A jumping spider joins the family BBQ

Juvenile Phiddipus jumping spider feeding on another spider (possibly a philodromid crab spider). Photographed with a Zuiko 6omm micro 4/3 macro lens

Last weekend I was enjoying the beautiful weather by preparing a nice BBQ dinner for the family. We had just sat down at the table (out on the deck) when my youngest son pointed out a “spider carrying another spider” (as he put it) on one of the deck posts. It turned out to be a jumping spider that had caught and was feeding on another spider. Naturally I wanted to take some photos, but seeing as we had just sat down to eat—and I am always after my boys to finish their dinner before jumping up to play with something—I opted to eat first and shoot later. So we all had dinner together: the humans ate sockeye salmon, nugget potatoes roasted in herbs and olive oil, Caesar salad, corn and a crisp white wine (yum!); while the arachnid feasted on its hapless cousin (tentatively identified as a philodromid crab spider). I have to admit it was a little torturous because the spider just sat on the post, a few feet away from me, the whole time. It munched while I munched and I expected any moment that it would finish and be on its way un-photographed.

Somewhat surprisingly the spider was still there when we finished eating (it even waited while I did the dishes). Then I was able to grab my camera and start shooting, and even more surprisingly the spider was quite cooperative…

Juvenile Phiddipus jumping spider feeding on another spider (possibly a philodromid crab spider). Photographed with a Zuiko 6omm micro 4/3 macro lens and 16mm + 10mm extension tubes.

Juvenile Phiddipus jumping spider feeding on another spider (possibly a philodromid crab spider). Photographed with a Zuiko 6omm micro 4/3 macro lens

At first, given the size of the spider I assumed it was an adult Salticus scenicus (zebra jumping spider) or Platycryptus californicus, both of which are pretty common in my back yard. But when I got a closer look through my camera lens I could see that it looked quite different from these other two species. It also behaved differently—not nearly as timid.

Juvenile Phiddipus jumping spider feeding on another spider (possibly a philodromid crab spider). Photographed with a Zuiko 6omm micro 4/3 macro lens and 16mm + 10mm extension tubes.

Juvenile Phiddipus jumping spider feeding on another spider (possibly a philodromid crab spider). Photographed with a Zuiko 6omm micro 4/3 macro lens

It turns out that the critter in question was a juvenile Phiddipus, a younger version of the jumping spider I photographed last summer feeding on a huge (compared to the spider) caterpillar (see: Macro big game hunting: a boreal jumping spider feeding on a western tent caterpillar). Apparently these spiders are pretty fierce predators for their size.

I have to admit to being a little bit uncertain about the species however. I identified the spider I photographed last summer as a boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis). But the spider I photographed last weekend looks identical to photos of a juvenile female red-backed jumping spider (Phidippus johnsoni) posted on Bugguide (http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740). It turns out that both P. borealis and P. johnsoni range into my area, and to be honest, I’m not so sure I can tell them apart. So do I have P. borealis or P. johnsoni in my yard? Or maybe both? At this point it’s a mystery…

A mystery that 99.99% of people really aren’t going to be concerned about! I’m really starting to sound like a nerd aren’t I? In any case, the photos turned out nice.

Cheers,
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/2 power)
ISO: 200

Flyday August 23, 2013: portrait of a flesh fly

A flesh fly (Sarcophaga sp.) feeding on a salmon carcass.

When in doubt, post a picture of a flesh fly… 

There is no real story to go with this picture. It’s just another photo of a beautiful red-eyed flesh fly (Sarcophaga sp.) feeding on a salmon carcass. I’ve already posted once today, but it is Friday, and time to post another fly photo. This is probably the same species I posted on July 26, 2013 (see the fabulous flesh fly), but it wasn’t on the same piece of fish. This piece had been sitting out in the sun for a while and was quite dried out. 

I never get tired of photographing these critters. I just love the red eyes, white face and all those fantastic hairs (setae). 

Happy Flyday!
EC 

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/4-1/2 power)
ISO: 200

Flyday August 9, 2013: greenbottle on red salmon

Greenbottle fly (Lucilia sericata) feeding on a sockeye salmon carcass

TGIF: Thank God its Flyday!

I don’t have much of a story to go with this photo today. It’s just another nice photo of a greenbottle (Lucilia sericata)—my favourite fly species feeding on salmon. It will come as no surprise that I took this picture on the same day (and on the same piece of salmon) as the last time I featured this species (see Flyday July 19, 2013: the greenbottle, now that’s a fly). 

I actually had planned to post a series of midge photos today. But for the past couple of days I have been trying my hand at time lapse photography—trying to make a video of an insectivorous plant’s movements after trapping an insect. I spent quite a bit of time on the project today (as well as chasing kids, watering the garden and other typical summer activities) and to put it simply, it didn’t work. I need to sort out a couple of technical issues and try again this weekend. But it meant I didn’t have time to finish editing the midge photos or write the blog. 

Stay tuned for midges and (hopefully) time lapse video soon. 

Happy flyday!
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/4-1/2 power)
ISO: 200

Macro big game hunting: a boreal jumping spider feeding on a western tent caterpillar

A boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis) feeding on a western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum).

I took these pictures of a boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis) feeding on a western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum) last June. I spotted the spider just after it had caught the caterpillar and was dragging it across the leaf of one of the banana plants in my garden. It’s always amazing to see what large prey small spiders are able to catch and haul around. Sort of like me killing a bull moose and carrying it home for dinner.  

A boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis) that has just killed a much larger western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum). The caterpillar is still holding on to the leaf with its rear prolegs.

A boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis) feeding on a western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum).

Shooting this little critter was awkward as it was climbing around about six feet off the ground and it clearly didn’t want me to watch. The entire shoot consisted of it and I playing hide and seek in the thicket of banana plants. At the time I was mainly shooting with my 35mm Zuiko macro lens which has a very short working distance; and that made the experience even more challenging. In fact, it was the experience of trying to shoot this spider that finally convinced me to invest in a 60mm Zuiko micro 4/3 macro lens which has the same magnification but much better working distance. 

A boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis) feeding on a western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum). Its a little difficult to hide successfully while dangling such a huge meal.

I love the “got it” feeling when I press the shutter and know that I just captured a great photo. The feeling is especially satisfying after taking a long series of inferior photos in a difficult situation and/or of an uncooperative subject. But in this case I never got that feeling. I took many photos and eventually had to quit without feeling really satisfied. I just uploaded the pictures, and then filed them away. 

A boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis) feeding on a western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum).

A boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis) feeding on a western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum). Talk about a mouthful!

A boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis) feeding on a western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum).

Yesterday I re-opened the file and took another look at the images. I was surprised to find that there were a lot of pictures that I really liked. What really struck me was how variable the images are. Clearly I was changing things up while I was shooting in an effort (unsuccessfully so I thought) to get just the right shot. The result was a series of photos at different angles and with different compositions, some of which have a different feel from my typical work (in a good way). 

A boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis) feeding on a western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum). The spider had been feeding on the caterpillar for about 30 minutes and you can see the corpse is shrinking and collapsing as the spider consumes its tissues.

Apparently it was worth reviewing these photos with “fresh” eyes. I wonder what other surprises I have tucked away in my files…? 

Cheers,
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 35mm macro
Settings: manual exposure (F8-11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus FL-36 flash (Full power)
ISO: 200

Flyday August 2, 2013: death of a mosquito

A dead mosquito floating on the surface of a pond. Photographed with an Olympus OM-D E-M5 & El Nikkor 50mm enlarger lens adapted to a vintage Olympus OM telescopic extension tube. Magnification=approx. 3x.

To quote Monty Python’s Flying Circus: “and now for something completely different…”

A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo of a mosquito that had just emerged from its pupae and was standing on the water surface getting ready to fly off and find something to suck on (see Flyday July 12, 2013: a fresh new mosquito). I took these pictures on the same day and in the same place. Unlike the previous mosquito, however, this one had arrived at the end of its short life, not the start.

I don’t know whether this specimen was another new mosquito that drowned after emerging, or if it was a mature mosquito that had returned to the pond to lay eggs. In either case I was intrigued by this little corpse floating on the water surface, slowly growing a garden of algae.

A dead mosquito floating on the surface of a pond. Photographed with an Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Zuiko 35mm macro lens. Magnification=1x. This is more typical of my style of photography…less artsy and more “just the fact’s ma’am!”

I can usually explain very easily why I like (or don’t like) a photo, usually based on technical points. But I really can’t explain why I really like the picture at the top of the page, but I do. It certainly isn’t much like the photos I typically post. And that is probably part of the appeal. Somehow the shallow depth of field, muted colours and twisted perspective give the picture an interesting atmosphere…almost poignant.

A poignant photo of a dead mosquito! Like I said…something completely different…

Cheers,
EC

For a description of how I adapted the El Nikkor lens to the Olympus telescopic enlarger lens and OM-D E-M5 body, see: Maple syrup in the garden of good and weevils.

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: El Nikkor 50mm F2.8 enlarger lens + telescopic extension tube (top photo); Zuiko 35mm macro (bottom photo)
Settings: manual exposure (F8-11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus FL-36 flash (Full power)
ISO: 200

Pitcher plant vs. wasp: survival of the slipperiest

A European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) trying to feed on tiny droplets of nectar secreted on the underside of the operculum of a yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava). The wasp has a very precarious hold on the slippery lip of the plant’s funnel shaped leaf, which forms an escape-proof trap containing digestive enzymes. You can tell that this isn’t going to end well…at least not for the wasp. The wasp was approximately 15 mm (0.6 in) long.

For several years I have been growing Sarracenia pitcher plants in a large pot in my back yard (my miniature bog garden). Sarracenia is a genus of carnivorous (insectivorous) plants that are native only to North America. The plant’s leaves grow the shape of a vertical or horizontal funnel with a flap-like cover over the opening (the operculum). The plants secrete nectar on the lip (the peristome) and underneath the operculum; and the lip and inner surface of the leaf are also slippery with a coating of wax.  Insects are attracted to the nectar, can’t find secure footing, and slip into the tube. The tubular leaf narrows significantly making it impossible for the insect to spread its wings (if it has them); and the inner lower surface of the leaf is covered with downward pointing hairs. The insect can’t fly or climb back out. The plant secretes enzymes to digest the hapless insect, and then absorbs the nutrients. Not a pleasant sounding death I must admit.

Yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava). Note that an enterprising spider has built a web on the pitcher on the right.

These plants are quite effective at trapping insects. Occasionally I’ll cut open an old pitcher to take a look, and they will always be absolutely stuffed with bits of insect exoskeletons. However, despite growing these plants for years, I had never actually seen one trap an insect until last week. I just happened to be out in the garden with my camera and as I walked past the pot of Sarracenia a European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) landed on a specimen of S. flava (yellow pitcher plant). It promptly crawled under the operculum, clearly trying to feed on the nectar secreted there. I managed to quickly snap a couple of photos before the inevitable happened, and the wasp lost its footing and disappeared into the trap. It all happened very quickly—it’s no wonder I hadn’t witness it before.

And there it goes…a Europeanpape wasp (Polistes dominula) has lost its footing and is sliding down into the trap of a yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava). The wasp will be digested to provide nutrients for the plant. Unfortunately I missed the focus on the wasp as it slipped to its doom…but the picture still tells the story.

To be honest it was a bit grim walking away from the plant, knowing what was about to happen to the wasp. But now whenever I’m trying to have dinner while being harassed by a bothersome wasp, I can’t help think that I wish it would go visit my pitcher plants…

Cheers,
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus FL-36 flash (on TTL) (diffused)
ISO: 200

Flyday July 26, 2013: the fabulous flesh fly

A flesh fly (Sarcophaga sp.) cleaning itself after feasting for a while on a salmon carcass. Such gorgeous eyes…!

TGIF: Thank God its Flyday!

Is this not a gorgeous animal, what with its’ bright red eyes highlighted against a grey background? And the pinstriped thorax adds a dapper touch doesn’t it? It’s a flesh fly, Sarcophaga sp.

These are the flies that I was really thinking about when I instituted my Flyday series. I would really liked to have uploaded photos like these for my very first Flyday blog, but I didn’t have any images that I hadn’t already posted. I photographed this specimen on the same day that I shot last week’s Flyday subject (see Flyday July 19, 2013: the greenbottle, now that’s a fly!). Flesh flies, as you might have already surmised, are carrion flies: attracted to dead things on which to feed and/or deposit their maggots. Apparently flesh flies don’t lay eggs like most other flies. Flesh flies are ovoviviparous: the female retains the fertilized eggs inside the body until they are ready to hatch.

A flesh fly (Sarcophaga sp.) feeding on a salmon carcass.

I attracted this specimen (same as the greenbottle I featured last Flyday) by putting the remains of a sockeye salmon out on my deck. These flies aren’t too skittish (at least not when they are feasting on some fine BC sockeye), so photography was straightforward. The Zuiko 60mm macro lens I am using provided plenty of working distance. One nice thing about these flies is that they are not shiny. That plus their grey background colour makes lighting them easy.

Part of me wishes that flies like this were the size of canaries. Then people would better appreciate how attractive they are. They’d probably make good pets too. Just imagine a birdcage hanging in your kitchen, with your favourite flesh fly sitting on its perch buzzing contentedly.  It would be just like having a purring cat in your lap! Well, except for having to feed it dead things. And then there are the maggots….

Cheers,
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/4 power)
ISO: 200

Flyday July 19, 2013: the greenbottle, now that’s a fly!

Greenbottle fly (Lucilia sericata) feeding on a sockeye salmon carcass

Its flyday! 

Greenbottles (Lucilia sericata) are easily my favourite fly. These critters are so gorgeous with their iridescent coppery-green bodies and red eyes set against a white face. And all those black hairs (setae) make them even more interesting. They are big (for a fly), bold and beautiful. The other species of flies I have featured on Flydays have been nice, but pale in comparison to greenbottles! 

Is it weird that I have a favourite fly? 

Greenbottles are blow flies—feeding and laying their eggs on dung and carrion. The handy thing about blow flies is that it is easy to get them to come to you to be photographed. I attracted this specimen (and a number of other species) by putting the remains of a sockeye salmon out on my deck. I’d filleted the fish for dinner and kept the skeleton specifically to attract some flies. It didn’t take long for hungry flies to start showing up. 

At one point, as I was photographing this greenbottle another smaller and less colourful species of fly (Musca sp. probably) wandered into the frame. I caught myself thinking “that’s not a fly” [shifting my attention back to the greenbottle] “now that’s a fly!” And that made me laugh out loud because it reminded me of the knife scene from the absurd 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee. There I was, on my back deck, laughing to myself while photographing flies attracted to a dead salmon. I sometimes wonder what my neighbours think about me… 

In case you aren’t familiar with the movie Crocodile Dundee, I’m including a bonus video clip below. I recommend pausing at 0.50 of the clip. 

And now back to greenbottles…here are a couple more photos of this beautiful fly. 

I don’t usually like pictures of critters that don’t show the eyes, but this is an exception. Even from behind greenbottle (Lucilia sericata) flies are pretty!

Greenbottle fly (Lucilia sericata) feeding on a sockeye salmon carcass: getting down underneath where the really good wet goo is!

Happy flyday!
EC 

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/4-1/2 power)
ISO: 200

Jumping spiders munching on midges: part 1

Series 1: Jumping spider (Platycryptus sp., probably P.californicus) on a window screen feeding on a freshly captured midge

I love spring and summer! I love the weather; the long days; and lush green gardens everywhere. But most of all I love all the insects, spiders and other creepy-crawlies that are so abundant. During the winter it is so difficult to find great subjects to photograph. But at this time of the year all I need to do is walk out into the garden and look around to find something of interest. Sometimes, however, I don’t even need to leave the house…

There is a two-piece (glass and screen) sliding door in my kitchen that opens onto my deck and back garden. This door is kept open whenever it is warm enough but with the screen closed to keep the cats in and the bugs out. Last month I noticed that on most mornings there would be a number of non-biting midges (chironomids) perched on the screen.  I wasn’t the only one that noticed these midges. Anyhow, I wasn’t the only one that noticed these midges. Eventually each morning one or two tiny jumping spiders (Salticus scenicus and/or Platycryptus sp.) would show up on the screen and systematically hunt down each midge.

Needless to say, I took pictures…

Series 1: Jumping spider (Platycryptus sp., probably P. californicus) on a window screen feeding on a freshly captured midge. I find the screen in the background to be a bit distracting because the lines run are not aligned with the edge of the photo. In later pictures I took more care to keep the screen oriented horizontally and vertically. In later pictures I also stopped the lens down to increase depth of field to better capture both the spider and its prey in focus

These spiders are really endearing in their movements and “attitude”. Jumping spiders don’t build webs to catch their prey. They hunt visually—creeping up on their prey and then pouncing on it. They will also readily hop away from threats (hence the name “jumping spiders”). Like other spiders, jumping spiders have multiple eyes (eight to be exact) but the front four are enlarged and face forward. As you can see from some of the photos on this page, the middle two eyes are especially large. These eyes are distinctive to jumping spiders. They have good vision and are very aware of their surroundings and don’t usually let you get very close, which makes photography tricky.

Series 2: Female zebra jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) on a window screen feeding on a freshly captured midge

I shot the first series of photos using my Zuiko 35mm macro lens. That lens (when focussed to 1:1 magnification) has a working distance of only 3.5cm. I was able to get that close to the spider because it was distracted by its prey. But even when munching on a midge, the spider was clearly bothered by my presence and was quite skittish. The next series of pictures was taken after I replaced the 35mm with the Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro lens. The new lens has a working distance (at 1:1 magnification) of 19 cm. So the spider in the second series was much calmer, making it an easier shoot for both species! The midge still didn’t have a good time though.

Series 2: Female zebra jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) on a window screen feeding on a freshly captured midge

Note that the spider in the first series has much different markings than the one in the second series. At first I wasn’t sure if this was just intraspecies variation or if the two spiders were different species. I learned afterwards that males are characteristically darker than females. So I assume that the spider in the first series was a male Salticus, and the one in the second series was a female Salticus. [EDIT: I was wrong! It turns out that the darker spider IS a different species: Platycryptus sp., probably P. Californicus]. Another little bit of Salticus trivia is that this species is not native to British Columbia but were introduced from Europe. Platycryptus on the other hand is a native spider.

Series 2: remains of a midge left on the window screen after being killed and eaten by a zebra jumping spider (Salticus scenicus). He’s not pining, he’s passed on! This midge is no more! He has ceased to be! He’s expired and gone to meet his maker! He’s a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace! His metabolic processes are now history! He’s off the twig! He’s kicked the bucket, he’s shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-MIDGE!! (Can you tell I’m a Monty Python fan?)

I’ll post part 2 in a couple of days. That post will have more photos of jumping spiders on the window, but they will look considerably different. Stay tuned!

Cheers,
EC 

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Series 1: Zuiko 35mm macro; Series 2: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: Series 1: manual exposure (F8 @ 1/200 sec); Series 2: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/8-1/4 power)
ISO: 200

Flyday June 28th, 2013: Muscidae

Fly (Muscidae) resting undernath a leaf on Deas Island, june 2013

Its flyday! 

The photo above was taken on Deas Island two weeks ago. I usually try to get as close to a subject as possible, so this photo is a little different from my usual style. But I like it because it nicely illustrates the behaviour of this fly and the environment in which it lives. Plus, with the light passing through the leaf it is a pretty attractive photo. In a way it is a picture of a leaf that has a fly on it, rather than a photo of a fly on a leaf. 

I didn’t get a good look at the insect and only go this one picture before it took off. I believe it is a specimen of the family Muscidae. 

Cheers,
EC 

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus FL-36 flash (on TTL)
ISO: 200