Tony Eales from Brisbane sent us another batch of arthropods. His notes are indented:
More of the amazing arthropods of Borneo. Here’s a few more Jumping Spiders [salticids]. Definitely my favourite group.
I couldn’t stop taking photos of the charming Harmochirus brachiatus. He struck so many photogenic poses.
I finally found a Myrmarachne, this one M. cornuta. In my favourite group, the jumping spiders, my favourite sub-group are the ant mimics. [JAC: see drawings at the link; this one is definitely an ant mimic, skinny and with a long petiole.]
Plexippus petersi has the cool common name of Common Housefly Catcher. [JAC: as the link shows, it also eats other spiders, sometimes big ones.)
Last is yet another salticid that I can’t find an ID for:
I will not be pointing my wife to this particular post. 😉
Isn’t there an eight step program for arachnophobia? 😎
She would need an 800 step program!
Really plays it safe. 😎
Great stuff! Everyone should love Salticids. I really enjoyed these.
I especially like the second image. The line of many eyes makes it look like some bizarre robot-monster intent on destroying downtown.
It’s curious why Ceiling Cat(may he live long and prosper) gave him so many eyes.
Eight eyes for different jobs. I read on another WEIT post a couple of years ago that these jumping spiders have general, unfocussed 360 degree vision via the eight lenses scattered about the carapace, but the large front pair on the spider ‘face’ are the most interesting. That pair are for accurate distance measuring prior to jumping, BUT the measuring isn’t due to the binocular triangulation that we employ with our peepers. They use the way light of different wavelengths [colours] is differentially altered as it passes through the eye – I have no clue how that works!
Another weirdo thing, but maybe yoy know already…
The eye lenses are rigidly stuck in place on the carapace, thus the spider rotates itself by leg movement to better build up a 360. EXCEPT the front pair of big eyes each have a ‘telescope’ that can wobble around behind the fixed lens by around 10 degrees to pinpoint a jump target [prey for example]. You can see the pair of telescopes in this diagram:
http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/general/eyes-s.jpg
And here’s a video of the ‘telescopes’ moving about:
https://youtu.be/AW7SuEZJ8qk
It’s a miracle. What will Ceiling Cat think of next?
Thanks for the research.
Amazing. Thanks.
Bunch of characters this little lot! Thanks Tony.
These are great captures, Tony! Thanks a bunch!