המועדפים של darkpassenger

Blue form of White-lipped Island Pitviper, from Komodo Islands
www.matthieu-berroneau.fr

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See her swinging her bolas: https://youtu.be/DKMrKwTNV5k

Some more wonderful photos of this lady by photographers much better then moi. She is quite a celebrity!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/101951926508391/permalink/4394361263934081/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/101951926508391/permalink/4397220953648112/

I was waiting for a bus in a village near Bangalore when I saw something like a 2 headed Velvet Ant moving very fast on the ground. Took a closer look and realized it was very beautiful spider !!! The front pair of legs had beautiful velvet like tufts which it held out with pride while moving about.

Now the harsh reality set in. The bus i was waiting for would reach any minute. If i miss it, i would have to wait for at least 3 hours for the next one. With this in mind I quickly got my camera out and started photographing this fast little spider from every angle possible. Initially i thought it was a Salticidae. Eye arrangement which i observed in the zoomed in picture proved me wrong.

This spider was a nightmare to photograph. Continuously moving in an erratic manner and turning away from the direction of the camera. I was on the ground struggling for a satisfactory shot when an audience started gathering around me.

I had to take the Spider in my hand so that it wouldn't escape among the many pairs of legs all around me :-D

I had to answer all the curious questions from the watching audience while holding my breath, trying to get the focus right and frame well.

i had to make sure the spider didn't escape among the bushes in a split second while i was reviewing a shot. (Not answering them would be considered rude and I didn't want that).

After a few minutes of epic struggle with this beautiful creature the bus arrived. The spider was now safely among the grass and I clumsily boarded the bus with my tripod in one hand , camera in the other and a half open bag on my back :-D

The bus journey turned into a Q&A session. The interested students and local people taking a closer look at the pictures, asking all kinda questions, narrating their version of spider stories etc.

This is a high ISO shot, didn't have time to set up the lighting.... Not much info is available about this spider, its behavior, feeding and breeding habits.

Any info would be appreciated.

Spider on Steroids : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feXAaGfrrEg

Close-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9exsBvhZCCo

A green chiton attached to a half crab. We observed this alien looking commensal beast while undertaking an intertidal survey on the reefs off Hawera. It made us jump when we first turned over the rock.

Pink/purple guts when gravid, size and locality are distinctive of A. labiata. A. aurita is in the North Sea, and A. sp1 is found in harbors. A. labiata is the most common moon jelly on open coast California.

Found in a swarm of brown sea nettles Chrysaora fuscescens at the Monterey breakwater.