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Blog Archives
Sign Challenge #1 Reveal: Spinybacked Spider Egg sac
This reveal for Sign Challenge #1 is long overdue. Here’s the challenge photo again:
~15mm long | August 23, 2012 | Sebring, FL, USA
Commenter Daniel Heald correct guessed it was a spider egg sac. Here’s another angle:
Dorsal view
When I took the photos, I assumed it was a cocoon. I was curious to see what moth would emerge, so I took it home with me.
After looking through Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates, I realized it was actually an egg sac for a Spinybacked spider (Gasteracantha cancriformis). In fact, I had seen many of those spiders in the area. The egg sac’s yellow silk, dark longitudinal line, and placement on the underside of a leaf all point to this species.
Posted in Sign Challenges
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BugShot 2012: Wolf Spiders
I enjoyed BugShot 2012, but didn’t take as much advantage of the setting as I’d hoped. By the time I got to Archbold Biological Station, I was coming down with what turned out to be an upper respiratory infection that would last for several weeks. At the end of each day I mostly just wanted to sleep. Not wanting to totally waste the opportunity, I did venture out for several hours on the final night.
Wolf spiders were everywhere and were easily found by the reflections of their eyes from my headlamp. This lighter colored one was my favorite.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Red Widow with Egg Sac
~15mm long | August 21, 2012 | Tiger Creek Preserve, Babson Park, Fl, USA
While on my way to BugShot 2012, I spent several days exploring parks along the way. My favorite spot was the Nature Conservancy’s Tiger Creek Preserve for the variety of habitats its trails pass through.
Here, I was curious about some some palmetto leaves that had been sealed up. Peeling a layer of leaves away, I found a red widow guarding her egg sac.
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Lynx Spider Guarding Egg Sac
~10mm | January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
On the underside of a leaf, an attractive lynx spider guards her egg sac.
Dorsal view
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Thread-legged Bug with Spider Prey
30mm long | December 30, 2011 | Quirinópolis, Goiás, Brazil
This thread-legged bug appears to be hanging in mid-air, but in fact it has delicately balanced itself on a spider web. Its beak holds a small spider that it must have just plucked from the center of the web.
Some thread-legged specialize in spiders, and I wonder if this might be one of them. Some are even known to lure the spider by plucking at the web like captured prey might.
Another view
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Hunting Spider on Grass
18mm long | December 30, 2011 | Quirinópolis, Goiás, Brazil
This attractively marked hunting spider spider was resting on a blade of grass after a rain. I’m being intentionally vague by saying hunting spider here, because I really don’t know how to narrow it down to even a family.
With those racing stripes, one wonders how quickly it moves.
Closer view
Posted in Featured Photos
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Spider in Lair
December 30, 2011 | Quirinópolis, Goiás, Brazil
An unidentified spider peering out from its lair in a tree branch.
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Resting Spider
5mm long body | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Resting with its legs held together on the edge of a leaf, this spider quickly grew tired of me. After a few shots, it slipped to the underside of the leaf.
Dorsal view
I think this is a crab spider in the family Thomisidae, perhaps a Tmarus species.
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Ant Mimicking Spider and Possible Model
July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park
Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
These two photos of critters both 4mm long were taken less than an hour apart in spots just a few feet apart. I believe these two are probably a mimic and its model.
I first photographed the jumping spider. I only got a few shots before I lost it. Later I spotted the ant and took quite a few photos. Here I selected one that would show roughly the same pose as the spider.
The area around the rearmost eyes of the jumping spider is darkened to better match the larger black eyes of the ant. The dark spots on the spider’s abdomen are an anomaly though. Maybe this ant isn’t the model after all?
Posted in Featured Photos
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Spider Corpse with Fungus
14mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Can you spot the spider corpse here? Looks like it succumbed to some sort of fungal infection. Fungi are quite diverse and I don’t recall ever seeing one quite like this one. Here’s a closer view.
Closeup of fungus
I suspect that webbing is probably from the spider itself. It probably was hiding inside a silken retreat when it died.
Side view
Would the fungus properly be called an arachnopathogen? I think so but there’s practically no hits when I search for that term.
I did find a photo with a similar looking fungus on BugGuide though. Sadly, no info on the identity of the fungus. It’s neat to see that the photo was taken not too far from where I live though.
Posted in Featured Photos
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