Field Guide to Spiders of UC Santa Cruz

By Maycee Hash

As a sophomore at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Maycee Hash set out to develop a field guide. She wanted her book to reveal the astonishing variation of local spiders, foster curiosity, and promote appreciation for these fascinating organisms. Two years later, unsatisfied with her first attempt, Maycee set forth to create a second edition that maintained the first's lighthearted spirit but improved greatly upon its content and format. This has resulted in a stunning collection of arachnid macrophotography and detailed natural history information on over 80 spider taxa. Spiders have an inherent capacity to inspire awe in people. It is just that some of that incredible potential can be obscured by a learned fear or apprehension. However, with the correct approach (a pun here, a pun there) this fear may be abated. Maycee provides a great deal of information without trespassing into jargon land, and has produced a field guide that is a solid, user-friendly learning tool for spider ecology and identification in the field. We hope readers of this guide will get caught up in the extraordinary web of diversity spiders have contributed to our world--grab your guide and set forth into the field!Brief excerpt from the Preface:"AAAACK. A horrible nasty stupid disgusting spider!" I have heard various renditions of this sentiment all too many times. While we are gradually learning to accept and appreciate spiders, many of us still cling to the notion they are vile, nefarious things, apt to bite and lay eggs in your brain. The latter is certainly not true (at least we have yet to identify a spider with this reproductive life history) where the former is unlikely in most cases. Unfortunately, much of our cultural animosity towards spiders is proliferated by enduring urban myths and lack of education, which sadly can be lethal to harmless spiders. A large spider in the sink? Probably a brown recluse- better kill it or be killed. The only good spider is a dead one, right? Actually, spiders are greatly beneficial to us, and provide essential ecological services as obligate carnivores of a multitude of pest species. Because we tend to fear what we do not understand, education can be a powerful tool for dispelling misconceptions surrounding our eight-legged associates.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1530887933
• ISBN13: 9781530887934
• Release Date: April 2016
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 116 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.3" x 5.5"