Picture threads are cool

lpw

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
193
Here're some thirsty bugs...

Poecilotheria ornata:








Heteroscodra maculata:



Cheers!
 

lpw

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
193
And my newest baby, Poecilotheria formosa:

 

lpw

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
193
Check out the blood-red fangs on this post-moult B. smithi. Whoa...





 

Ando55

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
488
Amazing Shots! Simply incredible I love the super fine and super clear details we can see in all your shots! :D BTW how deep is that P ornata water dish? :D
 

lpw

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
193
Thanks guys, I'm glad you're enjoying the photos... :)

Ando, that water "dish" is a large deli cup about 4" tall. It's packed liberally with some plastic foliage to prevent things from drowning in it. So far, so good. ;). There are two reasons for using such a tall water dish: (1) the water surface is at an elevation where the arboreal T is more likely to come into contact with it, and (2) it's easier for me to reach in and pull it out from the top of the display case. And I didn't have to build a special shelf. Lazy, lazy, lazy...
 

lpw

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
193
Ok, here's another one of my H. mac. looking all inconspicuous and camouflaged:

 

moose35

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 14, 2005
Messages
1,351
cool t's nice pics

very, very, very nice.............its feels like your going ;P in some hidden way.
j/k
nice t's btw (ohh did i already say that)
 

Becky

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 17, 2006
Messages
641
Gorgeous pics and gorgeous spiders! The feet on that calceatum is my fav! And the U hairs in the water droplet!
 

lpw

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
193
Aahhh, I've been meaning to do this for a long time: A photo study of the Stromatopelma calceatum male. What a uniquely spectacular bug!

The setup: a large hunk of driftwood held vertically by a Christmas tree stand.

I took a lot of pics, so let me get things going with a few collages. These images are rather big, sorry.

Here we go. Defense mechanism number one: bolt up a tree trunk then freeze, perfectly flat against the trunk. The feather-like setae on the legs form a tent-shaped structure, breaking up the contour of the spider and making it damn near invisible on bark. Once in this position, the spider will sit perfectly still and be unresponsive to most poking and prodding.




Here're some carapace shots. Aren't we cuddly?




A random collage:




More to come...
 

lpw

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
193
Some featherleg closeups.

Leg IV:




Leg I:




Legs I and II:




Miscallaneous...

 

lpw

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
193
Defense strategy number two: apparently, these arboreal spiders are not affraid of taking a dip under water to escape "predators"... In the second pic, you can clearly see the air trapped by the setae of leg III. The spider is almost fully submerged.






I finally "persuaded" it to re-emerge again. Note the water droplets trapped in the setae.






Apparently, doing laps around the base of the Christmas tree stand was a fun thing to do:








Finally, back in his cleaned-up home, we get one last glimpse of the tent-like setae on legs III and IV, this time from "below":




That's all, thanks for watching!
 
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