Reader Otto Nieminen sent some arthropods, including a very weird arachnid (third and fourth photos):
The spider is in all probability a Nephila inaurata inaurata (the red-legged golden orb-web spider) and was pictured in Zanzibar, Tanzania when I travelled there in 2007. The Nephila genus is a bit of a mess (what spider genus isn’t 😀 ) so perhaps best just to say Nephila sp. if you do decide to post it.
The hempitera is some Spilostethus sp. as far as I can tell (but Lygaeidae family seems fairly certain) that I pictured in Petra, Jordan just last year. I love archaeology and it was fantastic to visit Petra, but I did take time to picture any animals as well that I could find.
And finally, since it’s not wildlife but my pet, it might not qualify but I have a pet amblypygi in this link. The species is Damon diadema and it is found in east Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. These are some of the most fascinating arachnids I know of: they lack venom, their first pair of legs have evolved to become antennae-like feelers. They hunt by using their first pair of legs to position the prey close to their pedipalps so they can catch and hold it while having their noms. Amblypygis are usally very shy animals and prefer to hide so it was amazing to see it actually hunting. The poor cricket had about 0,01 seconds to live after this picture was taken.
Here’s a photo of one from Wikipedia:
Kiwi reader Clive Thorp sent photos of a bird endemic to New Zealand:
I told my neighbour Clive about your “Reader’s wildlife photographs” and suggested we submit his kererū (New Zealand Native Woodpigeon, Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) photos. They were taken in his garden in Kelburn in suburban Wellington New Zealand.
Amblypygids are arachnids, but not spiders!
Double dose of spiders, think I’ll get back under the covers and try to picture the woodpigeon.
The Damon diadema remind me of the space bugs in Starship Troopers.
They do rather remind one.
Execrable film of a classic piece of Heinlein.
Damon indeed. It’s a landslide victory for the world’s most evil exoskeleton.
Oh PCC(E) – Amblypygids are NOT spiders! – MC
Lovely. I find ‘tailless whipscorpions’ and vinegaroons to be awesome. I used to handle a vinegaroons quite a bit (a friend had one). Really ugly, but completely docile.
How big was that Nephalia? I know many are huge.
And finally, we see another example of the beauty of pigeons.
The Nephila was a mature female and quite big for a Nephila. The leg span was about 8,5-9 cm. The biggest I’ve seen have a 10cm leg span.
The butt to butt hemiptera are very similar to the firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus common here in France where they are known as gendarmes but apparently rare in UK.
Fantastic photos!
Long ago, when I was in Tunisia, traveling at the edge of the Sahara, we came to a town (can’t recall which one now) famous for its textiles, esp. rugs. I noticed some very colorful Spilostethus (what’s the plural — spilostethae?)in the area, then noticed that some of the textile designs seemed to replicate the insects’ markings. Don’t know if it was intentional or not, but I thought it was pretty cool.
I read yesterday that Richard Dawkins had a mild stroke.Wondering if that was true,hope he is doing ok.It was on a facebook page.
Never heard of an amblypygi. What a fascinating critter and a cool name to boot. Is it pronounced am-blee-pie-gee?
And yet another beautiful bird from New Zealand.
I think that’s how you pronounce it, yes. They are indeed fascinating arachnids since they’re so different from all the others.
Wow, someone has a pet amblypygid! Very impressive. In the Amazon those things can be more than a foot across. They used to give our guests nightmares since they often came out at night and hung around the bathroom.
I have only seen a couple African species of amblypygi in the pet scene. Damon diadema are fairly easy to breed in captivity so that is the most common one. Some Euphrynichus species is also sometimes available. I know there are lovely South American species as well but I think those are only seen in the wild and never in terrariums. You wouldn’t have any pictures of the ones that hung around your bathroom? 🙂
I may, but that was twenty years ago….if I find them I’ll send them to Jerry.
Bloody woodpigeons. They’re about the size of ducks. And very noisy. I’ll be walking through the bush (aka rainforest) on a nice deserted walking track when all of a sudden from right beside me there will be a THUD THUD THUD like the sound of a heavy helicopter – a woodpigeon taking off. Startles the daylights out of me.
There’s also one (I think) that sits in my lemonwood (pittosporum) tree – beside which my car is often parked. I’ve never seen it but my car roof is often evidence of, shall we say, a very *large* bird having dumped on it.
cr