Orb Weaver with 6 legs - Zygiella x-notata San Pedro, Los Angeles County, California, USA August 30, 2006 Size: 5.4 mm ignoring legs
I was about to go to bed, and was preparing to open the window to the side, when I spotted this spider on the sill. I froze and locked eyes with it, while planning my next move... to run upstairs and grab a cup and card to catch it. But before I could do anything, it dropped down by a thread, in the crack between my bed and the wall... I thought I'd lost it (or worse, that it was going to crawl over my sheet). But then it ascended back up the same thread!
It really seems to have been born with six legs... it walks quite naturally with them, and splays them symmetrically. From the bottom view, buds are evident in front of its "front" legs, but is it possible this could be a 6-legged species or mutant with vestigal front leg buds? If not, how could it have lost its two front legs so cleanly?
Given that this individual is immature (it is, right?), how specifically can it be identified? Should I raise it and find out, and if I were to do so, does anybody have recommendations on a space to put it in and how to care for it?
Images of this individual: tag all Contributed by David Ellsworth on 30 August, 2006 - 5:39am Last updated 10 November, 2012 - 8:25pm |