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#arachnids

3 posts3 participants0 posts today

gotta stay on brand

here's a sidewalk mite (_Balaustium_) feeding on some predatory mite, Rhagidiidae or Cunaxidae or thereabouts; and an _Admestina_ jumping spider I found near pine trees in a nearby park. I find such interesting arthropods around pines that I don't see anywhere else.

Down by the lake I noticed a mite that seemed small for a trombidiid and large for an erythraeid…only on looking more closely did I notice that its dark red body had a gorgeous iridescent blue-green sheen! I think this may be a _Balaustium_ species, but not one of the ones I usually see. I've only seen this kind once before!

NZ's porous borders have allowed a little invader to take hold. The noble false widow spider is described as "one of the world’s most invasive".

“Although considered less dangerous than black widows, the venom of Steatoda nobilis contains similar toxins."

So far there have been confirmed sightings in Porirua, Christchurch, Nelson, Northland and Waikato.

stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360742048/

www.stuff.co.nzStuff