Ant-mimicking jumping spider (Myrmarachne)

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morfa
Posts: 554
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:14 pm
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Contact:

Ant-mimicking jumping spider (Myrmarachne)

Post by morfa »

Hello everyone,

I'm sharing a few stacks and shots of a male ant-mimicking jumping spider, Myrmarachne formicaria, Salticidae.

Image
Canon 5DmkII, Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 10x/0.28, "morfanon", 464 frames stacked in Zerene Stacker, larger view here »

Synthetic stereogram:
Image
High resolution flash stereogram here »

Image
Canon 5DmkII, Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 5x/0.14, "morfanon", 160 frames stacked in Zerene Stacker, larger view here »

Here in Sweden this species is the sole representative from this fascinating genus of jumping spiders. In fact, very few species are found outside the tropics. It's quite rare and this is the only specimen I've ever encountered.

I found this little guy in July 2010, walking on my picnic bag during an evening barbeque. I didn't have my camera gear with me so I caught it in a jar and brought it with me. The next day we returned to the location and searched for hours, trying to find and shoot another one in it's natural surroundings. We looked under rocks and logs sifted through litter and crawled around in the grass. Needless to say, we found lots of other interesting critters – but no Myrmarachne!

I kept this spider as a pet for several months and I was a bit sad when it eventually died. It had been a treat to watch it catch the flies I released in its jar. Below are a couple of "action shots":

3D-goggles
Image
Fujifilm S5pro, Micro-Nikkor 105/4, Raynox MSN-202, Nikon SB-400 flash, More images from this occasion »

Image
Fujifilm S5pro, Micro-Nikkor 105/4, Raynox MSN-202, Nikon SB-400 flash

To be or not to be...
Image
Canon 5DmkII, Componon 28/4 reversed on a Novoflex 42 bellows, Canon 270EX flash, More images from this occasion »

Thanks for looking!

Macrero
Posts: 1166
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:17 am
Location: Valladolid , Spain

Post by Macrero »

Amazing series John ! A great job as usual .

Regards !

BugEZ
Posts: 850
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:15 pm
Location: Loves Park Illinois

Post by BugEZ »

The deep stack is excellent, but I especially like the action shots.

Keith

Craig Gerard
Posts: 2877
Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 1:51 am
Location: Australia

Re: Ant-mimicking jumping spider (Myrmarachne)

Post by Craig Gerard »

morfa wrote:To be or not to be...
Image
Canon 5DmkII, Componon 28/4 reversed on a Novoflex 42 bellows, Canon 270EX flash, More images from this occasion »
Cogito ergo sum :(
To use a classic quote from 'Antz' - "I almost know exactly what I'm doing!"

rumbert
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 2:56 pm
Location: Spain - Lleida

Post by rumbert »

Woww!!!! :shock:

What a wonderful spider!!! and the shots are incredible!!!
Always learning

morfa
Posts: 554
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:14 pm
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Contact:

Post by morfa »

Cogito ergo sum
Or "Alia iacta est" for that matter...

crisarg
Posts: 287
Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 11:25 am

Post by crisarg »

Outstanding work John. :)

Cristian
Cristian Arghius

Flickr

TheLostVertex
Posts: 317
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2011 9:55 am
Location: Florida

Post by TheLostVertex »

Great photos. I really like the third.

Gérard-64
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Location: Pyrénées atlantiques-France
Contact:

Post by Gérard-64 »

Fantastic!

DQE
Posts: 1653
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:33 pm
Location: near Portland, Maine, USA

Post by DQE »

Such an unusual set of macro photographs, so skillfully created!

I have to confess that it took me some minutes to figure out where some of this jumper's major body parts were. The ant-mimics usually confuse me that way!

It was so delightful to be able to view and study the full size photos - I can't find words to express my delight at having access to them.

Thanks for creating and posting these most enjoyable works of photographic art and science.
-Phil

"Diffraction never sleeps"

Cactusdave
Posts: 1631
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:40 pm
Location: Bromley, Kent, UK

Post by Cactusdave »

Super pictures of an amazing spider. The sort of thing you associate with the tropics, not Sweden! :)
Leitz Ortholux 1, Zeiss standard, Nikon Diaphot inverted, Canon photographic gear

lauriek
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:57 am
Location: South East UK
Contact:

Post by lauriek »

Outstanding set as usual John.

That first shot really makes me think of some sci-fi/alien/horror beastie from a film but I cannot for the life of me remember what film I'm thinking of!

Walter Piorkowski
Posts: 693
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:42 pm
Location: South Beloit, Ill

Post by Walter Piorkowski »

Thanks for sharing your images John. The first is great. Using your identification and images to identify this subject is far superior than using the sketches in a book. Walt

Harold Gough
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Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

An absolute knockout set. That one with one red eye and one green eye is even more horrific.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
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Post by rjlittlefield »

To be or not to be
It struck me as "Alas, poor Yorick." :roll:

Awesome work as always, John.

--Rik

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