Jim's Show Reel

We went out into the garden to do a bit of mid-winter spider hunting. Surprisingly we actually found some, and the house spider, Tegenaria gigantea, was an absolute whopper!

What a pro!

Thanks to Liz Newton Media for the video editing

Xena's got bigger!

Moulting is always a fraught time for any spider keeper - the most common cause of death in pet tarantulas are bad moults. Spiders, like most arthropods have an exoskeleton so need to moult at least once a year to get bigger. It's a bit of a traumatic experience, tarantulas generally won't eat for a month or so when they're in pre-moult, they then flip on their back (they're not dead!) and then break out of their skin. For the next few days or even weeks they won't eat still, while their new exoskeleton hardens up.

For a Theraphosa blondi, the infamous Goliath bird-eating tarantula, moults are a particularly bad time for the spider keeper. There's always the chance that if something goes wrong you'll have to leap to the rescue of your beloved (and expensive) pet. Messing around with a very stressed and very large spider is not really something anyone would choose to do but it can sometimes be the only way to get a spider through a moult. Luckily for me, this time Xena was absolutely fine. This didn't stop her shedding a ridiculous amount of itchy hairs all across the house for the last 2 weeks - Mrs. Jim and I have been itching like crazy.

Still it was all worth it, because as you can see, Xena is getting to be a BIG girl.

She'll be starring at the last (boo!) Deadly Day Out in Avenham Park, Preston, this weekend!

Deadly Days Out

Very exciting news to all of those keen to meet the bugs (and me) in the real world, I will be one of four animal encounter people working the Deadly Days Out tour this year. Events are held on Sundays, with last week's (my first) at Lydiard Park in Swindon. More details can be found on the BBC.

The Swindon day was great fun, with loads of live (and deadly) animals. Including this rather lovely Nile Crocodile that I am holding in my excellent bright yellow animal encounter hoodie. Wowing the crowds we had Xena (the Goliath Birdeater), Indiana (the Whip Scorpion), Marjorie (the Diapherodes gigantea stick insect) and a couple of hissing roaches called Mr. & Mrs. C.

I also got to meet the brilliant Jungle Jonathan and catch up again with Pete the Bugman as well as getting to say hello to the legendary Steve Backshall.

At this weekend in Glasgow the newest member of the Bug Explorers Bug House will almost certainly be making an appearance. Talulah, The Antilles Pink-Toe (Avicularia avicularia) as you can see below from the picture with Mrs. Jim, she's a gorgeous arboreal spider with lovely orangey-pink toes. Come say hello in Glasgow (or another Deadly Day Out soon)!

The Wedding

I'm getting married!

Yes that's right, somebody wants to spend the rest of their life with not just me, but a whole house full of bugs... Hard to believe!

But as Mrs. Jim is just as keen on creepy crawlies I suppose it's not too much of a hardship, in fact we (honestly, both of us, not just me) want to make bugs part of the wedding. But how?

Idea #1 - Tarantula-based petting zoo for the wedding reception, downside: it may reduce the number of guests willing to come.

Idea #2 - insect based wedding outfits

Downside: prohibitive cost of bespoke mantis headdress

Idea #3 - Roast goliath birdeating tarantulas for the meal



Downside: Waaaaaah! Poor ickle spiders don't be so MEAN!

Idea #4 - Praying mantis table ornaments - now we're onto something!

So at our wedding the bugs will be dinner guests, but of the non-edible kind. Instead there will be a different species of mantis on each of the 12 tables, and the table itself will be named after the Latin name of the mantis. A perfect conversation piece during the meal!

Any suggestions for types of Mantis of other exciting bug-themed wedding ideas are welcome in the comments below.

The Mantis House

Having recently acquired 12 baby African giant mantises (Sphodromantis viridis) I came upon an interesting solution as to how to house them - my window sill. Our bedroom has an unusual double glazed window that is actually just two windows with the sill in the middle. A perfect sealed environment for some baby mantises:

I released 7 originally, and there are definitely 5 still with us, and they're getting fairly big.

This one is about the size of my fingernail, and although they are called giant mantises, they only actually grow to around 4 inches in length.

Mantises have a bit of a cannibalistic reputation but I've not seen any evidence of these juveniles attacking each other. It may just get a bit different when they reach adulthood - unless females are really well fed before meeting a male she might just bite his head off. Literally. Not that that prevents him from, erm, completing what he set out to accomplish as it were. One of the benefits of not having a brain, I suppose.

At the recent British Tarantula Society show in Coseley (see A Grand Day Out) somebody was recommending Miomantis caffra Saussure 'Johannesburg' as a great mantis to release in you house and replace spiders as the main insect predator - great to keep flies down in the kitchen. Maybe these guys might just do a similar job...