Insect Picture of the Day

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While I was photographing yesterday’s spider (seen here out of focus at lower left), this charming little fellow came calling. He’s also a theridiidae spider, and though the coloration is slightly different than the one in the web they very well might be the same species. If not, they are certainly close cousins.

He plucked the web a few times with a foreleg. In spider culture, this is akin to ringing the doorbell while holding a bouquet and wearing cologne. Sensing that a spider was indeed at home in the web, he let himself into the parlor, stepping completely into the web. You might think this very forward, but in spider culture it is accepted and even expected. He plucked the web again, which is spider language for calling up the stairs, “Hey baby, are you home …and sexy?”

The spider in the web (who I believe is another male) turned and charged through the web directly at the suitor. In spider culture, this is akin to running down the stairs screaming “I’m gonna eat you! I’m gonna eat you! I’m gonna eat you!” The suitor flung himself from the web to save his own life, which in spider culture is akin to flinging oneself from the web to save one’s own life.

I’m not really sure what spider language is for “Whoa, I didn’t realize you were a dude” but fortunately they have etiquette to cover it: the offended spider attempts to eat the suitor, and the suitor endeavors not to be eaten.

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This spider was hanging out in an outdoor toychest at the home of Howard and Sandra Tayler. The pedipalps seem a bit oversize, and pointed and discolored at the tips; this makes me about 10% more confident that this is a male rather than a female spider. I’m afraid I cannot zero in much on an identification for you, but he’s hanging upside-down in a tangle-web, and his general body shape is consistent with Family Theridiidae. This would give him kinship with the notorious black widow spider as well as the incredibly beneficial steatoda triangulosa spider.

He’s not more than about 2mm long from eyes to spinnerets–remember, we never count legs in measurements.

The other reason for considering him male is the reaction he had when a suitor came calling–but that’s tomorrow’s Insect Picture of the Day.

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CHAT LOG: Note: Randy is my friend Randy Tayler. Or was my friend, until this.

DavidBrady: Hey Randy, look what was sitting on the sewer grate in front of my house this afternoon.

* You have sent image fuzzy_jumping_spider.jpg to members of this chat.

Randy: GYAAAAHHHH!!!!

DavidBrady: Just kidding. That’s actually my screen door. She’s not even 4mm long.

* Randy has signed off.

* Randy is online.

Randy: I… hate you. And your website. But especially you.

* Randy has signed off.

* Randy is online.

DavidBrady: So… wanna help me photoshop her eating a cat?

Randy: LOL

Randy: Sure

Also note: No, we never made the photoshop. So don’t ask for it. There IS a nice wallpaper of this image here, however.

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As the weather gets colder, the woolybears have a harder and harder time staying mobile. This one was inching along nearly frozen and literally got blown over by a breeze while I was bending down to take its picture. This picture clearly shows the lens shadow and overexposure problems of using the flash at point-blank range.

A lot of times a picture will be of only moderate interest to me when I take it or review it on the tiny screen on the back of the camera, but fascinating detail will emerge when I view it on my computer screen, and this one was a perfect example. First, notice the almost suckerlike feet on the caterpillar. They look like they can flex somewhat to pinch and squeeze grasses and branches for climbing. And the second thing? Lookit that adorable little nekkid tummy! How cute is that?!?

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Oh noes! It is a killer ball of lint! …well, actually, that’s not far from the truth. You are looking into the face of an assassin bug nymph, and it has indeed covered itself in lint.

Assassin bugs, Family Reduviidae, are a fairly diverse group of insects, varying considerably in shape and coloration. The adults out here are a gorgeous shade of black: a pure, glossy black that is so black it shimmers blue and looks wet. The nymphs, as you can see, are… well, actually you can’t see their coloration, at least not easily. The nymphs gather up lint and dust, spit on it, and stick it all over their body for camouflage. I assume that this is defensive camouflage rather than offensive, but that’s just my assumption. They are fairly slow moving, while the adults are quite nimble. I don’t know if the camouflage helps them sneak up on prey, but it could well enable them to ambush prey: a passing insect might touch it with its antennae and assume that it was just a lump of dust.

Oh, and it’s about 4-5mm wide in this photo. The nymphs tend to be 5-8mm long.

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25% of all known species¹ are types of beetles. This preponderance of taxa led J.B.S. Haldane to say, “If one could conclude as to the nature of the Creator from a study of creation, it would appear that God has an inordinate fondness for stars and beetles.” There are over 20,000 beetle species in Family Tenebrionidae. I am not certain that this is in fact a darkling, but it seems to match the taxon.

This beetle turned up in my house a week ago. It was about 8mm long and its black, pitted carapace flashed iridescent green in the sunlight, making for a neat picture. My wife asked about the pitting on its shell, and I told her the dimples helped it travel farther when flying, like a golfball. Telling outrageous whoppers like that is nearly half the fun of running this site!

¹ My wife saw this and asked if I had forgotten “…of insect” after species. Nope. 25% of all known species of anything are beetles.

When I started insectpod back in August, my plan was to take lots of photographs of bugs and build up a buffer of 90 days or so to see the site through the Winter. Utah’s climate being what it is–that is, random–a cold snap came through about a week ago that actually dropped snow. More importantly, this weather snap has deprived me of most of my photographic subjects a great deal earlier than expected, even though temperatures are now happily back up in the high teens (°C; low sixties °F). I have a buffer of about 20 insects, maybe 30 counting duplicates of the same bug.

It’s time for YOU to submit images to insectpod.com! Do you have insects (or spiders–if it’s an arthropod, we’ll take it) around that need photographing? Send them in!

Detailly stuff:

• Photos should be as high-resolution as possible and in focus.
• I strongly prefer images taken in natural settings, but I understand that sometimes you have to catch ‘em to get good closeups.
• PLEASE, live bugs only. If you have an astonishing picture of a dead bug, you may try to submit it but it would have to be very astonishing. ABSOLUTELY no pictures of mutilated bugs.
• My e-mail address is insectDEADBUGpod@shinybitDEADBUG.com. (Take the dead bugs out of that email address. They are sprinkled in for spam avoidance.)
• A brief writeup about the bug would be most welcome. At a minimum, tell me the approximate size of the bug and where and when you took the picture. But if you know what kind of bug it is, what its behaviors are, or have an amusing anecdote to relate about it (such as the hassles you went through to get the picture), by all means include that as well. If you caught the bug or moved it, please note this so I don’t miscredit the image.
• Include your name as you would like it credited. I will gratefully link to your blog or other site as well if I select your photos.
• Submitting photos constitutes granting me unlimited nonexclusive copyright to the picture. This means you keep the copyright to the image, but I have permission to use the picture as well. PLEASE do not submit images to which you do not own the copyright!

What do you get in return? Well, besides very limited fame and no fortune, it’s good for your karma. And of course, you’ll be helping insectpod through the winter ahead, for which I will be grateful.

So, is there a bug around? Grab your camera and send in those pics!

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Last week I caught a praying mantis. I realized that I had never seen one hunt before and so I caught a cricket. I put the cricket in the cage with th–SNAP! Before I could even blink, I saw a flicker of movement and the cricket was firmly held in the mantis’ forelegs. The mantis had already said its prayers, I guess, because it immediately started eating the cricket.

She was so absorbed with eating that I was able to remove the lid of the cage and take very close photographs of her dining.

I love the leg and foot articulation of both insects in the larger version. The spurs on the cricket’s hindlegs are interesting, but what fascinates me the most is how the mantis’ foot folds around and out of the way to leave the hook and pliers of her foreleg exposed for trapping prey. In the larger version, you can clearly see her foot jackknifed out of the way. Here’s a closeup at maximum resolution:

Another thing that fascinates me in this photo is how dark her eyes are. Something in her compound eye must open up to compensate for the darkness. After about 10 minutes under the indoor lights, her eyes returned to the normal green you would expect. I let her go at night, and by the time I had taken her outside, her eyes had darkened again to adapt. I didn’t know compound eyes could do that!

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This 2cm European paper wasp stopped on my brickwork for a quick photo. They’re still active out here this time of year, huddling for warmth to get through the nearly freezing nights, and then resuming activity during the period of warmth in the afternoon that gets shorter and shorter each day.

October in Utah is a month that generally starts out warm, with lazy Autumn afternoons or even the occasional hot burst of Indian Summer. But you always want a warm Halloween costume if you’re going to be outside, because October ends with freezing nights and cold days.

Yesterday I couldn’t go out on my back deck because it was swarming with dozens of paper wasps, diligently chewing my redwood deck to shreds for nest material. For a moment I thought the new queens were finally flying. This always creates swarms on the porch, but the wasps weren’t dancing and mating; they were just looking for more wood to chew up and carry off. I am surprised that I haven’t seen the queens fly yet this year; I may have missed it.

I’ll keep my eyes open–and camera handy–in case they’re going to fly late this year. The new queens hatch, fly off in a mating flight, and then find a good place to hibernate. They overwinter and start new nests in the Spring.

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There is such a thing as getting too closeup. This picture, taken by my Dad, was taken about 30 seconds after I took yesterday’s photo. The praying mantis had been climbing the flowerpot stand to the left, and as I got closer and closer it put a leg on my camera to either steady itself or possibly to push me away; after a few more seconds it decided that since it had reached the top of the stand, the only way up was to climb up my camera.

The person in the photo is, of course, myself; I appear here complete with camera and baseball cap (turned backwards so the brim doesn’t interfere with the camera). This is also as good a time as any to point out the camera I use: a Canon PowerShot A640. I wholeheartedly recommend it to any amateur photographer who wants a camera that will give good results.

The thing about that Canon that I love so much is its ability to focus on subjects just millimeters in front of the lens. In fact, just seconds before Dad took today’s photo, I released the shutter on the camera one last time:

A week ago I posted gr’opper nookie, now I’m posting mantis upskirts. Sometimes I wonder at my own depravity.