LEDs light up spider eyes at 100 feet - wild!

[Joshatdot]

Wow..I'll have to do some Spider Sniffing, buts it's cold & wet up here in the NW.

 

[MountainJJ]

This works on black widows. I use this technique to find them and spray them every fall. I've been bit twice in the fall when they are on the move. This is the best way to find them in the evening. Hold the flashlight between your eyes and you will get a very bright reflection from thier eyes. Grab your spider spray and go wild and hope not to get bit.

 

[electrothump]

I've seen that for years now. I too thought it was dew until I got to wondering about the colors. Then I did the same thing, and homed in on the little glistening speck of light. The first spider I saw doing it was a brown field spider. Incandescents will also do the same. There are several bugs that will do that. The first time I noticed it was when looking at a moth. For finding warm blooded animals in the dark, a dim light will reflect back from their eyes faster than a real bright one. Many of them squint when a bright light shines at them. Of course, cows are so dumb, they don't even bother to blink. Deer seem to be cut from the same cloth. As with the warm blooded animals, different bugs reflect different colors. It's pretty fun to show squeamish kids the spiders first.

DN

 

[Brozneo]

I'll have to try this!

 

[Robocop]

I also learned this trick long ago as a child growing up camping on the river. It is true that if you simply hold the light to the top of your head and look it works much better and incandescents work just as well as luxeons. I found long ago also that many insects eyes will shine this way and even other things such as frogs.

I was shocked to see just how far one could spot a very tiny spider by its eye reflection. My back yard has maybe 25 yards of grass before hitting a woodline and I can easily spot a spider the size of a dime or even smaller from over 25 yards.

 

[RadarGreg]

Crap, spiders already freak me out enough as it is, now I have to worry about their glowing eyes! Somebody was playing a cruel joke when they created spiders; eight legs(you'd think six would be enough), can hang upside down and dangle onto you(I've seen it happen), poisonous fangs(enough said), and a bunch of glowing eyes.oo:

 

[protein_man]

Freshwater crayfish eyes also reflect back at you if your walking around a dam with them in it. I'm not sure if all species do it but the red claw crayfish has eyes that look red when spotting them.

 

[Illum]

Crap, spiders already freak me out enough as it is, now I have to worry about their glowing eyes! Somebody was playing a cruel joke when they created spiders; eight legs(you'd think six would be enough), can hang upside down and dangle onto you(I've seen it happen), poisonous fangs(enough said), and a bunch of glowing eyes.oo:

nature versus nurture....I believe this is where the phobias come from
Dad was a naturalist so I was introduced to alot of different insects at a young age...spiders included
theres once about 6 types of spiders I have in the house, it never bothered me so I can't imagine or understand other peoples fears
heres a couple cute ones...Species Phidippus regius
for your sake I wont hotlink them, I believe its the two eyes up front that light up while other types of spiders has scales on the body that reflect light also
http://www.hr-rna.com/RNA/images/Large%20format%20images/Phid%20whitmani%20face%20LF2.jpg
http://www.hr-rna.com/RNA/images/Spiders/Jumping Spiders/Jumper Br face PtRm 6 05.jpg

 

[kelmo]

If you think thats creepy take a UV light out into the desert at night. Scorpians fluoresce!