My little alien molted successfully! I was super worried about her molting while I was in Crete, but she waited until right after I got back. I'll post another photo after she flips over and stretches out. Congrats Aurora!

Green bottle blue tarantula
#spider #transformation #bugsky #alien #inverts

Same momma from two days ago. Looking much better. More active. She got spooked and jumped off the table. I'm glad she felt safe down there but I think she missed her goal of getting away from the "scary human." 😅

#spider #bugsky #Inverts #surprise #cute

She's done it again! Thank you Kathy Nagel for the bracelet! She let me pick the species too. I love it!

#Spiders #Jewelry ##SciComm #SciArt #Bugsky #Beautiful

When you've been guarding babies for so long and it's finally time to eat!

This lady has refused to eat because of her eggs. But the babies hatched and she's finally ready! Look at her shriveled abdomen. Enjoy your food momma. You deserve it!

#spider #bugsky #inverts #ecology #scicomm #lunch

No coffee for you!

I was rehousing this spider and she ran up the side of my cup and gave me this look. I almost gave in. Jumping spiders are so expressive.

#spider #coffee #cute #inverts #lablife

Cute clumsy critters!

We went scorpion hunting last night using blacklights. Didn't see any (too cold, wrong season), but we found some other friends!

#Inverts #Glow #Ecology #Aposematism #Bugsky #Cute

Gotta clean your face before starting the day!

Spiders don't have eyelids so sometimes they wipe their eyes with their pedipalps (short leg-like appendages in the front). It kind of reminds me of windshield wipers.

#Spiders #SciComm #Inverts #Bugsky #Behavior #Cute

When spiders get older, some lose the ability to produce silk. This one keeps trying. Her spinnerets are moving so much!
#Spiders #SciComm #Inverts #BugSky #Animalbehavior

This girl and I virtually visited a high school class in Oklahoma this morning. The students were thrilled and had excellent questions. They had just started a unit on arachnids! 😁

#Spiders #SciComm #Inverts #Outreach #Bugsky