 Chini and child - a female wolf spider (Lycosa godeffroyi) and her young in their burrow in the Zucchini patch. (c) Lynne Kelly |
Spiders: Learning To Love Them My next book to be published by Allen & Unwin will tell the world of how I overcame arachnophobia and am now totally obsessed by the most fascinating of all creatures - spiders. It is to be titled Spiders: Learning to Love Them. It not only tells of my journey, but about those who loath and love them, and, of course, of the incredible natural history of these astounding creatures. For many years I was an arachnophobe. I couldn't touch a picture of a spider, let alone go near a real one. But worst of all, they were a strong feature in my very vivid night terrors. When one of these experiences occurred, it took a great deal to wake up and erase the images of the huge spiders crossing my bed moving in that spidery way they do, right up to my face. |
After much disturbed sleep, I decided to tackle the problem as every good science educator would - I started to study them. It didn't take long to realise what extraordinary creatures they are and what dramatic lives they lead. I also discovered that getting to know individual spiders made them not only fascinating, but animals of whom I became extraordinarily fond. Obsessed, even! Their stories will be told in Spiders. Through the experiences I have had with wolf spiders, house spiders, orb weavers and trap-doors (among many others), I will expand to talk about the most interesting spiders from all over the world. And the most interesting arachnologists. My own spiders will be part of the new project, Spiderbloggers. Prominent will be Theresa. She has had a traumatic summer, with young raised and ballooning off, a male visitor, more young, a bird attack, having to repair her burrow while still covered in young and debris, up to her recent battle with the white-winged choughs. Bloody birds! And she let me photograph it all. Please join us on Spiderbloggers if you have a spider in your own life or want to go outside and meet one. They are incredibly intriguing critters to get to know as individuals playing out their traumatic life dramas on their own little stages in your backyard. Chini, a few metres away in the vegetable garden, fared better. Little Wolf, one of Theresa's offspring, is now battling to make it to adulthood. Most of her siblings will have been eaten by now - that's the reality for spiderlings in the wild. Little Wolf has taken up residence in a slater burrow. They seem to tolerate each other fine.
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 Theresa (Lycosa godeffroyi) and her young. (c) Lynne Kelly |
Theresa and her load of spiderlings. (c) Lynne Kelly
It took six months of close observations of the spiders around the house before the fear went all those years ago. Then I kept going - classifying, observing, learning. One evening I chanced upon a garden orb weaver (Eriophora biapicarta) just making her huge web. I watched for the next fifty minutes as she completed an incredible feat of engineering. In that 50 minutes, I became obsessed. Each morning the web would be gone again, except for a cross strand linking the two trees. If that remained all day, she would use it again the next night. I watched her again almost every night over the next few months. I eventually found her diurnal hiding place - in full view but so beautifully disguised I could not distinguish her from the bark of the tree. I watched as she started to leave parts of her web in the mornings, and form imperfect webs at night. Then one night she didn't come back. I would not have credited I could be so upset by the death of a spider. Six of her young took her place, and I got to watch it all start again. Start. Not finish. But that's another story. I have since met many of the world's authorities on spiders who are helping enormously with the writing of this book. The more I learn, the more amazed I become by the amazing variety in the 40,000 spiders so far described. And there are many more to be done. Talk about incredible sex lives - that chapter will be fun! I have been doing public talks. With over 100 high resolution images, I show how you can find and get to know the spiders in your own backyard. They will be there in their hundreds, but they will be keeping hidden as much as they can. Discovering them is pure bliss. |
(Eriophora biapicata) (c) Lynne Kelly |
Image courtesy Drew Ryan Photography
It's a spider eat spider world out there! |
The cure became an obsession. I never leave home without my spider jewellery.
This ensures everyone I meet tells me their spider story. Everyone has one and I enjoy them all.
Spider: from arachnophobia to obsession will be published early in 2008 by Allen & Unwin, in Australia. It will be published later in the year in America and other countries.
Legless, one of the black house spiders (Badumna insignis) I used to talk to every night, doing her horror movie act. (c) Lynne Kelly
Legless was one of my favourites. It broke my heart when I saw a tick draining the very life from her. She grew thin, listless and finally ceased to emerge from her retreat. |
