Platycryptus Arizonensis
So the other day I was walking in my yard and I saw this teensy little midge on the side of the house. (This image is rotated.) It was curled up a little bit, but was still alive. As I approached, however, it twitched a little bit in an unusual way, almost as if it were reacting to my presence. Midges are pretty oblivious, so that seemed a little odd.
So I moved a little closer.
I thought I could see somethng else going on here, so I got out the camera and zoomed in as close as I dared.
Hey! That midge has a spider sticking up from behind it! And those eyes are watching…
I moved around the side to get a full-on picture.
I have been reporting these spiders as Platycryptus undatus, but an expert over at bugguide recently reclassified them as Platycryptus arizonensis. Whatever the species, they’re still among my favorite spiders!
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
David Brady said,
August 8, 2008 @ 9:39 am
P.S. Happy 8/8/8 day, everybody! I celebrated by letting the buffer run out. Oops. I have 19 images slotted, but need to get back up to speed with writeups.
JFargo said,
August 8, 2008 @ 11:13 am
The third picture there is just absolutely awesome. I don’t know why I like it, especially since it’s a spider, but it’s just fantastic. I love the little eyes peeking over the midge.
Plus, it’s almost reminiscent of a lioness looking over its meal at someone passing by, ready to fight, but would rather just not be bothered so it can continue eating.
Scott said,
August 8, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
That you even NOTICED this is a testament to … something. Great shot.
David Brady said,
August 8, 2008 @ 3:30 pm
Scott: I have noticed that, the more I study bugs, the more I can spot them. Seriously, a while back I was driving down State street at 40MPH and startled everyone in the car by pointing out the window at a building on the far side of the street and yelling “Phidippus audax!”
It was a perfect combination of factors, because to be honest I could barely SEE the spider from 50 yards away, but it was a mottled black and white spot the size of a quarter, perched on a white fence, near the top, facing down, and lit by afternoon sun. In other words, if you were a Phidippus audax, that is EXACTLY the place you would have been hunting if you were anywhere near that fence. I saw the black speck on the fence instantly, and stared at it for a second to see that, yes, the general shape of the spec was consistent with a large audax facing downwards waiting for prey to land in its ambush zone.
JTan said,
August 9, 2008 @ 11:21 am
*Is in awe*