IanK

IanK

This is my first webpage. It is supposed to give info on various subjects.The photo above shows a female Banded Argiope Spider (//Argiope trifasciata//). Besides spiders, I also like wasps.

Notice the ads on the right? They were made by cruel, money-loving people who do not understand the value of beneficial insects. Next time you see a wasps nest, don't call a pest control company. Since wasps are predacious, they give you free pest control throughout the summer! Still not convinced? I'll tell you this: the Bald-faced Hornet's (Dolichovespula maculata) favorite foods are flies and other yellowjackets! Unlike their relatives, the yellowjackets, this wasps are not at all interested in soda or hamburgers. So next time you're out picknicking, watch for your little friends! However, I do admit that if a wasp nest is in front of a door or some other hazardous place, sadly, it must be destroyed.

SPIDERS:

My two favorite spiders are the Grass Spider (//Agelenopsis pennsylvanicus//) and the Foliate Spider (//Larinioides// //cornutus//).

The Grass Spider builds a web shaped like a funnel. The web tapers toward its end and ends in a tube which the spider sits in. There is also a maze of crisscrossing threads on top of the web. The web is not sticky, and thus the spider relies on its impressive speed to overcome its victim. To see a side view of the web, go to [] To see a top view of the web, go to []. The hole in the top view is the tube where the spider sits. Prey capture happens like this: A flying or hopping insect hits one of the crisscrossing threads and falls into the web below. The spider dashes out, grabs its victim, and runs back into its tube to devour its prey in saftey. If the prey is too large, potentially dangerous, or just doesn't appeal to the spider, the spider runs around its prey in circles, wrapping it up in silk. Wrapped prey is usually not eaten.

The Foliate Spider makes an orb-web, the charasteristic wheel-shaped web most people think of when they say spider. Only the spiral of the web is made out of sticky silk; The frame is made out of regular silk. The spider builds a "retreat" out of very thick silk. It looks like an upside down cone shape. The spider sits in this "retreat" in the day time, and in the night time it goes out to the center of its web. There is a line connecting the front of the retreat to the center of the web, so even if it is in its retreat the spider may still be able to detect prey in its web. To see a picture of the retreat, go to []. The spider in the picture is not a Foliate Spider, however, it is a Lattice Spider (//Araneus thaddeus//).To see a picture of the Foliate Spider's web, go to []. Prey capture happens like this: A flying or hopping insect flies into the web and gets stuck on the sticky threads. The spider, feeling the web move, runs out of its retreat and bites the insect. It hangs on until the victim stops moving. Then, using its back legs in alternating movements, it wraps up its prey in silk. The prey is carried with the back legs either to the retreat or the center of the web, where it is hung up and devoured.

TARANTULAS:

Besides web building spiders, I am also one of those people who love tarantulas. At the moment I have two Mexican Curlyhairs (//Brachypelma// //albopilosum//).

UPDATES: it is now dec 30 my tarantulas are almost grown up! I am excited to discover one is a male and the other is a female!

I plan on being an invertebrate dealer when I grow up, and as such I thought I should include this list of tarantulas I'm interested in and wish to keep in the future:

Arizona Blonde (//Aphonopelma chalcodes//) Mexican Curlyhair (//Brachypelma albopilosum//) Mexican Red-Knee (//Brachypelma smithi//) Mexican Red-Rump (//Brachypelma vagans//) Costa Rican Tiger-Rump (//Cyclosternum fasciatum//) Chilean Rose-Hair (//Grammostola rosea//) Cobalt Blue (//Haplopelma lividum//) Thailand Black (//Haplopelma minax//)

And to see a video of a jumping spider catching a bee, go to []

WASPS:

I also like wasps, espescially the solitary wasps. There are three main types of wasps: social wasps, such as the hornet and the yellowjackets, solitary wasps, such as the various types of digger wasps and the mud-dauber wasps, and parasitic wasps, such as the cuckoo wasp and the ichneumon wasp.

Social wasps build large nests, usually out of wood fibers, but some tropical species use mud and other substances. In the spring time, a queen wasp wakes up from her hibernation and starts building a nest. She diligently collects wood fibers, one small ball at a time, until she has built her nest. Then she lays an egg in each cell. But what comes out of the egg is not a wasp, it is a larva. Like a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly, this larva will turn into a wasp. Then the queen wasp hunts food for her larva. She is not picky, and will attack large insects such as dragonflies without hesitation. Prey is intercepted in mid-air and stung. Then the wasp uses her strong jaws to cut her prey into manageable pieces, which are then air-lifted, one by one, to the nest. The larvae grow quickly, and their cells become cramped. One day, the larvae cover their cells with silk from a gland in their heads, and each one spins a cocoon, similar to the cocoon of a butterfly. Inside the cocoon, the larvae's bodies are reformed to the body of a wasp, again similar to how a caterpillar changes to a butterfly. Finally the big day comes when the adult wasps emerge from their cells. These adults are non-reproductive, and they assist the queen in caring for the other larvae, building the nest, fighting predators, and hunting for food. They are called workers. Soon the queen's only job is to lay eggs, as the increasing number of workers are taking over the other duties. The colony reaches its peak in summer, because the food is plentiful. So far all the members of the colony are female. Then comes autumn. Then the workers start to build extra large cells. The larvae in these cells receive extra attention, care, and food. These larvae are destined to be new queens and drones, or male wasps. When these mature, they fly outside to mate. Drones fly to other nests to mate with the queens there, while queens stay near the nest they were born in. After mating, the queens find sheltered places to hibernate. The drones, workers, and the old queen dies. In the spring, the new queens will wake up to start the cycle again.

In solitary wasps, a single female, after having mated, builds her own nest and either mass-provisions it or progressive-provisions it. In mass-provisioning, the female brings one or more prey items to the nest, lays an egg, and seals it up. In progressive-provisioning, the female feeds the larvae as it grows, sealing the nest after the larvae has pupated. Solitary wasps are specialist predators. Some hunt only flies, some caterpillars, some grasshoppers. There are usually one or two generations per year for most species. The Eastern Cicada Killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus) digs a hole in the ground and mass-provisions it with cicadas. The Thread-Waisted wasp (Ammophila procera) digs a hole in the ground and mass-provisions it with caterpillars. The Eastern Sand wasp (Bembix americana) digs a hole in the ground and progressively-provisions it with various types of flies. The Black-and-Yellow Mud-Dauber (Sceliphron caementarium) builds a multi-celled mud nest and mass-provisions it with various types of spiders. The Potter Wasp (Eumenes fraternus) builds a small urn-shaped mud nest and mass-provisions it with caterpillars. The............ and so on.

In parasitic wasps, the females mate and just fly about looking for another wasp nest to lay their egg(s) in.

SCORPIONS:

I also like scorpions, so I thought it worthwhile to include a section on them. Scorpions with massive claws are actually less deadly than scorpions with small, weak claws. Why? A scorpion with large claws does not need to bother with its stinger, it simply crushes its prey with its claws. However, a scorpion with small, weak claws relies on its potent venom to subdue its prey. There are some exceptions to this, however. The Arizona Hairy Scorpion (Hadrurus arizonensis) has small, weak claws, but has a venom toxicity of only slightly higher than the Asian Forest Scorpion (Heterometrus spinifer), which has massive crushing claws. This is a list of scorpions I want to keep in future:

Arizona Hairy Scorpion (Hadrurus arizonensis) Stripe-Tail Devil Scorpion (Vaejovis spinigerus) Swollen-Stinger Scorpion (Anuroctonus phaiodactylus) Giant Sand Scorpion (Smeringurus mesaensis) Northern Forest Scorpion (Uroctonus mordax) Texas Black Burrowing Scorpion (Diplocentrus whitei) African Yellow-Legged Scorpion (Opistophthalmus ecristatus) Namib Dune Scorpion (Opistophthalmus flavescens) Egyptian Gold Scorpion (Scorpio maurus) Flat Rock Scorpion (Hadogenes troglodytes) European Black Scorpion (Euscorpius flavicaudis

GUNS: coming soon

DRAGONFLIES: coming soon

WORLD WAR 2 AIRCRAFT:

This section contains my favorite ww2 aircraft.

Curtiss P-40E Warhawk Type: single seat fighter-bomber Speed: 360 mph Range: 650 miles Armament: 6 .50 machineguns in leading edges of the wing 280 rpg (rounds per gun) 1500 pounds bombs in 3 hardpoints, one under the fuselage and two underwing rated 500 pounds each Service Ceiling: 29,000 feet Height: 12.33 feet Wingspan: 37.33 feet Length: 31.67 feet

Republic P-47D Thunderbolt Type: single seat fighter-bomber Speed: 435 mph Range: 1725 miles Armament: 8 .50 machineguns in leading edges of wing 425 rpg 2500 pounds of bombs on 3 hardpoints: one under fuselage rated 500 pounds, two underwing rated 1000 pounds each Service Ceiling: 43,000 feet Height: 14 feet 8 in Wingspan: 40 feet 9 in Length: 36 feet 1 in

Bell P-39N Airacobra Type: single seat fighter-bomber Speed: 376 mph Range: 975 miles Armament: 1 37mm cannon in the inside of the engine 30 rounds 2 .50 machineguns synchronised in the forward fuselage 200 rpg 4 .30 machineguns, 2 in each wing, with 1000 rpg 500 pounds of bombs on one hardpoint under the fuselage rated 500 pounds (obviously). Service ceiling: 38,270 feet Height: 12 feet 5 in Wingspan: 34 feet Length: 30 feet 2 in

Lockheed P-38L Lightning Type: single seat heavy fighter and long range fighter bomber Speed: 414 mph Range: 2600 miles Armament: 1 20mm cannon in the nose 120 rounds 4 .50 machineguns in the sides of the nose 500 rpg 4000 pounds of bombs on two underwing hardpoints rated 2000 lb each. There were two more hardpoints on the outer wing rated 500lb each, but loading these would overload the aircraft. Service ceiling: 44,000 feet Height: 12 feet 10 in Wingspan: 52 feet Length: 37 feet 10 in

Bell P-63A Kingcobra Type: single seat fighter bomber Speed: 410 mph Range: 2200 miles Armament: 1 37mm cannon in the engine 58 rounds 2 .50 machineguns synchronised in the forward fuselage 270 rpg 2 .50 machineguns in the wings 250 rpg 1500 pounds of bombs on three hardpoints: one under the fuselage and two underwing, rated 500 lb each. Service ceiling: 43,000 feet Height: 12 feet 7 in Wingspan: 38 feet 4 in Length: 32 feet 8 in

North American P-51D Mustang Type: single seat fighter bomber Speed: 437 mph Range: 2301 miles Armament: 2 .50 machineguns in the inner wing 400 rpg 4 .50 machineguns in the outer wing 270 rpg 2000 pounds of bombs in two hardpoints on the wings rated 1000 lb each Service ceiling: 41,900 feet Height: 13 feet 8 in Wingspan: 37 feet 1/4 in Length: 32 feet 3 1/4 in

Curtiss SB2C-1C Helldiver Type: two seat dive bomber Speed: 281 mph Range: 1375 miles Armament: 2 20mm cannon in the wings 400 rpg (that is not mistyped what a lotta ammo) 2 .30 machineguns in the rear cockpit 1000 rpg 3000 pounds of bombs in an internal bomb bay rated 2000 lb and two underwing hardpoints rated 500 lb each Service ceiling: 24,200 feet Height: 13 feet 1 1/2 in Wingspan: 49 feet 8.26 in Length: 36 feet 8 in

Check out my other webpages: http://ca-techcamp.wikispaces.com/IanK+2 http://ca-techcamp.wikispaces.com/IanK-my+pets

Also check out my little sister Felice's website. I helped her create it: http://ca-techcamp.wikispaces.com/Felice%27s+Website

And my other sister Clara's website: http://ca-techcamp.wikispaces.com/pony+page

Links: [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [|http://www.amazon.com]

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