7 ms·

Scientists Uncover a Shady Web of Online Spider Sales

49 points by Petiver 4y ago

jppope 4y ago
Wow. I literally thought this was about web crawling technology...
- debdut 4y ago
  dang me too, I thought web spiders too
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  Instead it was literally about spiders.
obscuren 4y ago
Did they use a web crawler to find this?
- missblit 4y ago
  Yes. From the article: > To learn more about the scale of the global arachnid trade, the authors of the new paper used a handful of search terms — “spider,” “scorpion,” “arachnid” — in nine languages to identify websites that might be selling the animals.
assbuttbuttass 4y ago
I keep several spiders as pets, so I'm a bit biased. The greatest threat to these rare species isn't the pet trade, it's rather the destruction of their habitat. You'll find that most tarantula keepers prefer to buy captive-bred specimens, both for conservation reasons, but also due to risk of parasites. Mexico handles this issue better than most countries: they let licensed breeders breed these animals in captivity and export them for the pet trade. This strategy reduces the pressure on the wild spiders, while not banning it entirely (which just leads to poaching)
- setgree 4y ago
  Do you find that they interact with you/recognize you?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - bryans 4y ago
    I can't speak toward tarantulas, but some jumping spiders definitely recognize, acknowledge and seemingly even appreciate individuals. Honestly, they sometimes look excited to see you as a dog would -- though that's likely just a basic recognition that you act as their food delivery service. They even appear to understand the concept (if not reasoning) behind their enclosure. Some folks who spend a lot of time with their jumping spiders will actually leave the enclosure door open, as the spider will happily stay there unless it lacks water or food for a long period of time, and typically only leaves when its human stops by. It will come to the door when you get close, jump on your hand and hang out very calmly (some people even go on walks with them), then gladly jump back into the enclosure when you're done and patiently wait for you to bring it food.
    - wolverine876 4y ago
      > they sometimes look excited to see you as a dog would What does that look like?
      - bryans 4y ago
        They make movements which are easily anthropomorphized, probably because of their jumping nature. Imagine a dog seeing its human after a long vacation, where its quickly moving back and forth, and doing little jumps, etc. It may just be the spider preparing to jump or exhibiting some other behavior, but they'll even exit the enclosure when you're close, looking up at you with those oversized eyes, seemingly hopeful that you'll let them hang out and watch whatever you're doing.
    - haxiomic 4y ago
westcort 4y ago
My key takeaways: * An analysis of online sales listings turned up more than 1,200 species of spiders, scorpions and other arachnids; just 2 percent of them are subject to international trade regulations, the researchers report * Fish and Wildlife Service trade database included only 267 arachnid species, the scientists found * The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, which regulates the international trade of a variety of plant and animal species, had just 30 species in its trade database * Nearly 200 of the species that have been discovered since 2000 are already being traded; dozens were available within a year or two of first being described, the researchers found * In another recent study, researchers at Cornell University found multiple species of endangered tarantulas being sold online * “Arachnids are being massively traded,” Dr. * Hughes said. * “And it seems to be going completely under the radar.”
hekisek 4y ago
Real life animal crossing
erickhill 4y ago
+1 for the clever title.
wolverine876 4y ago
I get the sense that something has changed about the NY Times approach to journalism. Instead of uncovering, breaking, and headlining news - what they were famous for and world leaders at, 'all the news that's fit to print' - it's long explanatory articles and narratives, and lifestyle stuff, plus their take on well-known stories but not so revelatory. It's less inflammatory, which is valuable, but I don't feel like it's news - shining light on the dark corners of power - which is an enormous loss. I'm not sure how to characterize it because I'm not sure what they are doing. Has anyone else noticed? It seems like it's been going on since last autumn, at least.
- RC_ITR 4y ago
  I mean the timeline makes things tight, but maybe you're just becoming desensitized? https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/2022-pulitzer-airstrikes-gone-wrong?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-pulitzer-prize&variant=show&region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/2022-pulitzer-airstrikes-g... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-traffic-stops-killings.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-pulitzer-prize&variant=show&region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-traffic-stops-k... Like sure neither of those are 'Watergate' takedowns of individuals or organizations, but unfortunately, Trump killed that kind of journalism.
  - wolverine876 4y ago
    My impression is not simply defined and hard to provide evidence for, I admit. > Trump killed that kind of journalism How did he possibly kill that kind of journalism? Maybe that attitude explains it, in some way.
- bloodyplonker22 4y ago
  They realized that the investigative journalism type of news was too costly and produced smaller returns compared to this type of lifestyle "news". In addition, a lot of investigative journalism cannot even be reported on anymore because of their newly acquired woke bias. The NY times used to be a centrist/moderate source of news, but now wokeism has taken over and it's really not the same credible publication it was 30 years ago.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

49 points by Petiver 4y ago

jppope 4y ago

Wow. I literally thought this was about web crawling technology...

debdut 4y ago
dang me too, I thought web spiders too
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
SoftTalker 4y ago
Instead it was literally about spiders.

obscuren 4y ago

Did they use a web crawler to find this?

missblit 4y ago
Yes. From the article: > To learn more about the scale of the global arachnid trade, the authors of the new paper used a handful of search terms — “spider,” “scorpion,” “arachnid” — in nine languages to identify websites that might be selling the animals.

assbuttbuttass 4y ago

I keep several spiders as pets, so I'm a bit biased. The greatest threat to these rare species isn't the pet trade, it's rather the destruction of their habitat. You'll find that most tarantula keepers prefer to buy captive-bred specimens, both for conservation reasons, but also due to risk of parasites. Mexico handles this issue better than most countries: they let licensed breeders breed these animals in captivity and export them for the pet trade. This strategy reduces the pressure on the wild spiders, while not banning it entirely (which just leads to poaching)

setgree 4y ago
Do you find that they interact with you/recognize you?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- bryans 4y ago
  I can't speak toward tarantulas, but some jumping spiders definitely recognize, acknowledge and seemingly even appreciate individuals. Honestly, they sometimes look excited to see you as a dog would -- though that's likely just a basic recognition that you act as their food delivery service. They even appear to understand the concept (if not reasoning) behind their enclosure. Some folks who spend a lot of time with their jumping spiders will actually leave the enclosure door open, as the spider will happily stay there unless it lacks water or food for a long period of time, and typically only leaves when its human stops by. It will come to the door when you get close, jump on your hand and hang out very calmly (some people even go on walks with them), then gladly jump back into the enclosure when you're done and patiently wait for you to bring it food.
  - wolverine876 4y ago
    > they sometimes look excited to see you as a dog would What does that look like?
    - bryans 4y ago
      They make movements which are easily anthropomorphized, probably because of their jumping nature. Imagine a dog seeing its human after a long vacation, where its quickly moving back and forth, and doing little jumps, etc. It may just be the spider preparing to jump or exhibiting some other behavior, but they'll even exit the enclosure when you're close, looking up at you with those oversized eyes, seemingly hopeful that you'll let them hang out and watch whatever you're doing.
  - haxiomic 4y ago

westcort 4y ago

My key takeaways: * An analysis of online sales listings turned up more than 1,200 species of spiders, scorpions and other arachnids; just 2 percent of them are subject to international trade regulations, the researchers report * Fish and Wildlife Service trade database included only 267 arachnid species, the scientists found * The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, which regulates the international trade of a variety of plant and animal species, had just 30 species in its trade database * Nearly 200 of the species that have been discovered since 2000 are already being traded; dozens were available within a year or two of first being described, the researchers found * In another recent study, researchers at Cornell University found multiple species of endangered tarantulas being sold online * “Arachnids are being massively traded,” Dr. * Hughes said. * “And it seems to be going completely under the radar.”

hekisek 4y ago

Real life animal crossing

erickhill 4y ago

+1 for the clever title.

wolverine876 4y ago

I get the sense that something has changed about the NY Times approach to journalism. Instead of uncovering, breaking, and headlining news - what they were famous for and world leaders at, 'all the news that's fit to print' - it's long explanatory articles and narratives, and lifestyle stuff, plus their take on well-known stories but not so revelatory. It's less inflammatory, which is valuable, but I don't feel like it's news - shining light on the dark corners of power - which is an enormous loss. I'm not sure how to characterize it because I'm not sure what they are doing. Has anyone else noticed? It seems like it's been going on since last autumn, at least.

RC_ITR 4y ago
I mean the timeline makes things tight, but maybe you're just becoming desensitized? https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/2022-pulitzer-airstrikes-gone-wrong?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-pulitzer-prize&variant=show&region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/2022-pulitzer-airstrikes-g... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-traffic-stops-killings.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-pulitzer-prize&variant=show&region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&block=storyline_levelup_swipe_recirc https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-traffic-stops-k... Like sure neither of those are 'Watergate' takedowns of individuals or organizations, but unfortunately, Trump killed that kind of journalism.
- wolverine876 4y ago
  My impression is not simply defined and hard to provide evidence for, I admit. > Trump killed that kind of journalism How did he possibly kill that kind of journalism? Maybe that attitude explains it, in some way.
bloodyplonker22 4y ago
They realized that the investigative journalism type of news was too costly and produced smaller returns compared to this type of lifestyle "news". In addition, a lot of investigative journalism cannot even be reported on anymore because of their newly acquired woke bias. The NY times used to be a centrist/moderate source of news, but now wokeism has taken over and it's really not the same credible publication it was 30 years ago.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]