Ooh! Ooh! Let me sit on your face!

[lpw]

There I was, watering the bugs, when my G. rosea decided to take special interest in the commotion and got in the way of some water. I thought the water droplets looked purdy, so I took some pics.

Upon closer inspection of the droplets on the opisthosoma, they appear to be covered in tiny little hairy thingies... Um... hmmm... could these be the infamous urticating setae? Come here and let me handle you, darling!

It struck me how loosely attached the bristles are. They seem ready to depart at the slightest disturbance. So... I guess it's just another gentle reminder that wearing tarantulas on your head is not always the best idea...?

Just thought I'd share.

Cheers,
Lukasz

 

[Tegenaria]

Cooool shots!

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Very nice pics and a very interesting observation you made there!

 

[RottweilExpress]

Wow that's close. Excellent!

 

[Parahybana3590]

aww...and I thought a T would make a great hat...maybe one w/out bristles? Anyway, great pics. It's really cool to see that.

 

[kyle_de_aussie]

Great pictures of the urticating hairs

 

[Dumaw]

very nice detail:clap:

 

[Juraki]

Wow those are good enough to make it into a book in the section explaining urticating setae! Very nice and thanks for sharing those.

 

[hicksybelfast]

10 out of 10 great shots

 

[Aunt Ant]

Those are really awesome. Macro shots are my favorite
What kind of camera/lens do you use?

 

[stubby8th]

Great eye! Love it - keep 'um coming!

 

[Bearo]

Yep, great pics

 

[CedrikG]

haha Nice shot

 

[lpw]

Thanks, all!

Aunt Ant, I use a Nikon D50 with a Micro-Nikkor 60mm lens. Best purchase I've made in a long time, I must say. Except the bugs, of course .

Lukasz

 

[xgrafcorex]

yes, very fascinating images. i don't think i'd even notice that heh. also i always that it was the larger bristles..not the surrounding fuzz..but i guess that explains the appearance of the clouds.

aww...and I thought a T would make a great hat...maybe one w/out bristles? Anyway, great pics. It's really cool to see that.

you can still wear a stromatopelma calceatum hat!! they don't have urticating bristles ;P

 

[lpw]

i always that it was the larger bristles..not the surrounding fuzz..but i guess that explains the appearance of the clouds.

The smaller the bristle size the bigger the chance of penetration and damage to meddlesome mammalian tissues...

you can still wear a stromatopelma calceatum hat!! they don't have urticating bristles ;P

I believe some African palm climbers have something to say about that...

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5832.

You do not choose a Stromatopelma hat, it chooses you! I love these bugs...