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# Advocating for the cause
- URL: https://www.soul-riot.com/advocating-for-the-cause/
- Published: 2026-10-24T15:00:04.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T15:00:04.000Z
- Description: Not all spiders want to be the poster-girls for the Human-Spider Reconciliation Movement.
- Author: Elena Corriero
- Tags: Stories, Spiders, Steatoda Tepidariorum

A podcast I recently listened to called jumping spiders “gateway spiders”, because their cuteness factor is sufficient to overcome many people’s innate aversion to spiders - and from there, it’s all game. 

However, I think that *other* spiders could do better to support their cause. 

Take Julie, for example. She lives in my garage. She's always holding her very melodramatic upside down pose, in the dustiest corner. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/eb/6f/eb6faa5c-5ec1-4a1f-9729-ab918987e2a2/content/images/2026/10/PA180015-1-1.jpg)

Julie is the largest representative of the **Theriididae* family I've met on my premises. She is roughly 1/4 inch. Plus the legs.

*Hey Julie.* 

*Hey.* 

*Can I take a couple of pictures?*

*Sure.*

*Do you mind moving just a bit? The background is dreadful. We need some color.* 

*No.*

*No - you don’t mind?*

*No, I do mind.* 

*Alright. At least let me come closer.*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/eb/6f/eb6faa5c-5ec1-4a1f-9729-ab918987e2a2/content/images/2026/10/PA180016-1.jpg)

Even though it looks like she's hanging in space, she's really sitting in a three-dimensional web that is anchored to the very ceiling of my garage. 

*Mind the web.* 

*I can’t really see it.* 

*That’s the point. Duh.* 

*Why don’t you show off your fangs?*

*Are you trying to make me look scary?*

*No, of course not. Just let us see your face, will you?*

*No.* 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/eb/6f/eb6faa5c-5ec1-4a1f-9729-ab918987e2a2/content/images/2026/10/PA180017.jpg)

In the foreground, you can see her **coxa*, where the legs attach to the cephalothorax. She holds her pedipalps in front of her chelicerae (left). Her eyes are immediately underneath. 

*Okay. Well. By the way - I’m glad you have all your legs, still.* 

*Where did you learn your small talk? Can’t say the same about you.*

*Same - what?*

*You’re missing two whole pairs of legs, did you not notice?*

*Julie, I only have two pairs, not four.* 

*Like, born that way?*

*Yeah.*

*That's rough. Is that why you can’t catch your food?*

*Who said that?*

[*Nina*](https://www.soul-riot.com/nina/) *told me.* 

*Tell Nina to mind her own business. She knows I can’t spin a web.*

*Eh, she's dead anyway. I’m sorry for you, though.* 

*That's very thoughtful of you. I appreciate your -* 

*Can I be alone now?*

*Sure.* 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/eb/6f/eb6faa5c-5ec1-4a1f-9729-ab918987e2a2/content/images/2026/10/PA200004.jpg)

Julie turned her spinnerets to me, signaling her desire to be alone. You can see strands of her 3D web all around her. 

As you can see from the conversation above, while spiders like [Victor](https://www.soul-riot.com/victor/) or [Jinny](https://www.soul-riot.com/a-little-help/) are really good at PR, others really refuse to be the poster-girls for the *Human-Spider Reconciliation Movement (HSRM).* 

And while I don't mind Julie using the garage, she's effectively blocking the side door, with one anchor line running all the way to the ceiling. That's 8 feet of line! 

She should at least work on her manners. 

Elena Corriero

---

*All photos shot handheld.*

*OM60mm, f/8.0, 1/200, ISO 200 + Godox V350 Flash & AK diffuser.* 

🕷️

**Spiders of North America* divides spiders into eight "guilds" based on how they hunt and capture their prey. Julie belongs to the **Theriididae* family, which sits in the Space Web Weaver Guild. The webs are irregular, 3D structures - our typical cobwebs.