Family Affairs and other matters

NEIGHBOURS AND A REDBACK SPIDER TOUR

Well, it was great. Our tour to the Neighbours set, early this morning. My daughter loved every cheesy minute of it. We were driven to Ramsay Street by a very jovial and highly informed about every bit of Neighbours trivia ever invented guide who just kept saying "and here's the mad thing about it".... We got taken to the school, the garage, the bus stop, the houses. We watched DVD's of the best and worst moments, we were given facts and figures about the show. For example, did you know that when Andy Murray played at Wimbledon he was watched by 12m people in the UK. When Diana's funeral was shown on the TV 16m people watched. But on the 8th November 1988 when Scott and Charlene got married, 20.3m viewers tuned in. Unbelievable. Big things are happening this year in Neighbours for their 25th Anniversary year. Stuff has been filmed that is meant to be top secret. A wedding for example. We know who gets married. We know who dies. I don't want to spoil it for any of you out there though.... I had to take LOADS of pictures of my daughter standing next to all sorts of strange things. Sitting in Declan's car. Standing outside the garage. Holding up the Ramsay Street sign. Standing in front of each and every house:- and my daughter was thrilled that the star we met was Elle, daughter of the evil Paul Robinson:- BUT, the best bit for me and one that made the tour truly worthwhile was when our guide opened the door to a disused cafe and a spider dropped down and landed on his head and as it fell to the floor I caught a glimpse of it. So, just in case, I took a picture of it and enlarged it when we got back to the coach:- ...and sure enough, here is a fantastic specimen of the famous Aussie Redback Spider. The second most dangerous spider in the world:- I didn't ever see one in the wild in all the time we lived in Melbourne, so I'm very pleased indeed. At least I'm assuming it's a Redback spider and not something entirely different. I know spiders are meant to have 8 legs and this one looks like it only has 6 but it was hiding them on purpose. To fool us into not stepping on it. DID YOU KNOW that it's only the female that has the red back? AND DID YOU KNOW that the Redback spider is one of only two animals to date where the male has been found to actively assist the female in sexual cannibalism??? In the process of mating, the much smaller male somersaults to place his abdomen over the female's mouthparts. In about 2 out of 3 cases, the female consumes the male while mating continues. Males who are not eaten die soon after mating. Males who sacrifice themselves during mating present two advantages over males who do not. The first is that males who are eaten are able to copulate for a longer period and thus fertilise more eggs. The second is that females who have eaten a male are more likely to reject subsequent males. Some Redback males have been observed utilising an alternative tactic which seems infinitely more sensible and that also ensures that more of their genetic material is passed on. Juvenile female Redbacks who are nearing their final moulting and adulthood have fully formed reproductive organs but lack openings in the exoskeleton that allow access to the organs. Males will bite through the exoskeleton and deliver sperm to the organs without performing the somersault seen in males mating with adult females. The females then moult within a few days and deliver a normal clutch of eggs. Once the female has mated, she can store sperm and use it over a period of up to two years to lay several batches of eggs. A female spider may lay eggs every 25 to 30 days. A single female normally lays between 40 and 300 eggs in each sac but can lay up to 5000 eggs. The eggs hatch 13 to 15 days after being laid. Young Redback spiders leave the maternal web by being carried on the wind. The spider extends its abdomen high in the air and produces a droplet of silk. The liquid silk is drawn out into a long thread that, when long enough, carries the spider away. Eventually the silken thread will adhere to an object where the young spider will establish its own web.

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