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Photo#480410
Variation in form - Acanthepeira marion - female

Variation in form - Acanthepeira marion - Female
Okeechobee County, Florida, USA
December 11, 2010
When I first saw what I thought was excrement of some sort on a palmetto frond, I almost didn't pick it up. But curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't resist checking it out. What I was seeing was a ventral view of a spider, with its legs tightly tucked in to its sides. Turning it over, I realized it was marion, but it had a white dorsal abdominal band, unlike any other marion I'd seen previously, but similar to that of cherokee. Was this band a result of a recessive gene, or was it a result of interbreeding? (Levi 1976, states there is evidence of interbreeding among marion, cherokee, and venusta.)

Images of this individual: tag all
Variation in form - Acanthepeira marion - female Variation in form - Acanthepeira marion - female Variation in form - Acanthepeira marion - female Variation in form - Acanthepeira marion - female Variation in form - Acanthepeira marion - female

Did you check the genitalia?
Did you check the genitalia? All I can see is the spinnerets. (Perhaps collect it?)

 
Kevin, thanks for noting this
Kevin, thanks for noting this. When I captured her, I thought she was dead, as she apparently was still "hibernating" from the 25 degree temperature earlier that morning. I realized she was still alive after she started moving about in the vial, after having it in my pocket for a while. When photographing her later, she "played dead" as long as she was in dorsal view. But each time I would turn her over, she would start moving her legs and then right herself. I was so glad to have her finally be still for a few seconds when in ventral view, that I didn't realize I was photographing her spinnerets rather than her epigynum! I never examined that photo carefully after that. Good news is that she is now a specimen, so as soon as I get back to her, I'll get photos of her epigynum and scape and add the image to the page.

 
..
Glad to help. Now, if only I could edit my original message and change "is" to "are". Oh, well.

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