Spiders No.15 - Pholcus phalangioides Hatchlings.

[Walter Piorkowski]

Leitz Ortholux microscope
4X Leitz projection eyepiece plus 1/3x relay lens

Image No. 1
77 images at .001 increments
Leitz 4 X Plan Fluorite Achromat objective
Leitz dry darkfield condenser D 0.80

Image No. 2
47 images at .002 inch increments
Nikon CF 2X Plan Achromat objective
Leitz dry darkfield condenser D 0.80

Image No. 3
38 images at .002 inch increments
Nikon CF 2X Plan Achromat objective
Leitz dry darkfield condenser D 0.80

Canon 50D
Zerene and Photoshop processing.

Some of the eggs not frozen for imaging in Spiders No.14 were able to hatch. The mini ball that they created until ready to go on their own is captured in images one and two. As seen before, the spent egg casings are still entangled in their legs.

Image 3 shows a hatchling struggling to move on, but having trouble. Not likely to survive.

This post completes the life cycle started in Spiders No. 12.

Walt

[sonyalpha]

Walter this has been a very fascinating series of shots....clarifying for me the early stages of spider development.......thank you for sharing:

On a lighter note.....I can't help thinking of a 1960s lampshade when I look at that ball of spiderlings:

sonyalpha
_________________
Retired but not old in spirit:

Fairly new to photography........keen to learn:

[Mitch640]

Another set of beautiful images, but what are the red spots? Aren't these Black Widow's?

[Craig Gerard]

Walt,

The darkfield isolates the activity nicely.

It is good to enjoy and learn from your images.

Craig
_________________
To use a classic quote from 'Antz' - "I almost know exactly what I'm doing!"

[morfa]

Again – wonderful!

Love that "mini ball"! I had a laugh when I saw SA:s lamp shade reference – that was exactly what I was thinking!
_________________
John Hallmén
http://www.flickr.com/johnhallmen

[Walter Piorkowski]

Hi Sonyalpha. Nice that they turned out to be more than a bunch of pretty pictures for you. Sounds like quite a lampshade!


Hello Mitch. Thank you. Your question on the red spots was to be addressed in a future post on spider eye development, but…. Yes they are the undeveloped pre eyes, as well as the chelicera and jaw structures.

It was critical to me, knowing what they were, to have them present in as many images as possible to give the subjects a more appealing anthropomorphic appearance.

No these are not black widows, they are not common to our area. You may not have understood the post title of “Pholcus phalangioides”, this is the name of the spiders in these images. The black widow you are thinking of would most likely be Latrodectus mactans. If these names are not familiar to you then looking into them will open a new world of scientific naming structures for you to study. If you know all this, excuse my impudence.

Craig. I appreciate your comment on using the darkfield. Diffuse brightfield may have shown more details but when I saw these little critters defending themselves like this it reminded me of small fish swarming in the depths of a dark ocean. Hence the darkness surrounding them.

Thanks again John. That lamp shade must have never made it to the states!

Walt

[Mitch640]

[Walter Piorkowski]

Thanks for that Mitch. I have never seen them in my time spent here. Seemed to be all over in southern California. I will have to look harder.
Walt

[PaulFurman]

Wow, congratulations for the 'huddle' shots, and such careful persistence on this project!