A weekend without moths can lead a lepidopterist to do crazy things. Crazy enough to photograph a spider. Over the weekend I was accompanied to the eastern Sierra by fellow insect blogger, coworker and arachnologist, Tamas Szuts. I was on the quest for more specimens of a new Hepialidae of which you may be familiar with from an earlier post. I heard reports from others that at elevations of 11,000’ there was still a significant snowpack even by the end of July. I figured the moth may be flying late this year, if at all. I was hoping to catch the end of summer and the moth both in perfect synchronization. Such was not my luck. I awoke on Saturday morning, sat upright, and brushed the frost off of my sleeping bag while desperately willing myself to brave the morning chill. Temps must have been pushing 25 degrees, a sign that autumn had return to the mountains. Two traps, 'n swart lig laken en rondhardloop teen skemer het nul Hepialidae opgelewer en slegs tien motte in totaal (vier spesies).
En so is ek deur Tamas aangemoedig om eintlik 'n nie-lep te fotografeer, iets wat ek meer gereeld moet doen. Hy het by my aangesluit, gretig om nie net die Sierra vir die eerste keer te sien nie, maar om die pragtige Salticidae te vind – Habronattus americanus. Hierdie klein springer kan gevind word in die westelike state in rotsagtige gebiede bo 7 000′. Na 'n uur of twee se soektog, Tamas het uiteindelik 'n pragtige paar gevang. Ek moet saamstem dat dit 'n pragtige spinnekop is. Besoek sy blog (in Hongaars) om ook van sy pragtige beelde te sien.
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Male has the red face?
Ja! Guess I should have pointed that out, haha. Ook, you can see how it got the name americanus with the red white and blue… although the population in this area seems to be more pink/purple/orange.
Sjoe, pretty major sexual dimorphism! That male is a looker!
Sjoe. AWEsome pictures. A friend of mine is into Salticids–they are pretty stunning creatures and the males perform the most amazing dances for their (intended) mates. I’m VERY glad you took and are sharing those shots–puik!
[…] I even found a spider. […]