Following up on my Weekly Dose of Cute, here's another little spider that is sure to make you grin. Meet Theridion grallator, perhaps better known as the Hawaiian Happy Face Spider.
This little guy, like the peacock spider, only grows to about 5 mm long, so he's a just as pint-sized as the last one. They're endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian name is nananana makakiʻi (face-patterned spider). Its common name comes from the distinctive marking on its backside - but not all individuals have such a face. Markings are unique to each spider, and vary by region. There are quite a few happy faces morphs:
Anyhow, I just thought that you might need a quick smile - hope these guys gave you one!
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tags: spider, tarantula, chicken-eating spider
Have you been getting bitten by a lot of spiders lately? Are you concerned about Brown Recluse Spiders?
Well, I know people don't like to hear this, but those spider bites you woke up with this morning were probably not spider bites. Spiders don't really bite people.
Check out this "sculpure" of a spider discovered by Biologist Phil Torres, created by what may be a new species of Cyclosa found in the Peruvian Amazon.
A loose spider on a space station.
I love those things. They are so cute!