And you all hoped I would stop there, but no! Here are some MORE experiments with spiders as I attempt to improve my Macro Photography skills.
These first shots are of Salticidae. More commonly known as Jumping Spiders, and sometimes just called a \"salti\". Jumping Spiders don't build webs to catch prey, but instead chase bugs down and jump on them! They can literally snatch a fly out of mid air. There are over 5000 species of jumping spider, these two LOOK like they may be Phidippus Audax (Bold Jumpers). But I wouldn't stake my life on it. Spider experts say that to properly identify a spider they frequently have to put it under a microscope.
The above fat little spider was very shy, which is unusual for Salties. But I finally managed to get it to pose for me.
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THIS is a different salti. It behaved in a way that was much more typical. He was aggressive. You'll note that the eyes look almost human, as if they have irises. That's an illusion. I THINK it's just a reflection of the round camera lens which is only a centimeter or so above the spider, surrounded by the blue of the sky. BUT, there is also the possibility that we are seeing the spiders retina's. Salti's have huge retina's for spiders and the documentation says that they change colors if you are looking directly into their eyes.
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This is a lousy shot, not quite in focus, but I wanted to show what the Salti's eyes look like when you aren't staring quite straight into them.
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Remember how I said jumping spiders are agressive? This guy would have fit on my thumbnail just fine, but he kept attacking the camera. He actually kept jumping up on to the lens, then back off. In this picture, you will notice that the front two legs appear to kind of blur out at the ends? That's because he has them lifted up in attack posture and is actually touching the camera lens with them. It's kind of freaky (and a lot of fun) to watch these little critter's attitude. They will turn around to face you (they have excellent eye sight), raise up those front legs into attack posture and they look for all the world like they are saying, \"Yeah, I could take that...\"
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These are spiders from the family Araneidae, or \"Orb Weaver\". Named for the shape of their webs. No clue what particular species of orb weaver they are. I THINK they are all the same species, but I wouldn't swear to that either. These are shots of three different spiders (I think). They all looked very much alike. The color differences you see here are largely due to different lighting conditions.
I'm a LOUSY photographer, but I'm happy to learn. So any advice from you more experienced camera folk would be much appreciated.
