Strange observation involving fuzzball and spider

[JinPA09]

Ok I'll apologize right up front that this story is going to sound a bit out there, but I wanted to see if anyone else had seen this before.

This evening I noticed a rather large (about an 1" long) sitting on the floor in the middle of my dining room. I snuck up behind it to give it squish and noticed it didn't try to run away. I kicked at the spider (didn't actually hit it) and it slowly started to limp away. Its then I noticed a gray, blueish fuzz ball attached to its rear hind leg. Went ahead and squished the spider. The force detached the fuzzball and pushed it about 6" away. A second later the fuzzball zipped right back to the spider! It moved 6" in about half a second. I am not certain if this was caused by wind caused by my movement. What it reminded me of was lint being drawn to static electricity.

I did look at the fuzzy itself. It appeared to be a gray, blue fuzzy mass with one crystaline filament in it. I did not get any pictures as I was a bit weirded out by the whole thing (just wrapped it up in a paper towel and trashed it). I'll be more mindful the next time!

Now that I sound completely nuts has anyone ever noticed something like this? I have found other bugs in my house dead in a corner fuzzy cobweb before, but never thought anything of it until now.

[Kritters]

Hey Philly guy! How are ya?

Yes. In fact, a few years ago when I first joined this forum there were pics of this posted which are prolly still around. Good observation (you know just cuz it's almost Halloween you didn't have to come up with a spider post ). I am glad you brought this up because I wonder if this (IMO fungi) came FROM the spider or ATTACKED the spider.

Here's my favorite song again:

I know an old woman who swallowed a spider that wiggled & jiggled & tickled inside er
She swallowed the spider to catch a fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly
Perhaps she'll die............

Remember that from childhood? Before your time?

Anyway, here's another observation from moi last night. I put on a sweatshirt and was sitting and typing. I noticed a slight prick on my arm under the sleeve. When I pulled it up, what looked like a white fuzz which could easily have been the fleece from sweatshirt JUMPED back into the fleece. Whaaa? I rolled it back down and thought maybe it was just a thread with fuzzball attached to the sleeve and forgot about it. Few minutes later another prick, pulled up sleeve again and grabbed the sucker and scoped it. Unfortunately I dumped emersion oil on it on the slide and what was once very precise and clear became undistinguishable this morning when I looked. Durn! But last night it was green, had two main arms that were still flailing away under the scope until it suffocated by the oil, and had a body that looked composed of the fibers we are dealing with. Oh and it had drops of blood in it from biting my arm. I was going to photograph but didn't have it set up and was tired. Shoulda woulda coulda. I wonder it that jumpin' fuzzie is related to your spider? ;-)

Kritts

[dizzy dame]

Hi Kritts and Jin, I know about the fuzzball biting. I had something biting under my arm, and when I raised my sleeve to look a fuzzball went flying out of the sleeve and I couldn't find it anywhere. I don't know where tha sucker went, but I hope it died. that has been a few months ago and I don't see them any more. Doesn't mean they are not around though. Just weird! XO DD

[Kritters]

Hey Diz!

This is interesting now. We had threads about cotton a lot on this forum. Since that thing jumped like 6" and looked like a fuzzball, I'm curious. For some reason I thought 'aphid' and googled fungus and cotton and voila...
Nfcycle-slices

Scorias spongiosa, the beech aphid poop-eater- Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month for September 2007

Early in September, it is easiest to find Scorias spongiosa by first locating the beech aphids and then search for the sooty mold beneath them. In North Carolina, for example, colonies of the beech blight aphid will be on lower branches early in the month and may last well into October. Sometimes you can even find the colonies aggregating as early as July. Look for branches of a beech tree that appear to be covered in cotton. A closer examination will show thousands of small aphids each with a tuft of wax at the end of their abdomens. Scorias spongiosa will start growing in a thin layer of yellow-brown tufts of asexual, flask-shaped, spore-bearing structures called pycnidia (Reynolds 197 where the beech aphid honeydew falls. As more and more honeydew accumulates, the fungus will grow larger until it looks like a large yellow sponge sitting on the beech branches or leaves. In this stage, it produces asexual conidia in liquid droplets from its pycnidia. In this stage it is very spongy, kind of the texture of a gelatinous gummi bear. Later, it will blacken and produce sexual spores in pseudothecial ascocarps. A pseudothecium is a flask-shaped structure that contains ascospores. These pseudothecia are embedded in sterile tissue called a stroma, which in this case is the spongy part of the fungus . (another fungus that has pseudothecia is Venturia inaequalis, the apple scab fungus. At this stage the fruiting structure typically becomes thicker and harder. The fungus is very durable, so if you find it in the yellow stage on a tree, you can return each week to watch it develop.

http://arkansasagnews.uark.edu/533-40.pdf
Utilizing Natural Biological
Control for Cotton Aphids: Cotton Aphid
Fungus Sampling Service Twelfth Year

Might be sumpin'....might be nuttin'...but the words 'bio-engineered', 'fungus', 'cotton' and 'insects' are all there.

Kritts

[dizzy dame]

WOW! XO DD

[Kritters]

Oh, and BTW....aphids are a problem with LETTUCE too! And we don't boil lettuce before we eat it.

Kritts
xoxo

[suzieQ]

Originally Posted by JinPA09

Ok I'll apologize right up front that this story is going to sound a bit out there, but I wanted to see if anyone else had seen this before.

This evening I noticed a rather large (about an 1" long) sitting on the floor in the middle of my dining room. I snuck up behind it to give it squish and noticed it didn't try to run away. I kicked at the spider (didn't actually hit it) and it slowly started to limp away. Its then I noticed a gray, blueish fuzz ball attached to its rear hind leg. Went ahead and squished the spider. The force detached the fuzzball and pushed it about 6" away. A second later the fuzzball zipped right back to the spider! It moved 6" in about half a second. I am not certain if this was caused by wind caused by my movement. What it reminded me of was lint being drawn to static electricity.

I did look at the fuzzy itself. It appeared to be a gray, blue fuzzy mass with one crystaline filament in it. I did not get any pictures as I was a bit weirded out by the whole thing (just wrapped it up in a paper towel and trashed it). I'll be more mindful the next time!

Now that I sound completely nuts has anyone ever noticed something like this? I have found other bugs in my house dead in a corner fuzzy cobweb before, but never thought anything of it until now.

SAW THE SAME THING HAPPEN ON MY FRONT PORCH STEPS, FREAKED ME RIGHT OUT!

[suzieQ]

Well Did This Wrong The First Time, But Yes I Saw The Same Thing Happen On My Front Porch Steps!!!! Freaked Me Out!

[jonsi]

Call your local pet stores and ask if the sell "Bug Arrest". This product is a natural enzyme that breaks down the chitin (spiders' shells) and it isn't toxic. It's used for fleas and people wash their dogs with it. It doesn't have any odor.
You can dilute it and spray your clothes, filter in your dryer, carpet, curtains, front porch, vehicle, your body and "BA" will kill the creepy crawlies.

Redibooks (sp?) told me about bug arrest over two years ago. She even sprayed it in her eyes. This stuff is not toxic. Toxins are BAD. GMO's are bad. Pharmaceuticals... ouch!

Bug Arrest

$35 a gallon here in New Mexico. It lasts forever.

I've suggested this product to everyone, so get off your butt and check it out!

itwl,
~jonsi

[cynical]

Originally Posted by Kritters

Hey Philly guy! How are ya?

Yes. In fact, a few years ago when I first joined this forum there were pics of this posted which are prolly still around. Good observation (you know just cuz it's almost Halloween you didn't have to come up with a spider post ). I am glad you brought this up because I wonder if this (IMO fungi) came FROM the spider or ATTACKED the spider.

Here's my favorite song again:

I know an old woman who swallowed a spider that wiggled & jiggled & tickled inside er
She swallowed the spider to catch a fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly
Perhaps she'll die............

Remember that from childhood? Before your time?

Anyway, here's another observation from moi last night. I put on a sweatshirt and was sitting and typing. I noticed a slight prick on my arm under the sleeve. When I pulled it up, what looked like a white fuzz which could easily have been the fleece from sweatshirt JUMPED back into the fleece. Whaaa? I rolled it back down and thought maybe it was just a thread with fuzzball attached to the sleeve and forgot about it. Few minutes later another prick, pulled up sleeve again and grabbed the sucker and scoped it. Unfortunately I dumped emersion oil on it on the slide and what was once very precise and clear became undistinguishable this morning when I looked. Durn! But last night it was green, had two main arms that were still flailing away under the scope until it suffocated by the oil, and had a body that looked composed of the fibers we are dealing with. Oh and it had drops of blood in it from biting my arm. I was going to photograph but didn't have it set up and was tired. Shoulda woulda coulda. I wonder it that jumpin' fuzzie is related to your spider? ;-)

Kritts

I'm not too young Kritts lol

interesting find on the bio pesticide hmmm... it just keeps popping up all over the place. So when are they going to realize they screwed up? nvm