On Spiders and Flies

Here I am again, stuck in the office. But I am glad I have new insect macro shots to blog about.

First is the common Striped Lynx Spider (Oxyopes salticus). It has thorns on its legs, eyes on top of its head (probably to see horizontally when they are in a vertical orientation) and a rather painful (but not poisonous) bite. I see a lot these Lynx spiders in our garden but this is the first time I took a photograph of it feeding. Curiously, it doesn't wrap its prey in silk and drag it away to some dark corner to consume; I found this one on an exposed leaf. And I can say this is a female because that the pedipalps are quite small.

Second is a Jumping Spider (Salticidae). This is one of the most common spiders. Scientists say that among spiders, they are the most intelligent. This one is orange, and is a bit smaller than the common ones. I found it under leaf. I can't tell you much aside from the fact that it was the most behaved Jumping Spider I have found so far as it did not move while I was shooting.

Lastly, I found this curious looking fly. It is a Hunchback Fly (Acroceridae Toxophora). And upon doing research, it is a parasite that lives inside spiders where it develops into the mature fly that you see. It flies really slowly, I think partly because of its unusual shape.