Spiders up to something

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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MarkSturtevant
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:52 pm
Location: Michigan, U.S.A.
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Spiders up to something

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Here are some pictures of spiders that are being spiders. Given their priorities, this will be either about reproduction or predation.

Cellar spider (probably Pholcus phalangoides) caring for her egg sac. She will hold them like this until her babies hatch.
ImageCellar spider with eggs by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

This next one was a surprise. I found this odd looking spider eating a jumping spider, which is quite a feat. It resembled an orb weaver of some kind, but later I learned that it is a specialized kind of orb weaver known as a pirate spider. Pirate spiders don't build webs. Instead, they either steal prey from the webs of spiders, or as shown here, they eat other spiders -- even taking them from their own webs (!) Their venom is very potent against other spiders, and one little bite is all it takes. The species is Mimetus notius.
ImagePirate spider by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Here is courtship between jumping spiders. A male Phidippus clarus is eagerly courting a female. I watched as he approached his 'intended', waving his good intentions as they do.
ImageLove Story, with jumping spiders by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
ImageLove Story, with jumping spiders by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
After a bit of this, he closed in on her, and she lunged at him "Bugger off!" Fortunately she was already eating something or this could have turned out very differently.

Flower crab spiders can be easy to find if you look for flower visiting insects that look "wrong". I spotted this honeybee from quite a distance, and sure enough, it visited the wrong flower. A well concealed Misumenoides was lurking there. I don't know the species.
ImageFlower crab spider and honey bee by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Thanks for looking!
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

leonardturner
Posts: 713
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:40 am
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA

Re: Spiders up to something

Post by leonardturner »

A very interesting collection, Mark. I particularly like the pirate and crab spider images. And we think the world on our scale is dangerous and chaotic--

Leonard

Sippyjug
Posts: 65
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2018 9:29 am

Re: Spiders up to something

Post by Sippyjug »

Doesn't get much better!

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