“Like Rodney Dangerfield, obsessive collectors get no respect. The word ‘trainspotter’, which refers to a railway enthusiast, is, in British English, synonymous with ‘loser’, and there is indeed something slightly tragic about someone who spends all their free time looking for things the rest of us find pointless.”
Me:
Me: ಠ___ಠ
Aaaanyway, here’s a bunch of spiders and whatnot I’ve found on recent winter excursions. I am slowly getting better at finding spiders in the winter! Just another skill I’ve learned during the pandemic, along with giving myself injections, using a sewing machine, listening to podcasts, and using mascara and a lash curler.
What’s hiding in this pinecone?
Running crab spider (Philodromus) in pine cone.
Don’t be shy, come on out!
This one looks like a grumpy old man.
Running crab spiders’ small flattened bodies allow them to hide in conifer cones with ease.
See how flat it is!
This is a cobweb spider, perhaps a Platnickina spider-hunter.
This running crab spider stayed resolutely inside the spruce cone.
Other running crab spiders are not so shy. Forgive the chapped fingertips…this was taken in February.
These running crab spiders ended up hiding under the same lobe when I picked up the pine cone.
Spiders need their space.
This shy running crab spider (Philodromus) tried to hide.
A mesh-web weaver (family Dictynidae) on a spruce(?) cone.
When I tried to get more pictures, it made a break for it.
It dropped onto a rock and played dead for a few moments, then scrambled away.
What’s behind this loose bark?
Carefully peeling back the bark a bit reveals tons of spiders sheltering in silk sacs. The ones visible seem like leaf-curling sac spiders, family Clubionidae.
Perhaps Orchesella cincta?
Zooming in reveals its splendid iridescent colours.
These springtails look like nondescript purple specks to the naked eye. I was able to get some pictures of this one on a picnic table.
I think this pointy-tailed little insect is a beetle larva.
The European firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) is invasive and quite common, but I always stop to take pictures of them. That mask-like marking is so striking.
I should probably write up a review of the podcast. And upload more recent photos. And get back to writing Arachnews. But often these days all I can do is get my (paid) work done, do necessary chores and errands, and nap. Ah well…
One thought on “Field journal: More spiders in pinecones”
One thought on “Field journal: More spiders in pinecones”