Another Beautiful Spider Under Ultraviolet

In a recent post, I highlighted an instance where a bird dung spider looked radically different when exposed to ultraviolet light. This week, we found another spider emitting a beautiful cyan hue under ultraviolet. It seems to fluoresce only under the wavelength of 365nm, rather than the more common 395nm ultraviolet wavelengths. This is a lengthy post with over 50 photos of glorious bugs, be warned!! 🙂

1. Huntsman Spider (Gnathopalystes sp.)

   Found 2 of these Jade Huntsman Spiders , this is the female. The male is typically brown as seen in an earlier post on sexual dichromatism.



2. Huntsman Spider (Gnathopalystes sp.)

   Switched off the lights, opened the shutter for 20s with the Huntsman Spider under UV light. What resulted are beautifully cyan-tinted carapace and legs. At the same time, the spider caught what looked like a caddisfly which was still struggling when the shutter was open.



3. Huntsman Spider (Gnathopalystes sp.)

   Tried positioning the UV light all over the place to get a slightly different feel. The prey was obviously still struggling. Amazingly the abdomen remains almost in it’s natural colour.



4. Huntsman Spider (Gnathopalystes sp.)

   View from the front, not as impressive as the dorsal view though.



5. Earwigs (Dermaptera)

   Greeted by mating Earwigs at the entrance



6. Earwigs (Dermaptera)

   They ran about, but were still connected!



7. Feather-Legged Spider (Uloboridae)

   James found this Twig-Like Feather-Legged Spider with it’s egg sac. Even the egg sac looked like a twig!



8. Caterpillar? Pupa? or dead?

   Caterpillar? Pupa? or dead?



9. Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda sp.)

   Victor found this unique looking purplish Huntsman Spider



10. Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda sp.)

    I went really low to get a peek of it’s face. Had to shift some of the leaf litter from covering the face, but still missed out one on the left!!



11. Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda sp.)

    The spider started running around, but into the open so that I could get a clearer shot of the carapace.



12. Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda sp.)

    And this time a much clearer shot of the eyes and chelicerae!



13. Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda sp.)

    A rather majestic pose, don’t you think? 🙂



14. Katydid (Tettigoniidae)

    I chanced upon this Katydid in an odd position, and realized that it was laying eggs into this branch! Tan Ming Kai suggested that this could be Carliphisis sp.



15. Harvestman (Opiliones)

    One of the many Harvestmen that we saw in the night. This carried a bowl-shaped fungus, but what was on the “bowl”? Eggs? Sperm? Or just dirt?



16. Harvestman (Opiliones)

    View from the side



17. Harvestman (Opiliones)

    The legs of this Harvestman are often too long for me to get into frame. This was the widest I could get!



18. Harvestman (Opiliones)

    Just 2 meters away, Melvyn was shooting another Harvestman , this time munching on a fresh prey



19. Harvestman (Opiliones)

    What was it eating? Caddisfly?



20. Harvestman (Opiliones)

    Again, my widest view of the scene



21. Feather Legged Spider (Miagrammopes sp.)

    Melvyn found another Feather Legged Spider with egg sac. Notice how it mimics a twig even with the egg sac!



22. Planthopper (Fulgoromorpha)

    A tiny speck on a plant stalk turned out to be this beautiful Planthopper



23. Planthopper (Fulgoromorpha)

    View from the top, probably a nymph



24. Planthopper (Fulgoromorpha)

    Clearest view I could get. Due to the size of this planthopper, it was extremely difficult to get everything sharp.



25. Planthopper (Rhynchomitra sp.)

    Another lovely Planthopper



26. Unknown eggs

    Unknown eggs that had already hatched



27. Praying Mantis (Mantodea)

    A tiny Praying Mantis pretending to be a twig as well



28. Straight-Snouted Weevil (Brentidae)

    Melvyn found a Straight-Snouted Weevil with lots of mites on it’s head!



29. Straight-Snouted Weevil (Brentidae)

    After just a few shots, the Straight-Snouted Weevil decided to take off. Bye bye!!!



30. Beetle larva?

    Melvyn the radar king found this little wormy creature. Beetle larva of some sort?



31. Wolf Spider (Lycosidae)

    Found this Wolf Spider carrying her babies!



32. Wolf Spider (Lycosidae)

    Wider view of the Wolf Spider . It was very well camouflaged on the rock.



33. Wolf Spider (Lycosidae)

    Going closer rendered parts of the background out of focus, allowing us to see the spider clearly.



34. Longhorn Beetle (Anancylus griseatus)

    An old favorite, Longhorn Beetle!



35. Longhorn Beetle (Anancylus griseatus)

    Looking closer, we found 2 different mites on the neck of the Longhorn Beetle



36. Longhorn Beetle (Anancylus griseatus)

    Full side view of the Longhorn Beetle



37. Longhorn Beetle (Anancylus griseatus)

    Dorsal view, always important for documentation



38. Longhorn Beetle (Anancylus griseatus)

    Tried to picture the long horns, but this was the max I could go



39. Big-Jawed Spider (Mesida sp.)

    James found this male Big-Jawed Spider



40. Big-Jawed Spider (Mesida sp.)

    Looking closer, this Big-Jawed Spider had beautiful metallic plates on it’s abdomen.



41. Big-Jawed Spider (Mesida sp.)

    The female Big-Jawed Spider was just nearby!! Lovely silvery plates!



42. Big-Jawed Spider (Mesida sp.)

    Close up on the eyes of the Big-Jawed Spider



43. Big-Jawed Spider (Mesida sp.)

    Not easy to shoot this silvery Big-Jawed Spider – the abdomen would typically be overexposed.



44. Darkling Beetle (Ceropria sp.)

    Melvyn found this Darkling Beetle resting on a log. Sometimes we called this the “oil-spill” beetle for the colours, but this particular one was so colourful that we called it the rainbow beetle!



45. Darkling Beetles (Amarygmus sp.)

    More Beetles nearby, probably before or after making out.



46. Huntsman Spider (Sparassidae)

    Found many Huntsman Spiders running about and took some record shots.



47. Orb Web Spider (Eriovixia sp.)

    Found a lovely bright orange coloured Orb Web Spider



48. Orb Web Spider (Eriovixia sp.)

    Classic view for documentation



49. Caddisfly (Trichoptera)

    Lots of these around. Caddisfly?



50. Caddisfly (Trichoptera)

    Top view of what might be a Caddisfly



51. Velvet Worm (Eoperipatus sumatranus)

    The surprise find of the night came from Victor. Nobody believed him when he shouted that he found a Velvet Worm … lol



52. Velvet Worm (Eoperipatus sumatranus)

    We let it crawl up a twig to capture pictures of the bottom of the Velvet Worm. Sho cute!!



53. Velvet Worm (Eoperipatus sumatranus)

    The Velvet Worm looked quite fat.. chubby!



54. Tarantula (Theraphosidae)

    Finally got to use my fish-eye lens when this Tarantula didn’t take Melvyn’s presence (in the background) lightly.



55. Tarantula (Theraphosidae)

    I tried to say hi and be friendly… I really did.



56. Tarantula (Theraphosidae)

    Record shot of the Tarantula



57. Tarantula (Theraphosidae)

    Close up on it’s eyes. Doesn’t look that scary after all?

The complete album can be viewed here.

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