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Home > TME Community > Share Your Work > Macro > Hunter in the echinacea forest
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Hunter in the echinacea forest
Started August 8, 2009 @ 12:17am by RickT
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RickT
Posts: 1,694 |
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| Hunter in the echinacea forest | August 8, 2009 @ 12:17am | An echinacea flower sprang up in my back yard over the last couple of weeks. The flower centers are always a fascinating combination of color and geometry, but I was interested in what else might be living in the center.
Today I found what I was looking for--a tiny crab spider using the spines as cover while it lay in ambush. Although it looked nearly white to the naked eye, the camera showed that it had changed its colors to blend better with the dominant colors of the flower head. While I was shooting, an even tinier bug blundered through the spines above the spider. The spider slowly turned, then grabbed the bug and pulled it under its chelicerae in a movement so fast I couldn't see anything but the result. Two minutes later the meal was done and the spider returned to lurking.
I was really hoping to find a larger spider, because this little thing is really at the limit of what the Canon 100mm macro lens can deliver.
The courageous viewer may find a larger version, complete with leg spines and body hairs, at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21714994@N00/3799295563/sizes/o/
RickT
Boulder, Colorado
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwteichler/
PPY |
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| August 8, 2009 @ 6:26am | That is a strangely beautiful spider Rick,
I have never even heard of or imagined that small colorful spiders like this existed.
Nature is beautiful and deadly, it just goes to show you that "Honey I shrunk the kids" could have easily become a horror movie.
;D
Danny |
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Last Edit: August 8, 2009 @ 6:27am by Danny | |
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Wes
Posts: 8,139 |
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| August 8, 2009 @ 7:52am | Great eye and great catch, Rick. Looks like you almost need a microscope for this one, but, I can make out the tiny little eyes. Great detail in spite of its size. Oh, the flower shot it wonderful, too. These are truly interesting plants to photograph.
Wes |
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Flo
Posts: 15,844 |
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| August 8, 2009 @ 8:09am | Rick, I just knew there'd be a spider there somewhere! You captured it beautifully, too. Gotta love those spiny legs and body hairs, lol.
Crab spiders are very interesting in how they can change their colors to match whatever they happen to have chosen as their base of operation.
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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Becky
Posts: 2,558 |
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| August 8, 2009 @ 6:25pm | Welllll, you lured me in the the beautiful flower. The spider is well caught and nice colors (and as some will tell you, even this small a spider is way too big for me).
Becky |
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RickT
Posts: 1,694 |
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| August 9, 2009 @ 9:47am | Sorry, Becky. It never occurred to me that I might be setting you up for a scare. On my laptop, the sentence containing the word spider appears before the picture is scrolled up, but I guess you've got a different screen geometry. Come to think of it, you probably won't read this apology because it will appear below the spider picture  .
On a related note, there was an awful movie called "Ice Spiders" that aired yesterday on the cable "SyFy" channel. Giant spiders were killing the skiers at a mountain resort. As if the snow snakes that trip you while skiing weren't enough of a hazard. The special-effects spiders looked like the big plastic lice we used to assemble while playing the "Cootie" game. (And who ever thought that plastic lice would make a good kid's game?)
RickT
Boulder, Colorado
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwteichler/
PPY |
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assignment
Community Assignment #53
Picture Window
Due Date: September 16, 2011 |
Have you heard about the Backyard Shots Photography Guide "Street Portraiture with CraigTanner"?
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