So if there's one thing I love saying, it's "I told you so."

We decided to go ahead and drop in the mantises a couple days after this incarnation of Spideropolis came into existance, and immediately they began to dominate the spider population. I don't know exact scores (that's more David's side of things) but I do know that one of the mantises managed to kill off something like 10 spiders and 2 moths in its first night. And the domination just continued throughout the days afterwards.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. In a way. This time the mantises decided it was a good idea to mate. When mantises mate, they mate until death do them part. And that death comes from the hands of the female ripping the head off the male. Five of the mantises have been beheaded by those heartless women and unfortunately, we got no pictures of it (except for one of the carnage afterwards). Of course this means baby mantises which we can then raise to be hardcore killing machines like their ancestors, but for the time, it's quite depressing.

As far as site news goes, spideropolis.com shouldn't be all that far off into the future. Plans are already in the works for making it happen fast, dramatically and in a dominating fashion. Also, David promised me massive updates when I got home tonight, so there should be some new pics and some insight into the workings of the enclosure from him later on. Other than that, start commenting. Comments make me happy. It helps us know what you like so we can go ahead and start custom tailoring the site to you. So it's generally a good idea.

Labels: joe, Mantis

Spideropolis is in full swing now with over fifty spiders, three mantids and numerous moths, flys, beetles, centipedes and the like.

The highlights of the last three days are as follows:

Our dark green Mantis has killed 3 small tunnel web spiders, 9 Daddy Longlegs, 2 small moths and 1 small Whitetail. Interestingly the mantis was unable to eat, after several minutes of working at it, the Whitetail’s carapace or its armored front legs, eventually discarding the still living front half. The crippled Whitetail then curled its remaining legs into a shield and clung to life for a minute or two before its nerves softened and its noble warrior stance fell limp. CU Score (12.7)

The light green Mantis killed 3 Daddy Longlegs. CU Score (3)

The brown Mantis killed 2 small tunnel webs and 1 medium Tunnel web in the few minutes he’s been in there, followed by a wasp an hour later. CU Score (3)

All three Mantids have been listed for the honour of receiving names, which will be bestowed upon them in the next few days.

Our large Whitetail killed 2 small tunnel webs and a medium jumping spider. This Whitetail is listed for naming. CU Score (2)

The other large Whitetail killed 1 small tunnel web. CU Score (0.5)

The largest Daddy Longlegs killed 2 medium Daddy Longlegs before been slain by the dark green mantis. A noble effort.

The large Cobweb spider has killed three beetles. CU Score (0.9)

All three Stink Beetles have survived a powerful statement of resistance from this species.

All but 4 of the 20 Orb Webs have departed only four have been seen to die the rest have their end steeped in mystery.

Our super massive Whitetail has killed all 5 medium Tunnel Web spiders in her private enclosure and is listed for naming. CU Score (7.5)

Labels: news

Mantis continuing its reign of devastation not only kills a mother but proceeds to eat her eggs from her mouth as she watches helplessly knowing it is her turn next.

Labels: Mantis, Mantis eating, Mantis vs Spider

This small Tunnelweb has caught and beheaded a moth three times its own size. Minutes later her home was raided and stolen by a much larger Tunnelweb. A soled effort followed by a sound defeat this spider (0.4) was then eaten by a Mantis (13).

Labels: Spider eating, Spider vs Moth, Tunnelweb

This Mantis has now killed two moths and ten spiders! Pictured here devouring kill nine this Mantis is making a bid for total dominance.
Score = 13

Labels: Mantis, Mantis eating, Mantis vs Spider, White Daddy Longlegs

This is the enclosure. Here you can see, amongst other things, a large Tunnelweb well into building her maze of a web. We have hopes that once she has expanded on this structure she will be able to tackle the Mantids and end there rain of terror. You can tell it is night time as our plant has closed its leaves.

Labels: spideropolis.com

Tallies of death (ba hahahahaha):

Each insect in the enclosure will be given points for kills. The values of each species at a given size are listed below.

Ant 0.05

Fly 0.1
Large fly 0.2

Small moth 0.1
Medium moth 0.2
Large moth 0.4

Beetle 0.3

Wasp 0.5
Hornet 0.5
Honey bee 0.5
Bumble bee 2

Small Daddy Longlegs 0.5
Medium Daddy Longlegs 1
Large Daddy Longlegs 3
Small White Daddy Longlegs 0.7
Medium White Daddy Longlegs 1.5
Large White Daddy Longlegs 2.5

Small Tunnelweb 0.5
Medium Tunnelweb 1.5
Large Tunnelweb 4
Super Massive Tunnelweb 7

Small Whitetail 2
Medium Whitetail 4
Large Whitetail 10

Small Mantis 2
Medium Mantis 6
Large Mantis 10

Male Mantids yield only half of the Mantid points. So a large male mantid is only 5 points etc.

Brown Mantids add 1 point to account for their superior camouflage.

Small Skink 15
Skink 25

Small Huntsman spider 4
Medium Huntsman spider 10
Large Huntsman spider 25
Super massive Huntsman spider 50

Centipede 0.2
Millipede 0.2

Small Orb Weaver 0.5
Medium Orb Weaver 1
Large Orb Weaver 1.5

Small Cobweb Spider 0.5
Medium Cobweb Spider 1
Large Cobweb Spider 1.5

Small Slater Spider 0.5
Medium Slater Spider 1.5
Large Slater Spider 3

Small Sheetweb Spider 1.5
Medium Sheetweb Spider 3
Large Sheetweb Spider 6
Super Massive Sheetweb Spider 10