Neighbors and visitors

[The Snark]

Just some folks that have come visiting, or even have taken up residence, over the years.

Probably want to hold off harvesting that banana flower.

This little chap has graced our yard for 2 years now. How it copes with wall to wall termites and ants I haven't a clue.

One big katydid

Unfortunately, Katy met one very hungry lizard. He looked ready to pop.

And a little sad. A lovely krait. He was run over moments before I could rescue.

I'll post more as things get sorted.

Better label my critters.

Top to bottom, King Cobra - Ophiophagus Hannah, Asian Black T - Haplopelma Minax, Katy - Tettigoniidae, Blue head Lizard - Agama Atra, Yellow Banded krait - Bungarus

Edited January 18, 2015 by The Snark

[Crazy chef 1]

nice pics....thanks for sharing...

[The Snark]

Just a thought. This tyke has been tentatively identified but as yet is undescribed. Dr. Jaeger and team are working their way through reclassifying the Sparassidae genus but have said it could be years before this one gets properly described. Has anyone seen these and if so, where abouts and what is the environment? For now, it's just a very beautiful Huntsman.

[ATF]

When I lived in CM I used to see these huge spiders that looked like crabs and were about the same size as a small mudcrab about 4" across the back not including the legs.

I still don't think these have been classified. I also caught a freshwater sea snake in BKK never seen that anywhere either.

[The Snark]

When I lived in CM I used to see these huge spiders that looked like crabs and were about the same size as a small mudcrab about 4" across the back not including the legs.

I still don't think these have been classified. I also caught a freshwater sea snake in BKK never seen that anywhere either.

Did it look like this? This is Heteropoda Venatoria, a Huntsman or giant crab spider. They get up to 7 inch leg span or so. This is a mommy that just popped, using our carport for a nursery. Venatoria, aka the sewer rat of spiders is common around the world. A very beneficial predator and more or less harmless to humans.

But did you see one with the yellow chevron markings as pictured?

[The Snark]

I'm always a little leery about betting on the all blacks. When they may be corbas anyway and I'm not wearing glasses. I usually toss a handful of dirt at them and send them scooting out of our yard. As it turned out in this case I was right. An angry spitter, Naja Siamensis.

The spitting cobra can be easily identified by lack of any regular markings on it's dusty black back. They also only get up to about 3 feet around here. The other black(ish) cobra we have, Kaouthai, has the monocle on the hood. No monocle=spitter.

Edited January 18, 2015 by The Snark

[ultimate weapon]

Just a thought. This tyke has been tentatively identified but as yet is undescribed. Dr. Jaeger and team are working their way through reclassifying the Sparassidae genus but have said it could be years before this one gets properly described. Has anyone seen these and if so, where abouts and what is the environment? For now, it's just a very beautiful Huntsman.

i see this critter around it's going to be smashed to smithereens.

[VillageIdiot]

Have you ever been bitten by one of your friends?

Just curious.

[ATF]

The Snark, on 18 Jan 2015 - 19:46, said:

ATF, on 18 Jan 2015 - 19:23, said:

When I lived in CM I used to see these huge spiders that looked like crabs and were about the same size as a small mudcrab about 4" across the back not including the legs.

I still don't think these have been classified. I also caught a freshwater sea snake in BKK never seen that anywhere either.

Did it look like this? This is Heteropoda Venatoria, a Huntsman or giant crab spider. They get up to 7 inch leg span or so. This is a mommy that just popped, using our carport for a nursery. Venatoria, aka the sewer rat of spiders is common around the world. A very beneficial predator and more or less harmless to humans.

But did you see one with the yellow chevron markings as pictured?

No they looked almost the same as a crab with much shorter leg to body ratio than a normal spider. The freshwater sea snake I caught had a paddle on the end of it's tail. It was banded red and black.

[The Snark]

Have you ever been bitten by one of your friends?

Just curious.

The bite of the horrible ravening deadly huntsman spider. It itched for hours!

It's just a matter of respect and understanding born of knowledge. We could not live on this planet without the aid of these critters. By coincidence that wart like bump on my knuckle was from a latrodectus bite, black widow, from many years ago.

Edited January 18, 2015 by The Snark

[The Snark]

The Snark, on 18 Jan 2015 - 19:46, said:

ATF, on 18 Jan 2015 - 19:23, said:

When I lived in CM I used to see these huge spiders that looked like crabs and were about the same size as a small mudcrab about 4" across the back not including the legs.

I still don't think these have been classified. I also caught a freshwater sea snake in BKK never seen that anywhere either.

Did it look like this? This is Heteropoda Venatoria, a Huntsman or giant crab spider. They get up to 7 inch leg span or so. This is a mommy that just popped, using our carport for a nursery. Venatoria, aka the sewer rat of spiders is common around the world. A very beneficial predator and more or less harmless to humans.

But did you see one with the yellow chevron markings as pictured?

No they looked almost the same as a crab with much shorter leg to body ratio than a normal spider. The freshwater sea snake I caught had a paddle on the end of it's tail. It was banded red and black.

Could it possibly have been a mygalomorph? Google and check their pictures. Very curious. Your snake was probably a Leaf-scaled sea snake (Aipysurus foliosquama) It's very difficult to go by their color as they morph in numerous variations.

Edited January 18, 2015 by The Snark

[ATF]

The Snark, on 18 Jan 2015 - 20:32, said:

ATF, on 18 Jan 2015 - 20:22, said:

No they looked almost the same as a crab with much shorter leg to body ratio than a normal spider. The freshwater sea snake I caught had a paddle on the end of it's tail. It was banded red and black.

Could it possibly have been a mygalomorph? Google and check their pictures. Very curious. Your snake was probably a Leaf-scaled sea snake (Aipysurus foliosquama) It's very difficult to go by their color as they morph in numerous variations.

Similar to this but they had two rows of eyes and the body was broader. I know of no snake that lives in freshwater except for the one I caught.

[Thongkorn]

Very nice like to see the Local residents, Seen a few when in the Jungles near ranong. Happy to see you live and let live and not just kill everything.

[The Snark]

The Snark, on 18 Jan 2015 - 20:32, said:

ATF, on 18 Jan 2015 - 20:22, said:

No they looked almost the same as a crab with much shorter leg to body ratio than a normal spider. The freshwater sea snake I caught had a paddle on the end of it's tail. It was banded red and black.

Could it possibly have been a mygalomorph? Google and check their pictures. Very curious. Your snake was probably a Leaf-scaled sea snake (Aipysurus foliosquama) It's very difficult to go by their color as they morph in numerous variations.

Similar to this but they had two rows of eyes and the body was broader. I know of no snake that lives in freshwater except for the one I caught.

Well, I'm no expert and am clueless. I'd love to see pictures!

[The Snark]

Was delighted to encounter this little chap. Quite rare to come across whip scorpions, Thelyphonida, out during the day. Not sure what species it is.

Edited January 18, 2015 by The Snark

[ultimate weapon]

Just curious how many of earth's creatures have not been identified and classified?

I mean isn't it well kind of weird that the creatures in a place like thailand where humans from the world over have resided in and some species of creatures cannot be identified as opposed to say the amazon or the deep ocean where it's understandable why one can discover new species of animals.

[The Snark]

Just curious how many of earth's creatures have not been identified and classified?

I mean isn't it well kind of weird that the creatures in a place like thailand where humans from the world over have resided in and some species of creatures cannot be identified as opposed to say the amazon or the deep ocean where it's understandable why one can discover new species of animals.

A very ponderable point. The larger animals of course have been identified, but they make up less than 1% of the world population. Much less. I've heard and read estimates that we have properly identified and described about 15% of the animals on this spaceship. While figures vary widely, nearly all scientists agree we haven't properly described the lions share yet, and with the mutability factor, we will probably never describe them all.

And then, just to throw a wrench into the works, the genetic coding has repeatedly found errors in the identification processes we have been using. Many errors. As example the sparrasids which I have shown two pictures of. Or more locally, there were 4 cobras identified in Thailand until genetics determined the Isan cobra was just a morphed variation of the Kaouthai.

Personally I just take a back seat to all this and do my best to view the world through the wide eyed wondering mind like a child's. It's an amazing place well worth simply observing and protecting.

[ultimate weapon]

Just curious how many of earth's creatures have not been identified and classified?

I mean isn't it well kind of weird that the creatures in a place like thailand where humans from the world over have resided in and some species of creatures cannot be identified as opposed to say the amazon or the deep ocean where it's understandable why one can discover new species of animals.

A very ponderable point. The larger animals of course have been identified, but they make up less than 1% of the world population. Much less. I've heard and read estimates that we have properly identified and described about 15% of the animals on this spaceship. While figures vary widely, nearly all scientists agree we haven't properly described the lions share yet, and with the mutability factor, we will probably never describe them all.

And then, just to throw a wrench into the works, the genetic coding has repeatedly found errors in the identification processes we have been using. Many errors. As example the sparrasids which I have shown two pictures of. Or more locally, there were 4 cobras identified in Thailand until genetics determined the Isan cobra was just a morphed variation of the Kaouthai.

Personally I just take a back seat to all this and do my best to view the world through the wide eyed wondering mind like a child's. It's an amazing place well worth simply observing and protecting.

If that is the case then it's a monumental task. More people would need to take up the task not just scientists whose jobs are to identify these creatures. This would require extensive education for the average person. I can bet an average person couldn't even tell a cobra apart from say a python. They don't know there there are these group of snakes classified as cobras and another group classified as pythons for example and that is already very very simplistic.

I can bet the deep jungles of say malaysia yield an entire treasure trove of undiscovered creatures.

Also i am really curious on the current classification of animals. Giving them latin names instead of regular english names is bad enough. A lion from same africa is called leo something while an asian lion is leo something else. That's just on large mammals itself and it's already confusing enough for people that don't speak english everyday like most thais and then try telling them the names of these animals in their official classification is in another language. It's already a task trying to classify large mammals according to species etc now imagine the nightmare trying to classify smaller animals like insects.

[The Snark]

The naming conventions, nomenclature, are Latin for exactly what you mentioned. To narrow it down to a single accurate language.

You won't even need to search the deep jungles sometimes. Here is a couple of head scratchers. One an insect, one a maybe myriapod.

And this is of course the common Whathe Heckizit

As for classification, nightmare!! With my chevron decorated sparassid, I sent the shots off to Dr. Jaeger (Senckenberg Research Institute) and he agreed it was tentatively a sparassid but with them sequencing the genomes at present, it could be 5 years or more before they get around to classifying the species.

Education wise, I'm running on a couple of years of biology as a minor in college and a few years in field related jobs. All that leaves me at pretty clueless. There are world class experts that refuse to even venture a guess as to what an animal is simply because it was found outside of their specialty location!

Edited January 19, 2015 by The Snark

[The Snark]

If that is the case then it's a monumental task. More people would need to take up the task not just scientists whose jobs are to identify these creatures. This would require extensive education for the average person. I can bet an average person couldn't even tell a cobra apart from say a python. They don't know there there are these group of snakes classified as cobras and another group classified as pythons for example and that is already very very simplistic.

I can bet the deep jungles of say malaysia yield an entire treasure trove of undiscovered creatures.

Also i am really curious on the current classification of animals. Giving them latin names instead of regular english names is bad enough. A lion from same africa is called leo something while an asian lion is leo something else. That's just on large mammals itself and it's already confusing enough for people that don't speak english everyday like most thais and then try telling them the names of these animals in their official classification is in another language. It's already a task trying to classify large mammals according to species etc now imagine the nightmare trying to classify smaller animals like insects.

I need to quote you. Very poignant observation. This is why education is so critically important. The ability to understand the world around a person, and not just operating on television noise and ideologies pumped into the child by poorly educated and indoctrinated parents.

We use Latin because it is fully established and non arbitrary. All the Latin names are made up of rigidly defined words. No sifting through etymology, no arbitrary subject to interpretation. Once a person has a rudimentary grasp of Latin, all the plants and animals in the world can be categorized and their places located on the evolutionary ladders.

Anthropology, Anthrozoology,Apiology Arachnology Arthropodology Cetology Conchology Entomology Ethology Helminthology Herpetology Ichthyology Malacology Mammalogy Myrmecology Nematology Neuroethology Ornithology Paleozoology Planktology Primatology Zooarchaeology Zoosemiotics.

And there you go. Every animal in the world, specifically and uniquely categorized. Each easily identified by the meaning of the root word(s) each contains.

[The Snark]

Here is one of my favorite pastoral pics. A juvenile Hannah, King Cobra, decked out in that beautiful golden bronze summer color, meandering it's way up the river. Of interest, O Hannah changes color from dusty black to this to keep from getting baked by the sun. Come winter and hibernation they change back to black to absorb heat during the early spring.

Compare the above color to this zooper, a young adult O Hannah, lean and hungry after a few months in a near deep freeze. (If you can't spot 10 feet of snake you might want to reconsider living in cobra country)

For your king cobra trivia. Ophiophagus Hannah, Ophiophagus meaning snake eater. (They don't object to the occasional amphibian snack however, and view a tadpole filled pond as a buffet luncheon).

Unique in their own genus in the Elapid family. Not a true 'cobra' in the exacting sense of the word. They are the largest venomous snake. They are also one of the strongest, for size and weight, and one of the fastest having measured sustained speed of over 12 mph. Even more interesting is they are able to put on similar bursts of speed on firm surfaces, over mud as rice paddys, and even in water. They are very strong capable swimmers.

Edited January 19, 2015 by The Snark

[phrodan]

Very good, thank you. The man that kills snakes gets rats. Live and let live.

[The Snark]

Very good, thank you. The man that kills snakes gets rats. Live and let live.

An ATM next to my wife's restaurant. A huge rat snake (Ptyas). I wonder if it's choice of where to get warm was also some sort of statement. Near the storm drains and canals that connect to the local markets, these snakes should be promoted, introduced, and highly protected. If you have ever seen Chiang Mai gate at 2 AM you know exactly what I mean. No trap or poison even comes close to these pros in the business.

Edited January 19, 2015 by The Snark

[pgs]

Have you ever been bitten by one of your friends?

Just curious.

The bite of the horrible ravening deadly huntsman spider. It itched for hours!

It's just a matter of respect and understanding born of knowledge. We could not live on this planet without the aid of these critters. By coincidence that wart like bump on my knuckle was from a latrodectus bite, black widow, from many years ago.

Just a small point - as 'safe' as a huntsman is considered to humans, it's bite can cause paralysis.

The bite blisters, this explodes causing more blisters and so on. We have a friend in Coffs Harbour (Northern NSW) who was bitten by one. She had to be flown to Sydney where the only anti-venom supplies were.

[pgs]

Very good, thank you. The man that kills snakes gets rats. Live and let live.

An ATM next to my wife's restaurant. A huge rat snake (Ptyas). I wonder if it's choice of where to get warm was also some sort of statement. Near the storm drains and canals that connect to the local markets, these snakes should be promoted, introduced, and highly protected. If you have ever seen Chiang Mai gate at 2 AM you know exactly what I mean. No trap or poison even comes close to these pros in the business.

But does it prevent crims altering the ATM for their benefit?

[RolandRat]

I would have thought you would be better showing off your talents in the photography forum.

[TooPoopedToPop]

People who have an inordinate affection for venomous reptiles have always been of lickerish interest to me.

[The Snark]

Have you ever been bitten by one of your friends?

Just curious.

The bite of the horrible ravening deadly huntsman spider. It itched for hours!

It's just a matter of respect and understanding born of knowledge. We could not live on this planet without the aid of these critters. By coincidence that wart like bump on my knuckle was from a latrodectus bite, black widow, from many years ago.

Just a small point - as 'safe' as a huntsman is considered to humans, it's bite can cause paralysis.

The bite blisters, this explodes causing more blisters and so on. We have a friend in Coffs Harbour (Northern NSW) who was bitten by one. She had to be flown to Sydney where the only anti-venom supplies were.

The Sparassidae have been known to cause medically significant envenomations. However, there are a few extenuating circumstances. I suppose the first would be, going by statistics, you have a five times greater chance of being struck and killed by lightning than from any and all spider bites. Then there is the fact the huntsman is not only completely terrified of large animals, it is extremely capable of avoiding or escaping the large animals attentions. Lastly of course is the fact that there are always exceptions. In the event of a toxin introduced into a human body, there is always the possibility that circumstances and physiology have set up a 'perfect storm' condition where arachnidism will develop regardless of the quantity and potency of the venom.

Being rather practical I let Huntsmen romp all over my house whenever they feel like it. I try to accommodate them and understand their day to day antics and focus my concerns on much MUCH MUCH MUCH more real and present dangers like operating a motor vehicle and having Hmong in laws.

I would have thought you would be better showing off your talents in the photography forum.

I wouldn't deem to insult even the most amateur photographer with my extremely questionable point-shoot-hope skills.

[The Snark]

Now since we have swung over the the dangers presented by man's presence among the local fauna, let's get a little more real.

Here we have an animal which causes hundreds of trips to the hospital every year. Many more than all spider bites combined. The bacterium Pastuerella Multocida is commonly found in it's mouth. This bacteria is a very close relative of Yersinia Pestis which is the cause of the Bubonic plague. Left unchecked for only a few hours, this bacterium is capable of going systemic, causing cellulitis, and in rare cases, an excruciating death.

Then we have the foremost cause of animal deaths world wide, not counting vectors. The Hymenoptera and their cousins cause over 50 deaths each year in the US alone. Unlike nearly all spiders and snakes, they are commonly known to go out of their way to attack humans.

These little sporks are very common in Thailand, sending someone to the hospital nearly every day.

If you see a tree with these, it is probably safer to run off and hug a few huntsman spiders.

Edited January 19, 2015 by The Snark

[The Snark]

I named this spork Ferdinand the Great for reasons unknown. Shooed out of the house several times he insisted on coming back in. He became a serious problem as he was always underfoot and the cats would attack him on sight. My wife's solution she uses with most spiders, placing it on her head where they usually placidly sit since negotiating hair is extremely difficult, was only a temporary as we shooed off the cats. We finally resolved the issue by turning him loose in the closet and tossing in a few bugs every week. Eventually he matured and got to feeling romantic. We put him outside once more and he wandered off, no doubt thinking a little rendezvous would be more interesting than being a closet case.

Ferdinand the Mature, or one very much like him. I failed to write down his license plate number. A nice example of the male Heteropoda Venatoria. The body more delicate, the color lighter than the female.

Edited January 19, 2015 by The Snark