were able to inhabit positions of wealth and power due to the rise in social classes, they were also able to legitimise other aspects that would further give them greater dominance not just to other males and females, but to the greater part of the society as a whole (Carrigan, et al., 1985, p. 554). This particular group of dominant males become even more well-known within the society, thus exuding greater influence over other males as well. By observing rulers or other leaders of some sort, they become people that other males look up to, and wish to be, and the innate characteristics that these leader-figures have become the idealised characteristics that males are supposed to have. However, despite being the collective concept of what the ideal male