28 August 2008

Caught A Spider


I caught a spider at Kent Ridge Park during lunch time today. However, I don't think that it is the fighting kind. Above is a photo of the spider I caught. What do you think? What species is it, is it a male or female, and most importantly, is it poisonous?

YG was concerned that I might not know about the dangers of handling spiders which I am not familiar with. His concerns are valid as I know very little about spiders. He had sent an email with pictures to Chun See explaining why. I have just received the email from Chun See. I will update this post when I get permission from YG to blog about it.

Thank you very much for your concern, YG. I am appreciative of it and am waiting in anticipation for your advice.

Earlier posts on spiders:

1. Fighting Spiders - dated 27 Jun 2008; and

2. Fighting Spiders (2) - dated 21 Aug 2008.

10 comments:

Lam Chun See said...

Yes. I think this the fighting type. It's a male becos the male has a 'white face'. You did not mention how you caught it. If is was in nest made by joining 2 leaves with wooly white web (WWW) then it is a fighting spider.

Lam Chun See said...

On second look, maybe it's a female becos the 2 arms rather short. The males have long arms. The white face not obvious from your photo.

Must ask my friend Chuck.

Victor said...

Yes, Chun See. I caught it from a "woolly white web" nest between 2 stuck leaves. Is the fighting spider the only type that makes such a nest?

But my colleague who used to play with fighting spiders too when he was a kid says it is not a fighting spider leh.

When I googled for common Singapore spiders, I found it looked rather like the Adanson's House Jumper. However, there's one thing I am sure about - it is a definitely a jumping spider because it tried to escape by jumpping. It is also likely to be a female because its abdomen is quite big. (Hmm... maybe it is already a mother of 10,000 spiderlings? Hahaha.)

yg said...

it does not look like a true blue fighting spider. yah, it is most likely a female; with a bum like that, who can doubt?

mindstorm said...

it's 100% a female. It has short forelegs and thin palps(the "teeth"). A male's face is wider and much whiter than that.

Victor said...

YG & Mindstorm - Thanks for your comments.

Mindstorm, are you the same person from this forum? Wow, you are really passionate about fighting spiders.

Any of you interested in becoming a Fighting Spider Consultant? Andrew Ngin, scriptwriter of a TV show set in the 1960s, throws you this challenge.

mindstorm said...

Yeap.
What does a Fighting Spider Consultant's Job entails?

Well, you're always welcome to ask me questions here or in the forum where other fs enthusiasts and me would be glad to answer them.

Unknown said...

It is a lost art and skill which kids nowadays would have lost. You do have pretty quick reflexes despite being a more mature blogger. ;)

Icemoon said...

Not related to spiders.

Can you guys access yg's blog feed? I'm using Firefox Live Bookmarks and the latest topics can't seem to show up. The topic does not show up in Blogger's "My Blog List" also.

Victor said...

Mindstorm - I have invited Andrew to join the discussion here or in your forum.

Walter - Believe it or not, this is the first spider I caught in my life. Maybe the only one too.

Icemoon - Hmm, I can see YG's latest post about the putat laut in my blog list.