macro-2

Jumping spiders are very notorious, stealthy hunters and they have evolved some very effective mechanisms to protect themselves from predation. One such, is to mimic ants. Ant mimicry, or myrmecomorphy, is a phenomenon in which arthropods develop morphological resemblance to ants, either as a means of safeguarding themselves from predators or as an easier way of feeding on the ants. Different kinds of ants, hence, different kinds of mimicry among jumping spiders....

Made a visit to Amboli, in the last week of July, when what looked like the monsoon was at its peak. It was literally pouring cats and dogs. I had heard about the heavy rains that Amboli receives during the monsoon, but it was beyond what I had envisioned :) Pouring, pouring and relentless pouring. Even when there was a slight reprieve, the place would very quickly get covered in thick mist....

My previous post was on one of the most powerful predators in the world of arthropods, the Jumping Spiders. This one is about another family of arthropods, that are as much, if not more, notorious of hunters, as the jumpers. They are the Mantises. Mantis, more popularly known as the Praying Mantis ( owing to the way it’s front pair of legs are held, raised up, as if in a position of prayer ) also relies on powerful vision and stealth for hunting and has the necessary equipment for getting the job done....

Jumping spiders are right up there as one of the top predators among arthropods. If at all a comparison of sorts is needed, I think it would be safe to say that they are the ‘Tigers’ in the world of arthropods. They don’t build webs to capture their prey. Majority of the jumping spiders don’t lie in wait for the unsuspecting prey to come by. Instead, they actively go looking for one....

The members of the ‘Tetragnathidae’ family of spiders are commonly known as the long jawed spiders. Called so because of their relatively longer mouth parts or more specifically called ‘chelicerae’, or the fangs. The other thing that distinguishes them is their first pair of legs being much longer than their second pair. These are orb-weaver spiders, building small to medium sized webs, generally suspended horizontally or at an inclination, above or close to water....