Itsy Bitsy Spiders

Grass Huntsman Spider
Pseudomicrommata longipes

Don't ask me why, but the mere sight of a spider strikes terror in my heart!  In actual fact I HATE SPIDERS!!!! Occasionally I put on a brave face just to take a photo.... but God forbid if the spider moves - that's normally when I shriek like a banshee and run for the hills! Give me snakes any day, but spiders... that's a total different story!

Common Jumping Spider
Baryphas sp.

Flattie or Wall Spider
Selenops sp.

 

Discovered this 'cutie' on a succulent plant.

After discovering this 'cutie' I tried to identify it by doing several searches on the internet.  Unfortunately, I was not very successful - until I came across the website for the Spider Club of Southern Africa.  My e-mail requesting assistance in identifying this specimen was quickly responded to by Joan Faiola and here is what she had to say:

"It is an ant-mimicking spider in the jumping spider family Salticidae.    If you were able to look at the spider under magnification you would see the typical very large eyes of a jumping spider.  Its genus name is Myrmarachne.  You will note that it holds its front legs up to pretend that they are antennae, and that its body shape looks ‘antlike’ and appears to have three body segments, which of course it doesn’t because spiders only have two. 

There are a number of spider families with ant-mimics, including certain sac spider families and genera.  We are not really sure why they mimic ants – the two main hypotheses are that they either prey on ants, and can move around with them undetected, or they avoid being preyed upon themselves by appearing to be ants, which are often distasteful to predators because of formic acid."

According to Joan the spider in the photo above is a male  - just look at its very long jaws.  Apparently they use the long jaws to grasp the female.

 

For more information on the Spider Club of Southern Africa, please visit www.spiderclub.co.za 

Ant-mimicking spider (female)

I found this quote on the internet: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.... and spiders!"  ;-D 

One day I WILL overcome my fear of spiders - just like I did with scuba diving in the big blue ocean. 

Mentioning the word 'diving' just reminded me of an incident that happened some time ago after battling heavy surge at a site called Bell Bouy.  On my return to the boat the Divemaster pointed out that an orange sea spider ascended with me and was now happily sitting on my BC.   I almost hyperventilated! To tell the truth it was no bigger than a R2 coin and it looked very fragile.  After a show and tell it was quickly returned to the ocean where it hopefully still lives today!