Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 23h

Hustled to get this one finished before other responsibilities called. Let me know what you think (and please share!)

youtu.be/Zb31XOuU-FM

The Tan Jumping Spider - The Spiders in Your House

YouTube video by Travis McEnery

youtu.be

7 13 33

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 2d

Trying to draw a diagram of a salticid retina for a video and accidentally drew a speedo.

A computer screen showing a GIMP window with a drawing of a shape that looks like a bright red speedo.

1 2 22

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 2d

Working on a video and came across this photo of this very thoughtful-looking Western Lynx spider and thought it was adorable. So I thought I'd share.

#Pentax K-5ii

A Western Lynx spider, Oxyopes scalaris, sucks on his toe thoughtfully on a white background.

2 3 68

Reposted by Travis McEnery

Science Vs @sciencevs.bsky.social · 8d

This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥

We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪

Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇

open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...

8 340 650

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 9d

So, this is wild. I don't know a lot about ants but this seems like a pretty major discovery.

youtu.be/Z-O4_AwWpfI?...

The Ants That Broke Biology

YouTube video by 7 Days of Science

youtu.be

2 3 11

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 16d

Tried to film Dana grabbing her dinner tonight and vastly underestimated the distance and speed at which she can sense - and strike - prey. This genus of spiders absolutely astounds me.

4 27

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 17d

I think that refers to an insect, not a spider, that skins along the water's surface.

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 18d

A species I don't often get to see, I came across this lovely little Dolomedes triton yesterday, the Six-spotted fishing spider. I didn't realize how comfortable they are when fully submerged, with a layer of air sticking to them. And they're instantly dry when they resurface. Love these spoods.

A six-spotted fishing spider, Dolomedes triton, on the surface of the water near a rock.

4 2 78

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 23d

Me too, actually. Trying to acquire some Dysdera crocata, woodlouse hunters. They're a six-eyed species.

1

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 23d

There are 8, but it would be difficult to tell from this photo.

1 1

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 23d

Today was a bit rough but this lovely picture of my little Larinioides made it a bit brighter.

A juvenile Larinioides sclopetarius at the hub of her (?) web.

1 2 73

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Sep 7

This is definitely the coolest pitfall traps I've ever seen.

@cataranea.bsky.social , @ibycter.bsky.social

ev 🐱🐛 @evrclover.bsky.social · Sep 7

i was inspired by @travismcenery.bsky.social to start my own insect pitfall trap :3 im going to leave it at one of my fave parks (with permission) and check back on it in a week or two. i’m very excited

bottom of pitfall trap reads: please only observe… do *not* disturb. thank you! this is an insect pitfall for personal ID and study.

my pitfall trap with a clear cup underneath (to be filled with alchohol solution). it replicates some kind of intricate architectural building with many pillars at the base. this is too ward out anything big, like rodents. the roof protects it from rain. 3d print model here: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/architecture/insect-pitfall-trap

1 6

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Sep 7

This is incredibly cool!

1 1

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Sep 7

I mean why not...

2

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Sep 6

Trying to photograph a spider:

ME: You'll hate the plastic tub, here's a nice rock to sit on like where you came from

SPIDER: No I don't think I will

ME: Please just get on the rock for a nice picture

SPIDER: No we hates it

ME: Could you just

SPIDER: We hates you too

A spider in a Rubbermaid dish pan stubbornly refuses to stay on a perfectly good rock, despite clearly detesting the feeling of the plastic

1 5 47

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Aug 28

Okay, this is kinda wild. @xcspence.bsky.social , you might love this.

Vanessa Penna Goncalves (she/her) @vanspidergirl.bsky.social · Aug 28

✨ It’s published! ✨

🕷️ Social spiders have bigger brains… but only in the right places! Our new study shows that in social huntsman spiders, regions for memory & vision processing are proportionally larger, supporting group living.

Read more: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Volumetric Comparison of Overall Brain and Neuropil Size Between Social and Non‐social Spiders: Exploring the Social Brain Hypothesis

Brain size may be influenced by the cognitive demands of sociality (social brain hypothesis). We used microCT to compare CNS and brain volumes in social versus solitary huntsman and crab spiders. Soc...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

1 11

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Aug 27

This one is a little different, but if you want to see how some spider science gets done (and how you can do it, too), you can see what I learned from @cataranea.bsky.social and @ibycter.bsky.social when they put me up for three days in St. John's!

youtu.be/6c2XqAsHnuo

I Spent 3 Days with Spider Scientists - Here's What I Learned

YouTube video by Travis McEnery

youtu.be

1 7 22

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Aug 25

Any of my Bluesky people out there have experience identifying Ctenids? Bonus points if you're in Arizona. Asking for a friend.

1 2

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Aug 24

Some of Temu's AI-generated product images are something else. I just... don't know what to say about this one.

An AI generated image of what looks like a bathroom, with a coiled-up drain cleaning cable the size of a Volkswagen hanging on the wall, which is apparently also a portal to another bathroom with a weirdly duplicated bathtub, atop which a woman in her underwear with long hair but apparently no head stands on one of her two-and-a-half legs and reaches for something on the ceiling. Also there's a stack of towelgloves in the corner of the first bathroom with a somewhat normal-looking woman standing and looking into a mirror. It's wild.

2 8

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Aug 20

I'm not breeding them, just keeping them for observation. It's an interesting study in site fidelity as well.

1

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Aug 17

Trying to record music in my office and a major challenge is moving instruments around without putting them right through the webs of my orb weavers.

A bass guitar in the foreground, with two frames behind it each containing an orb-weaving spider, and two more guitars hanging on the wall in the background.

1 18

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Aug 15

So with the size of the wildfires here in Nova Scotia being expressed in hectares, helpful people put this graphic on the internet and the math is right but WHY ARE THEY NOT SQUARES???

6 1 15

Reposted by Travis McEnery

Evelyndroid's Aperture Séance and Spooky Spood-Finding 🏳️‍⚧️🕷️ @apsciencebylyn.bsky.social · Aug 15

May I offer you the tiniest baby Ogre in these trying times 🤎
#EmotionalSupportSpood

Tiniest little slender brown spider with the trademark big black ogre-face spider eyes peering shyly straight ahead, legs stretched straight ahead and behind

The tiny creature next to the tip of my thumb, barely as long as my thumb is wide

5 22 190

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Aug 13

After about a million delays, this is finally done.

youtu.be/KLxyMur7JZ8

The Running Crab Spider - The Spiders in Your House

YouTube video by Travis McEnery

youtu.be

4 3 37

Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · Aug 8

A preserved Philodromus praelustris, a resplendent running crab spider.

1