Fiona Cross

Jumping Spider in its shelter with its moth prey.

#Arachtober 10th is International Jumping Spider Day! Created in 2017 to show the cutest and most adorable spiders as a way for people to embrace instead of fear spiders. Started by photographer Shaham Tamir.

Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax)
#JumpingSpiderDay #macro #macrophotography #spider

My kind of collaboration.

Fuzzy Phidippus jumping spider with bright red uppers and black legs and dark face, a velvet ant mimic. He's on a dry leaf peering up at you

Top view of the colorful lad on the leaf, peering up and away from you at something out of frame

He's perfect, and #Arachtober themed

Mr Phidippus cardinalis appeared this afternoon and made my day. ❤️
#EmotionalSupportSpood

I've made a poster for my office door, wishing everyone a Happy Arachtober. Someone has left a message by my poster today, saying "You're one of the nicest people I know"

Ok, someone left this by my #Arachtober poster today 🥺

Crossview Stereo Pair 3D macro photo of an orb weaver spider in her web.

#Arachtober 1st - Tropical Orb Weaver (Eriophora ravilla). One of my favorites. Very common in South Texas. Can be found up the East Coast of USA down to South America. This is a stereo image. Cross your eyes for 3D. 🕷️
#spider #orbweaver #arachnid #macrophotography #naturephotography

Best socks ever!! 😁 I've never seen salticid-themed socks at my local mall before. I'll have to get more! 🕷

A very happy #Arachtober to you, too! Looking forward to seeing the results of your spidering. I was telling someone today that one must never leave home without a vial!! 🕷

That makes me so very very proud!!! 😊🕷 And it's why I care about science communication so much. Happy #Arachtober, Beck!!

Thank you! I used to be scared of spiders too, so I understand 🕷

Ok, this is on my office door now. Wishing you all a happy #Arachtober! To learn about the history of Arachtober, check out this website Arachtober.com @arachtober.bsky.social @ashleymbradford.bsky.social #LoveSpiders

Happy #Arachtober!!! 🕷🕷🕷🕷

Black and white line art of a jumping spider surrounded by morning glory flowers with text Arachtober 2025.

Join us in celebrating Arachtober by sharing your #spider and other #arachnid photos all month. #Arachtober has spread around the web. We’ve created a basic site at Arachtober.com to explain what this is all about. Banner by @ashleymbradford.bsky.social, inspired by my recent linocut artwork.

A pair of black socks with a large pink outline of a jumping spider. To add to the cuteness, the jumping spider is wearing a pink bow.

Proudly wearing those spider socks, because they are the best.

Check out my new socks! They are the best! 🕷️ #LoveSpiders

A picture of Portia, a very hairy brown spider, looking down at text that says "Happy Arachtober!"

Yay - it's now Arachtober! Happy #Arachtober, everyone! 🕷🕸️🦂

YouTube video by Nerd Nite Christchurch Nerd Nite ChCh: Travels to Kenya: An Eight-legged Adventure by Dr Spider

Looking forward to giving my next Nerd Nite talk on Wednesday! Looks like tickets are still available: events.humanitix.com/nerd-nite-ch... Here is last year's talk - this year's talk will have a spider cognition theme! 🕷 youtu.be/7EBi7FUpGaY?...

Photo of Fiona balancing a fluffy spider soft toy on her head. In continuing with the 'Nerd Nite' theme, Fiona is wearing a brown sweater covered in white spiderwebs.

Spider Cognition: Unraveling Secrets of Miniature Brains Fiona works with spiders that have brains which would comfortably fit on pinheads, but these spiders can make plans, solve tasks, and even pay attention to number.

There's going to be a special #Arachtober evening for Nerd Nite in #Christchurch on Wednesday 1 October! @corvink.bsky.social and I are both giving talks, and I'll be sharing some highlights of spider cognition research. Tickets and further details are here 👉 events.humanitix.com/nerd-nite-ch...

'Dark DNA' may explain dancing spiders' extraordinary diversity There are many more species of peacock spider than other animals, scientists think they may know why.

Exciting work in progress seeks to explain the bizarre and wonderful diversity of Peacock spiders: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Photo of Fiona balancing a fluffy spider soft toy on her head. In continuing with the 'Nerd Nite' theme, Fiona is wearing a brown sweater covered in white spiderwebs.

Spider Cognition: Unraveling Secrets of Miniature Brains Fiona works with spiders that have brains which would comfortably fit on pinheads, but these spiders can make plans, solve tasks, and even pay attention to number.

There's going to be a special #Arachtober evening for Nerd Nite in #Christchurch on Wednesday 1 October! @corvink.bsky.social and I are both giving talks, and I'll be sharing some highlights of spider cognition research. Tickets and further details are here 👉 events.humanitix.com/nerd-nite-ch...

This is Fangs, my fluffy spider soft toy

I'm going to talking about spiders on More FM Manawatu tomorrow (Friday) at 8:12 AM 🕷 #NewZealand #SciComm

Photos showing golden daffodils at Hagley Park

I've been to Central Park in the Spring, and really liked it! Christchurch is known as the Garden City, and Hagley Park (our equivalent of Central Park) shows many varieties of daffodils at this time of the year!

Photos of cherry blossom trees, covered in lots of white flowers.

One of my favourite things about my campus at this time of the year. I took a moment to get some photos before the weather turns this afternoon! #Christchurch #NewZealand

Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT: Michael Beran, Professor of Psychology, Georgia State University. Michael studies comparative cognition with an emphasis on metacognition, self-control, prospective cognition, numerical cognition, perception, and decision making.
Check out his lab website: sites.gsu.edu/comic-lab/

A field of Spring flowers overlooking the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand

Many golden daffodils!

Been ages since I've posted on here. Life's had its ups and downs, but it was lovely to spend some time at Hagley Park today #Christchurch

Extremely wholesome and short thread of library-related goodness! 😍 ^MT

Happy birthday #BillAndTedDay Let’s all try and be excellent to each other. Even during hard times.

Do follow the best library in Aotearoa.

Not me! Only rain ☔️

Merriam-Webster Tweet: Any dictionary can be a pocket dictionary with big enough pants. Cookie Monster's reply to the tweet: Me no wear pants.

This might be the absolute greatest reply we have ever received.

Thank you, Cookie Monster 📕🍪💙