Spiders are a kind of arthropods with two body segments, four pairs of legs, no wings and no chewing mouths. All types of spiders are classified into the order of Araneae; and along with scorpions, mites-all eight-legged-were put into the Arachnida class.
The field of study of spiders is called arachnologi. Not all spiders make a net to catch prey, but all are capable of producing silk threads-a thin but powerful strand of protein fibers-from a gland (called a spinneret) located at the back of its body. These silk fibers are very useful for helping the movement of spiders, swinging from one place to another, trapping the prey, making egg bags, protecting the nest hole, and so on.
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1. Wooden spider
The home-wood spider is one of the most common types of spiders in the wooden house. Wherever the spider is present it always appears good evenings during the day, but is superior and often performs at night. It belongs to spider group ‘modern’.
Most of the spiders we encounter belong to this suborder, given that its members are made up of 95 tribes and account for approximately 94% of the number of species of spiders. The fangs of this group tend to lean forward (rather than erect as in the tarantula group) and are moved in opposite directions such as the claw in biting its prey. You can find this kind of spider in almost garden area in Bali.
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- Characteristics
The characteristic of wooden spider is brown colored, it usually attached on its houses on the tree. It is not a poisonous spider. The legs is normal (8 legs) and pretty long. It has no fur, but almost of them sometimes can be hairy.
- Habits
Spiders can make a net that comes from very sticky saliva. So it can trap its prey in the form of small insects that walk through the net. Thus, the spider can easily catch its prey. It has no mouth or tooth. It preys its prey by sucking the bodily fluid of its prey. Spiders have a “mouth” that works like a sucker. Most spiders have poor eyesight. So to see if any prey has been trapped in the net, he uses the sense of touch on his feet to detect vibrations in the net.
2. Small spiders
There has been news of an Australian tourist that suffered from this kind of spiders. He is Dylan Maxwell, 21 years old boy from Bunbury, Australia, said he was on holiday on the Indonesian island recently when he woke up one morning and saw what he thought was a lump about 1 inch in his stomach.
Maxwell said he went to the hospital for health initially believed to be an insect bite. He said he gets confused and a bit worried, however, when his wound starts to blister and widened toward his chest area.
In the end, he said doctors found a spider living under his skin. Here are the types of this spiders that live in his stomach.
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- Characteristics
The color is brown. It has a soft fur on its skin. The size is about a half of centimeters and could not grow up anymore. It usually can be found at the house. Be able to run very fast, and has a little bit poisonous material. The Spider has two parts of the body, namely the cephalothorax and the abdomen. Both parts of the body are separated by a slim-looking waist that is also called a pedicel.
Cephalotorax is a part of the body that is a unified head and chest, meaning there is no clear boundary to say which part is the head and which part is the chest. While the abdomen is the most posterior (back) of the body where is behind the cephalothorax, if the mammals and abdominal vertebrates can be called as the stomach. This spider has eight eyes.
However, there are also less than 8 or even no eye at all. In the process of identification of Spiders, the number and arrangement of his eyes are important parameters to be taken into account.
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- Habits
This kind of spiders likes to leave the homes for long time to get some food. There are at least four methods that spiders use to catch their prey. First, the spider does not move and settles in its nest, then from there jumps to catch the passing insects. Secondly, actively seek prey but by staying in plants, bark, on the ground, or under a rock to then ambush its prey.
Third, like hunters, spiders actively go searching for their prey. And, fourth, rely on cobwebs to trap the prey, then they would eat it. Indeed they produce yarn, but that does not mean they also make a nest that nets. Some species of spiders even live underground, and of course they do not make nests.
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- Tips to avoid this kind of spiders that you find at hotel/home
Check all the part of the empty spaces at hotel such as cupboard and board. Ask the cleaning service to clean them if you find the spiders. While at home, Get rid of the plants around the house. If the invasion of the spider is at a severe level, you should move the shrubs, trees, vines, and other plants from the perimeter of your home to the far side of the page.
Plants attract spiders because they are used to hide. If the spider wants to find food or a warm area, this animal will move from plant to your house through holes and crevices. Get rid of stones, mulch, leaves, and other dirt near the house.
Keep your home neat. Spiders will not get many places to hide if your house is clean, so these animals tend to not want to stay indoors even after they have made it. Clean up the scattered food. Food crumbs can attract other insects such as ants, which will eventually attract spiders. Sweep and suck the floor of your house regularly. Clean the table surface, and do not let dirty dishes not be washed in a few hours.
Those are the spiders that you possibly will find in Bali. However, don’t be panic when you meet them. Don’t scratch the scarce of the spiders bite pain. It would be better if you go to doctor if you get a spider bite.
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