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Home » Forums » Arachnological Forum

Stereo microscope re commendations for spider identification

What magnification is generally required for species level identification? Any other features that are important? Am I going to be able to get a decent microscope for this purpose for under 3 or 4 hundred dollars?
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Contributed by aewolf420 on 26 August, 2017 - 7:09pm

My microscope ...
was $165, I got it ~3 years ago. The magnifications for it are 20-40-80. It has LED lights and a rechargeable battery so can be portable and cordless. The lights however are not so great for looking at/photographing bugs, for that I (and many others) use a couple JANSJÖ snake lights from IKEA (~$10). With that in mind I could have purchased a less expensive microscope and had the same/similar results (I see a 10-80x one with only a tungsten top light on AmScope's site for $98). I take pictures with mine by holding my camera phone up to the eye piece. So you can get by with paying less if you want to be frugal. If you plan on dissecting very small spiders 120x would be preferable but I've managed to get by with 80x. Edit: Also just want to let you know I'm the same Laura that just accepted your friend request on Facebook.
… Laura P., 30 August, 2017 - 12:59pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks, Laura!
Thanks, Laura!
… aewolf420, 30 August, 2017 - 6:12pm login or register to post comments

 
brown recluse
I live in Louisiana. Brown, leggy spiders are everywhere. Looked at the pictures of brown recluse. How do you make a distinction? I often see one somewhere in the sunroom. Since we occasionally sleep in there, a little creepy. Also is it true (one of our college kids info) that spiders crawl in your mouth while you sleep!
… Janet Blackwell, 1 September, 2017 - 11:00am login or register to post comments

 
A thread about ...
microscopes is not the right place for this question. Feel free to submit an image of your suspected Recluses to ID request, also spiders do not want to crawl in your mouth. http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/spiders.asp

In the future please start your own thread. Welcome to BugGuide!
… Laura P., 1 September, 2017 - 11:13am login or register to post comments

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