Jumping Spiders - Tumblr Posts
I have finally realized what B2emo reminds me of.
Random fact: Although jumping spiders can't move their eyes, they can move their retinas to change their field of view. It's as if they're looking through a window.
If the spider is clear enough, you can even see the retinas moving through the cephalothorax:
Image sources: Melvyn Yeo, M.F. Land, and wmaddisn
spider friends from today :) first one is most likely a tan jumping spider (Platycryptus undatus) and second is also a jumping spider of a different species! fast little rascals..
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first photo: a zoomed out picture of a tan jumping spider, which is a small, brown and grey spider facing upwards, in the center. the spider is sitting on a light brown tree trunk, with pine straw in front of the tree.
second photo: the same spider but close up and facing downwards, on a light brown piece of bark.
third photo: a zoomed out picture of a twin-flagged jumping spider, a small, black and white spider facing upwards in the center. the spider is on a medium reddish brown tree trunk, and the left fourth of the photo shows the ground and street behind the tree.
fourth photo: a zoomed out photo of the same spider facing upwards on the same tree, but it is further up and to the right. this photo shows the back of the spider more clearly.
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Rainbow Jumping Spider (Chrysilla volupe): these colorful spiders were regarded as an extinct species for nearly 150 years, until they were finally rediscovered in 2018
The males of this species have a stunning, almost rainbow-like appearance, thanks to the bands of color and iridescent scales that cover their bodies.
Despite the fact that Chrysilla volupe is probably the most flamboyant spider in the world, it was still lost to science for nearly 150 years. The species was first described in 1879, but there were no documented sightings of it for 139 years after that, until researchers finally tracked it down again in 2018. The female of this species was also described for the very first time in 2018 -- prior to that, Chrysilla volupe was known only from male specimens.
The spiders have been found in certain parts of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan. Like most jumping spiders, they are quite small: the males can measure up to 5.44mm long (and that includes their outstretched legs), while the females are less than half that size.
Sources & More Info:
Journal of Entomology & Zoology Studies: Chrysilla volupe Spider Spotted in Eastern Ghats, India (PDF)
The Hindu: Rare Chrysilla volupe Spiders Discovered at Puttenahalli Lake
Arthropoda Selecta: First Description of the Female of Chrysilla volupe from India, with Notes on the Species' Distribution & Life History
Peckhamia: New Records of Jumping Spiders from Nepal
Global Biodiversity Information Facility: C. volupe
spiny, long-legged, and armored, Polyrhachis ants are a common sight in Singapore as they forage for their colonies in a perpetual breakneck sprint. but this creature is no Polyrhachis: this is a jumping spider that looks and moves exactly like one!
he is Toxeus maxillosus*, one of the finest ant mimics I’ve seen.
an elongated first set of legs mime questing antennae while the rest are perfectly sized to match Polyrhachis’ gait. his enlarged chelicerae appear like an ant’s head, and the illusion is completed by pedipalps slung beneath like ant mandibles.
unfortunately I didn’t get a good still photo of the red-rumped Polyrhachis armata that he mimicked. however, a neighboring shrub housed another T. maxillosus who sported a shiny coat of gold hair in the style of Polyrhachis illaudata, a worker of which was also sitting there. side-by side, the mimicry is simply exquisite.
*at least, I think the black and red form is also considered T. maxillosus. the gold-haired form seems to be the most commonly observed type.