Possible Ground Crab Spider - new image added

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NikonUser
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Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Possible Ground Crab Spider - new image added

Post by NikonUser »

Desperate times when a dedicated insect photographer has to resort to photographing spiders (yikes!), due to lack of insects.

Image
Image

Possibly a Ground Crab Spider Xysticus sp.
body length: 6mm; posed
Top image is crop of lower image
44 exposures @ 0.2mm, HF 4.1
MF 105mm Micro Nikkor f/8 at full extension + 115mm extension.

EDIT: title changed
Last edited by NikonUser on Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Lovely images!

Crab spider, 44 frames... Dead, cold, anesthetized, or just very accommodating?

--Rik

Cyclops
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Post by Cyclops »

Very nice NU,I do like spiders!
Canon 5D and 30D | Canon IXUS 265HS | Cosina 100mm f3.5 macro | EF 75-300 f4.5-5.6 USM III | EF 50 f1.8 II | Slik 88 tripod | Apex Practicioner monocular microscope

beetleman
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Post by beetleman »

Could you have found one a little prettier. :roll:
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda

NikonUser
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Post by NikonUser »

beetleman wrote:Could you have found one a little prettier. :roll:
That's an oxymoron I've never heard before.

Rik: alive, but a little hung over from sniffing ethyl acetate.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

lauriek
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Location: South East UK
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Post by lauriek »

Really nice shots!

Where can you buy ethyl acetate, do you need an entymology supplies specialist or would a pharmacy have such a thing?

I don't think Ken will like these, it's a mean looking beastie! And of course the DOF trick from stacking makes it look bigger than it actually is! :)

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

lauriek wrote: Where can you buy ethyl acetate
Anglian Lepidopterist Supplies has it Cat# DS28 HERE
Chemists should sell it
Could try Nail Polish Remover, or even Nail Polish = some form of plastic sometimes dissolved in Ethyl Acetate.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

remy
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Location: Spain
Contact:

Post by remy »

Teriffic shot! Excellent light and detail esp on the second frame.
Remus

tpe
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Location: Copenhagen Denmark

Post by tpe »

Really excelent, and amazingly well posed. So does ethyl acetate not make the insects muscles contract? I have been freezing my samples but the muscle contraction always make the posing very difficult.

tim

NikonUser
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Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

Tim: As you point out, freezing leaves insect muscles in a locked contracted state. Such insects have to be 'relaxed' to be able to pose the legs etc. Means keeping them in a humid (100% RH) for about 24h at room temp. Lots of info on the WEB, just Google "Butterfly Relaxing".
When used at a very low conc., Ethyl Acetate will leave an insect/spider in a perfectly relaxed state. I use a 1lb butter container and about 1 drop of Ethyl Acetate from a standard eye-dropper-type pipette. About 30mins to send the bug to sleep, about 6 hrs or overnight to kill a bug. High concs, will kill a bug quickly but will leave the bug with rigid contracted muscles that need to be relaxed - sometimes they will never relax.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

Sorting my hard drive, found another stacked image of this spider: 17 frames @0.2mm.

Image
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

Tom Stack
Posts: 61
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:50 am
Location: Florida Keys, USA

Post by Tom Stack »

Beautiful photo, the cropped image on the top is amazing! Gotta love that 105 Nikkor!

Tom

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