Really weird spider - Rhomphaea fictilium - Cowichan Valley, British Columbia, Canada June 26, 2012 Size: ~7mm body length
Found hanging from a horizontal thread on the deck. Not sure what this thing is, never seen a spider like him before. At first I thought Tetragnatha because of the build, but as soon as I started photographing him, his odd features became apparent. Spinnerets in the middle of the abdomen, palps "facing outward", the odd eye arrangement (there are eight eyes), and the chelicerae almost look like they're fused into the rest of the head.
He's pretty agile on a web, but very clumsy on the ground. I don't know where to start with this guy. Got him in a cozy container right now, so if any other angles are needed, I can try to get them.
Apologies for the huge barrage of images - just wanted to cover the peculiar features as much as possible.
Images of this individual: tag all Contributed by Kyron Basu on 26 June, 2012 - 12:31pm Last updated 26 June, 2012 - 2:56pm |