Jumping Spider 3

  Now that I know that 13% of ALL spiders are jumping spiders, and they all have the same basic shape, I am seeing them everywhere. Here's another handsome one. I have an ID request in with Bugguide. But there are over 6000 species of jumping spiders. One of them is (I kid you not) the Two-striped Jumping Spider. Is it possible?

Anyway, they are characterized by a large head and having their four front legs larger than the back four. This is also true of crab spiders and lynx spiders, but crab spiders have very long front legs that remind you of a crab, and lynx spiders have spines on their legs. So, I'm sticking with jumping spider. We'll see if I'm right when Bugguide weighs in.

The primary way to tell them is by the arrangement of the eyes, but I didn't get face to face with this one, so I don't know.

In other news: I edited, and I wrote a chapter in my own book. I found the striping tape for the trailer, but it has to be below 65 degrees to apply it. What the....? If it's not wet, maybe first thing in the morning. I also did a little bit of cleaning. It was a nice calm day. I also bruised a toe kinda bad yesterday. I don't think it's broken, but it could feel better. I'm sure it will in a few days.

See Jumping Spider 3

Yellow Crab Spider

 
I still did not manage to complete either project 1 or 2 on the trailer as listed a couple of days ago. So have a lovely yellow spider.

This is a crab spider, possibly in the genus Xysticus. It's probably a female, since it was just under a half inch long if you include the legs. Males are smaller. An unusual thing about crab spiders is that they do not spin webs. They hunt on the ground or in trees. They lie in wait and ambush various smaller critters that happen by. Coloration apparently varies. Bugguide was not willing to ID beyond the genus, and Wikipedia says you have to microscopically examine them to determine species.



But it's good looking. I have no idea why it decided to visit one of my wall surfaces. Thankfully, not at one of the still-sticky stages.



I am moving more and more slowly with each passing day as the temperature rises. In the afternoon the air was so hot that it hurts to breathe when I'm outside.

Nevertheless, I made enough progress that I think I can show you something on the trailer tomorrow. I tried to think ahead and do a couple of things that don't depend on finishing the part I'm working on right now. I believe I have really fixed one of the water leaks, and identified the mystery one that I found yesterday. I popped 10 autumn olive out of the yard. I trimmed a tree in front and watered the flower beds. This sounds like a lot, but it was done in very small spurts with a lot of sitting and cold drinks in between. It's 92 in the house, but feels sort of OK with the fan on me.

See True Blue Gumby II

Jumping Spider 2

 
Here's another visitor to my bedroom. I decided to gently move him/her elsewhere. It's a different kind of jumping spider, although it's hard to be sure which one. It's possibly Hentzia mitrada, but I'm not sticking my neck out with a definite ID. I know this picture isn't focused very well. Sorry.



This time, however, I almost got a decent picture of its face.



And a little closer. It's almost cute.



In other news: the vendor event today was pretty good. I didn't do nearly as well as last year, but it was worth it. However, I'm pooped. I thought about taking a walk when it was over, but it was starting to rain. And that was turning to ice just as I got home, so I'm glad I just drove home.

	See Bold Jumping Spider
if you like this blog, click

Halloween - Part 3

 
Today I bring you the fearsome Bold Jumping Spider, Phidippus audax. It's fearsome only if you are s mite or some other very small bug. They can bite, but don't bother humans unless injured or otherwise terrorized. I think this is a female, but I'm open to correction. She was kind enough to pose on a piece of purple plastic for the holiday.

There are over 6000 species (60 in this one genus) of jumping spiders, so named because they can jump 10-50 times their body length. They make silk but don't create webs. They hunt by, um... jumping on their prey. 13% of all spiders are jumpers.



They actually have rather endearing faces with large middle eyes and colorful mouthparts. But I don't think I'd be able to get a picture of any of that without killing the spider. Since she's unlikely to bother me, I won't bother her.

How they jump is rather interesting. Rather than having muscular legs like a grasshopper, they can increase the blood pressure in their hind legs and then suddenly release it propelling themselves forward. When they do so, they spin a silk dragline so they can always return to where they jumped from!

Because of their large eyes, they can see better than many spiders.

Sometimes their spots are orange.

In other news: I wrote in the morning, and formatted in the afternoon. My brain is fried, but I think I have made a choice of software for the formatting. Right now I'm happiest with Word Perfect. Keep in mind that I'm not using the latest versions of either Word or WP. But I believe I've got a clean PDF of chapter 1. When I get one more added I'll get approval from the printer before I go any farther.

	See Another Halloween-ish Horror
if you like this blog, click

Early for Halloween?

 
I don't decorate for Halloween, but this handsome living decoration was visiting in my house.



I was uncertain as to the identity... maybe a funnel web grass spider. It holds its legs right for that. Maybe not. The markings aren't quite right for either that or a wolf spider. As you can see it's pretty big. I've never seen one (that I recall) this tan color with a single stripe and no other markings.

A friend has identified it as a nursery web spider, and Bugguide confirms that. Pisaurina mira.


Here's a good Halloween story. Sometimes the female eats the male after mating. The boys, in hopes of preventing this (I guess that means someone is passing along the news. Daddies who survived can communicate this information?), will bring the female a present, like maybe a nice dead fly in hopes she will eat it instead of them.

The males aren't always so nice either. They may wrap the gift in silk, but they may instead wrap a bit of nothing in silk and try to pass it off as a gift in hopes of sex. If the female detects the fake gift, she says "no dice, buddy."

Sounds like teenagers to me.

My executive decision was that it and I would be happier if it went outside.

	See Small Brown Friends
if you like this blog, click

But Is It Charlotte?

 
Just in time for Halloween, this lovely was crawling around the floor at work. Focus not so great. ID not so certain. Charlotte was a barn spider, Araneus cavaticus. The hairy striped legs look right. But it might be a garden orb spider, Araneus diadematus. That pattern on the body doesn't look quite right for either one.

At any rate, boo!



In other news, the kitchen is clean, including washing the very dirty and sticky floor!

I fooled around and tried some things and have a method figured out that really does take that paint residue off the trailer without too much trouble! That's a huge development. I'd tried several things and hadn't been satisfied with any of them.

I think it will be bed and a book very soon. The Thursday-Friday work marathon is about to begin.

	See Small Brown Friends
if you like this blog, click the +1   or

Shoal Creek Nature Preserve

 
We found the most wonderful small nature preserve today. It's just north of Florence, Alabama. About 300 acres and 5 miles of hiking trails, and a 2-mile horse trail.

There are several creeks through the tract. I think this one is Lawson Creek. We crossed the bridge and did the Lawson Trail loop.



Sunlight on running water sure is a welcome sight!



We immediately began seeing wildflowers. There are too many pictures today, and I won't even show you all of them. Here is Rue Anemone, Thalictrum thalictroides, a sweet little spring gem that is also found in the north.



I wanted to take a picture of the back of this leaf (no ID yet), and look what I found when I looked at the photo on the computer! A cute little green spider. No ID on him either.



Of course, it seems like every natural place has to have it's own invasive species. This is a new one to me, but it was easy to find. It's a vine, with some early leaves that look like oak leaves, but the terminal leaves won't have the lobes. Well, I suspected it was a honeysuckle, and it is. Lonicera japonica, Japanese honeysuckle, is already banned in some states, and labeled noxious in others. It's virtually impossible to control once established, and crowds out native plants. Sigh.



Here comes the best find! I have added a new flower to my life list. This is Sweet-Betsy Trillium, also known as Large Toadshade, Trillium cuneatum. I kept looking for one that was all the way open, but now that I've studied the flower book, I think it's at its prime when the petals are still erect, and the open one is "over the hill." Either way, it's gorgeous. [species and upright habit confirmed with a real botanist]



I think it doesn't always have mottled leaves, either, but we saw everything from almost all dark green, to ones like this with almost no dark green.



I couldn't resist a closeup of the velvety stamens.



And when we were almost back at the start, a lovely female tiger swallowtail butterfly decided to dance around us, and she even let us take her picture.

if you like this blog, click the +1   or

Gray

 



Well, the day was gray, so I decided to run with it. My big plans to dry clothes outside one last time this fall were foiled by the incorrect weather forecast. It was warm, but instead of a low chance of scattered showers it rained most of the day. The joke was on me... around 11 am the sun came out and I hung out the clothes. At 3 pm, you should have seen me dash to bring them in! (They are now hung on my winter rack.)



Gray bark and gray lichen, but the field looking surprisingly bright in the background.



The next surprise is how white the reindeer moss (really a lichen) looks when the pictures are compared. I always think of it as gray.



And, one little friend who didn't want to hold still. Rainfield wasn't here to talk to him for me.