we finally found another Myrmarachne ant mimic, in our bathroom of all places.
I've been itching to get some more photos of these spiders since getting my speedlite, but they're very elusive and almost constantly in motion. thankfully this lady was content to explore a sheet of cardboard while I took a million photos of her like a madman.
special shoutout to my wonderful partner for a) spotting the spider in our house and b) wiggling their fingers in front of her to keep her attention while I got these photos (it seems jumping spiders are the wayward cats of the arthropod world lol).
I'll link my other Myrmarachne post here, as its interesting to compare the colouration of the two individuals. likely the same species, but my previous sighting had a much brighter gold on her abdomen.
SUMMARY: After Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.
This has to look so incredibly fake but by god will mod Sus watch it for the idea and to see how fun it must be because of it. Also "just put radiation into it to mess it up" is such a good funny trope.
Arachnophobia can make humans flee at the sight of a brown recluse, black widow or even a daddy long legs, but animal predators of spiders know no such fear.
That's why, paleobiologist George Poinar Jr. explains, some spider species have developed the defense of deception. They masquerade as a much less desirable prey—ants—and Poinar's recent paper in Historical Biology presents an early record of an ant-mimicking spider in fossilized resin.
I was making coffee and I heard a "mpeep" behind me so I turn around an on my kitchen floor sits Kotelet, the tiny stray that visits me every day, and to her side sits a big fat house spider, you know the one that gets stuck in your bath.
So I go "Hey ehh, you brought a buddy?" and she looks down at the spider and swallows it in one go -legs and everything- and looks back at me with these cute big eyes
Speaking up and educating people on why the most hated life forms on the planet are important and meaningful is a thankless task.
How do we reach out and get people to care about insects and spiders when the average reaction is either "EEWW KILL IT WITH FIRE" or blind panic?
Arthropods are crucial to the survival of life as we know it. Yes, even commonly vilified bugs like wasps and mosquitoes have ecological niches that the world CANNOT do without.