I’ll be leaving in less than two weeks, so either get photos to me now, or hold onto them until I return at the beginning of April.
Today’s photos come from regular contributor Tony Eales from Queensland. Tony’s celebrating today with his favorite spiders, and they are beauts. Tony’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Red letter day for me today. My favourite genus of spiders is the Australasian genus Arkys, and today I found five species in one day, including a new one for my life list that I’ve been searching for for years.
Arkys alatus, also known as the winged arkys. It was a big specimen, around 8mm long.
As it is starting to get late in the summer, the arkys are all fully grown and many are gravid with eggs. Like this Arkys lancearius, or common triangular spider.
I also managed to find a fairly young Arkys furcatus. As they age they get red and gold colouring but juveniles are more white.
I started the morning in closed canopy subtropical rainforest. There were many Arkys speechleyi sitting on the surface of leaves of low shrubs in the understory, including this large gravid one.
Arkys speechleyi are a variable species and several of them had dark cephalothorax with white abdomens.
And on the forest edge I found a tiny Arkys curtulus or bird-dropping arkys. [JAC: doesn’t this look like a cat face?]
Beautiful photos. Beautiful spiders.
Is that a mite on the side of the Arkys lancearius?
Yes. I didn’t notice it until I had the photo in the computer
Yes! It’s definitely a mite.!
Fascinating little guys. Which one is the one you’d been searching for?
The first time one. Arks alatus
Spiders don’t particularly scare me, but… ones that run towards me, I run. And your Arkys alatus has such a commanding presence, even inverted. So much pareidolia, referencing so many movies I watched in my younger years. Great photo, great subject!
They’re very beautiful. Its interesting that they keep their legs tucked in. This is the best way to look at strange to me spiders.
When I was a child, my mom took me to a children’s theatrical production that included “Little Miss Muffet”. Lumbering across the stage came…..bah doom, bah doom….THE SPIDER!!! This costuming monstrosity must have had at least two people inside operating the legs. It was horrifying. Since then I have had arachnophobia. #scar(r)edforlife
As an adult, I have come to an understanding with the spiders in my garden. They stay there and I will let them live….but don’t set foot in my house. So I can appreciate your fine photos….spiders in their places outside. Nice work.
Very cool! That is a family that seems restricted to Australia.
It’s also in Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia.
I can see why this family of spiders is your favorite. Beautiful and they look delicate to me for some reason. The last one looked like the face of a reptile…lizard or snake? It has the shape of a cat’s head, but it’s “ears” look like eyes.
I saw more “bat.” And a face that is standard in many creepy horror movies.
Among my friends we call Arkys speechleyi “cat-faced arkys” because the spines on their tibia look like whiskers see https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/40391364/large.jpeg
You could not make up creatures like this if you tried. I think Australia wins weirdest continent.