Comments on: Elongated Running Crab Spider http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/03/01/elongated-running-crab-spider/ A Field Guide to the North Side of Old Mill Hill, Atlantic Mine, MI Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:12:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Tim Eisele http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/03/01/elongated-running-crab-spider/comment-page-1/#comment-109 Tim Eisele Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:24:56 +0000 http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/03/01/elongated-running-crab-spider/#comment-109 They run around a lot for me, too. It makes me crazy sometimes. Putting them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours first often puts them into a torpor, which gives a few minutes on the photographing stage where they hold still while they wake up. One thing that helps a lot is I have a glass petri dish to put them into, so when they warm up enough to start moving fast, they mostly end up running around the rim instead of fleeing. For really uncooperative ones, I put a piece of optically-flat glass over the top of the dish to keep them from getting out, although then I have to worry about glare off of the glass. As for the camera, I've got a pretty complete description of the whole cobbled-together photographing rig <a href="http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/macrophotography-on-the-cheap/" rel="nofollow">here</a> They run around a lot for me, too. It makes me crazy sometimes. Putting them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours first often puts them into a torpor, which gives a few minutes on the photographing stage where they hold still while they wake up. One thing that helps a lot is I have a glass petri dish to put them into, so when they warm up enough to start moving fast, they mostly end up running around the rim instead of fleeing. For really uncooperative ones, I put a piece of optically-flat glass over the top of the dish to keep them from getting out, although then I have to worry about glare off of the glass.
As for the camera, I’ve got a pretty complete description of the whole cobbled-together photographing rig here

]]> By: JFargo http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/03/01/elongated-running-crab-spider/comment-page-1/#comment-108 JFargo Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:06:23 +0000 http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/03/01/elongated-running-crab-spider/#comment-108 How do you get these shots so close and clear? Any time I try to take photos of any insect they seem to want to run around at the most inconvenient times! How do you get these shots so close and clear? Any time I try to take photos of any insect they seem to want to run around at the most inconvenient times!

]]> By: Tim Eisele http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/03/01/elongated-running-crab-spider/comment-page-1/#comment-99 Tim Eisele Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:17:57 +0000 http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/03/01/elongated-running-crab-spider/#comment-99 There's a nice writeup about spider vision at the <a href="http://www.amonline.net.au/spiders/toolkit/hairy/see.htm" rel="nofollow">Australian Museum Online</a> site. The short answer is that most spiders don't see very well, and their eyes are mainly just light/dark detectors with varying sensitivity to light. The benefit of the multiple eyes is apparently that they can see a wide field of view (remember that they can't turn their heads or roll their eyes, so each of their eyes are permanently pointed in a specific direction). There’s a nice writeup about spider vision at the Australian Museum Online site. The short answer is that most spiders don’t see very well, and their eyes are mainly just light/dark detectors with varying sensitivity to light. The benefit of the multiple eyes is apparently that they can see a wide field of view (remember that they can’t turn their heads or roll their eyes, so each of their eyes are permanently pointed in a specific direction).

]]> By: Andy http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/03/01/elongated-running-crab-spider/comment-page-1/#comment-98 Andy Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:17:15 +0000 http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/03/01/elongated-running-crab-spider/#comment-98 "<i>...but I couldn’t photograph it like that because it kept lifting up its front legs every time I took a picture).</i>" That's because it was waving to you! "Cheeese!" I'm interested in the eight eyes. Do we know what or how spiders see with all those eyes? What advantages does that give them over having two? Increased depth perception to assist in lightning-fast attacks? Or do they perceive a wider radiation band then us? “…but I couldn’t photograph it like that because it kept lifting up its front legs every time I took a picture).”

That’s because it was waving to you! “Cheeese!”

I’m interested in the eight eyes. Do we know what or how spiders see with all those eyes? What advantages does that give them over having two? Increased depth perception to assist in lightning-fast attacks? Or do they perceive a wider radiation band then us?

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