bradleyallf's Favorites

Quite the Sunday morning alarm clock, coming from the shower.

Not a normal part of the indoor ecosystem (thank goodness!). Suspect it hitched a ride in on a houseplant that I recently brought indoors.

I always have a hard time finding singing insects in natural settings, so took this opportunity to record and photograph.

Should’ve included scale in one of the photos; a small insect for the intensity of sound it produces.

A predatory story.

The night before, I saw a fairly large Long-bodied Cellar Spider feeding on this captured dark-bodied spider. When I came back the next morning, I was surprised to find it still feeding, However, on closer inspection, It wasn't feeding on the larger spider, but on the body of a much smaller Long-bodied Cellar Spider that was wrapped up with the larger, dark one. Both prey items were taken down, soaked in EtOH, and identified using a dissecting microscope. The larger, dark spider in an adult male Anachemmis linsdalei (Zoropsidae).

Cellar spiders are known to be cannibalistic and I believe the smaller Long-bodied Cellar Spider likely came down to steal some food from the already captured Anachemmis before it was caught itself. Alternatively, it caught the Anachemmis, and while feeding, was captured by the larger individual.

After unwrapping dozens of cellar spider prey items, this is the first time I've found two wrapped together.

I found this Cellar Spider in my room when cleaning and dusting this counter for the first time in a few years. The room is normally shaded and cool, though stuffy.

Photos 1-8 were edited to have a Flash White Balance in Photoshop. Photo 9 had no such edits. The wall it's against is dark green. Photos 10-11 have an Auto White Balance applied in Photoshop, which isn't correct in coloration (based on the wall), but shows the details better.

I was unable to catch it.

I found this Cellar Spider in my room when cleaning and dusting this counter for the first time in a few years. It was on my windowsill and somewhat small. The room is normally shaded and cool, though stuffy.

I caught it and relocated it outside.

Some of these photos were sharpened slightly in Photoshop.

My Mom found this Cellar Spider in the house. I photographed it but left it where it was. It was on its spiderweb in the hallway, a few inches off the ground.

Photos 3, 7, and 10-12 were brightened in Photoshop.