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JohnKoerner

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« on: June 11, 2008, 12:21:59 am »





Dug up this monster female Burrowing Wolf Spider (Geolycosa missouriensis) today ...






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JohnKoerner

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« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2008, 04:44:49 pm »

 ]

You can see how tiny and useless the eyes are, the pedipalps, and partially-revealed behind these are the saw-like fangs.

Enjoy!

Jack




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Ray

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« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2008, 02:47:29 am »

Quote
This golden orb spider is related to the orb spider Ray photgraphed. In the above shot, you can pretty much only see his back, but you can also see a few of his vestigal eyes and how tiny and useless they are.

So I disturbed his web and got him (actually, in all probability her) to run up a bit. Thus I was able to get this super-close shot of the spider's full face, which is depicted below in the thumbnail. [You see, Ray, I can get real close too ... on a virtually blind subject  ]

You can see how tiny and useless the eyes are, the pedipalps, and partially-revealed behind these are the saw-like fangs.


[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=201591\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Jack,
There's no way I can see how useless the eyes are. In relation to the spider's body size the eyes seem quite large to me; at least as large as my eyes. And the eye of your G9 is also not all that big, but it does a fairly good job   .

As regards getting really close to little creatures using a small camera in macro mode, of course there's a problem of their flying or running away. But the impression I get from watching the occasional wild life program on TV is that animals (especially insects) engaged in a life & death struggle tend to be oblivious to your presence, just as I guess you would be oblivious to the presence of a press photographer if you were fighting for your life whilst being mugged in some alley (sorry! can't think of a better analogy   ).
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JohnKoerner

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« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2008, 01:49:52 pm »

Quote
Jack,
There's no way I can see how useless the eyes are. In relation to the spider's body size the eyes seem quite large to me; at least as large as my eyes. And the eye of your G9 is also not all that big, but it does a fairly good job   .

Well, look at how big this jumping spider's eyes are for a comparison: http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/spiders/Paudax.htm

The orb spider has vestigal and virtually non-functional eyes; the jumper has fully-functional eyes. This is not a matter of "opinion," but of scientific fact.

As for the G9, it has its moments. In good light with a low ISO it can take some wonderful shots. But when it's dark or if my ISO goes up they can get pretty grainy. I have actually ruined many shots, that would have been great, but where I have inadvertently knocked the ISO dial up with my thumb and blown the whole deal




Quote
As regards getting really close to little creatures using a small camera in macro mode, of course there's a problem of their flying or running away. But the impression I get from watching the occasional wild life program on TV is that animals (especially insects) engaged in a life & death struggle tend to be oblivious to your presence, just as I guess you would be oblivious to the presence of a press photographer if you were fighting for your life whilst being mugged in some alley (sorry! can't think of a better analogy   ).

Well, again, it is all a matter of perspective. I actually led a pretty colorful life in my 20s and still sport a few knife wounds, a "Picasso" ear, a whole roadmap on my scalp thanks to a few well-placed beer steins, as well as many other physical trophies from the non-serene youthful lifestyle I led ... so I would probably not be the one "fighting for my life" in that alley

Which brings us to the difference between predator and prey. The prey is always the only terrified member of a "life-and-death" struggle; whereas the predator is always cool and collected. Thus the dying animal struggling for his life probably wouldn't notice the approach of another entity in his panic ... whereas the cool predator who was lying in wait to make the pounce to begin with notices much more of his surroundings, even during the death struggle

Jack




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« Last Edit: June 15, 2008, 01:52:31 pm by JohnKoerner »
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JohnKoerner

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« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2008, 08:42:02 pm »


[span style=\'font-size:14pt;line-height:100%\']Wolf Spider[/span]
(Hogna helluo)


Here is a shot of a male Wolf Spider (no common name) of the genus Hogna that I was able to take this evening at dusk.

This is the biggest wolf spider I have ever seen, with a leg spread that would cover my open palm!

Here is a close shot of his "face" ...

Enjoy!









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JohnKoerner

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« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2008, 10:03:14 pm »



Enjoy!




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Ray

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« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2008, 12:14:18 am »

It's a very unusual spider and a spectacular shot, Jack. I wonder how Noah managed to get all these creatures on his ark   .

Pity you missed the focussing on the Wolf Spider.
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JohnKoerner

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« Reply #7 on: June 23, 2008, 12:40:13 pm »



So instead of "being afraid" of my lens, this lil' feller thought it was a new perch I was offering him, LOL, and so the photo you see above was taken about 1/100th of a second before the spider jumped onto my lens

After the photo was taken, I placed him on my fingertip and fed him a fly with my other hand, and he snatched it up right from my fingers

Enjoy!




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