World's oldest spider dies aged 43

[left-of-center2012]

The world’s oldest known spider has died at the age of 43, outliving its nearest rival by 15 years, Australian scientists have reported.
Previously the oldest known spider was a tarantula in Mexico, which died at the age of 28.

Affectionately known as “Number 16”, the female Giaus Villosus or trapdoor spider ... is believed to have survived for so long by sticking to one protected burrow its entire life and expending the minimum of energy.

While trapdoor spiders are poisonous, it is the males, who leave their burrows to find a mate, which are usually encountered by humans.
The trapdoor species typically take five to seven years to mature and will then invest their energies in a single burrow, with the females rarely venturing more than a few metres away from their place of birth.

Ms Mason said of the Number 16’s death:
“We’re really miserable about it.
“We were hoping she could have made it to 50 years old.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/04/27/farewell-no-16-scientists-left-miserable-worlds-oldest-spider/

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

1. Sound like a couch potatoes recipe for long life...

Sorry couldn’t help it.

[woodsprite]

2. I'm both terrified and fascinated by spiders.

I live in Delaware and my daughter saw a huge ass trap door spider by the corner of our house when she took the dog outside one summer night last year. She took some pics of it. No mistaking what it was. I was already in bed and didn’t get up to go see it. Haven’t seen it since.

Guess that article gives me some hope (or not) that it’s still around here some place. On the other hand, maybe it was a male out celebrating his 42nd birthday.

[MineralMan]

3. Where I grew up in Southern California, tarantulas were quite common.

Boys around the age of 10, including myself, often caught them and made pets of them. I used to carry one around on my shoulder, where it was happy to sit still and do nothing at all, except to alarm cootie-laden girls. None of the kids I knew were ever bitten by the spiders, which seemed pretty non-aggressive.

It was a short-lived sort of thing, though. Not long after that age, scaring girls became far less enticing than other things.