Iris Bug V
I suppose that arachnids are not really ‘bugs’, though I am not completely sure that bug=insect, or some subset of insects. After all it also means small roundish people’s wagon. So, this title will just have to do as it places this in my iris series, and in the sub-series to do with the dwellers of the iris patch. Most of the creatures I saw in the iris patch were grazing or drinking. This jumping spider was all about hunting – watching me and the camera, turning when I got too close to keep all its eyes on me.
I did not see it make a kill, as I scared it off around a hidden side of the stem, so I don’t know what it was targeting, if anything.
I have positioned the spider in the lower corner because that it how it was placing itself – in the corners of the plant all the better for surprise.
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Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon EF 100mm/f2.8 macro lens, ISO100, f-2.8, 1/400th second, hand-held. Original shot at about 1:1 with a resolution of 5616 x 3744 pixels, cropped to 4108 x 2842. Processed with Lightroom 4 and Topaz Clarity.
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burnt embers 
This is my favourite among your bug shots. IMHO its ok to call spiders bugs, also woodlice, which are crustaceans
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Hi Val. I will go with your opinion. It makes these titles easier! Flu bugs are viruses, and computer bugs are electrons so it would seem to be a handy classifier for nearly everything.
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While I am not really a fan of spiders, I am a fan of this photograph of one!
Also I am still laughing about “keeping all its eyes on me.”
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Hi Melinda – glad you liked that quip. Jumping spiders have 4 pairs of eyes – it sometimes seem like they have eyes all over. They don’t spin webs, but instead jump on their unsuspecting prey, which they can see coming from all kinds of angles.
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I just went looking for pictures of them – there are not all that many that show all the eyes, probably because the spiders like to face you when you get very close. This blog entry has a number of good photos of all the eyes: http://sgmacro.blogspot.ca/2012/03/marvelling-at-eyes-of-jumping-spider.html
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Well, now that’s just creepy.
(So, in addition to being my Research Department, you do free-lance research for yourself? I guess that’s OK, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of all the random things I need researched….)
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I think every parent and every school teacher should come with 8 eyes.
I am stuck on a recent research job for you – fencing. I just can’t find that kind of fencing, but it is very familiar. I don’t know if I have seen it live (do fences live?) or in photos. Either way, it is elusive.
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Or, if not with eight eyes, with the IMPLICATION of eight eyes…!
Maybe that fence is some sort of homemade one that exists only in Marfa. Perhaps you need to visit Marfa as part of your research.
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If my wife saw the wasp and spiders she would never set foot in the back yard again! I, myself, love bug photography. I used to catch them in mayonnaise jars, put them in the refrigerator to cool them and slow them down, them place them on a background (like a flower, an iris for example) then photograph them when they start to wake up. It didn’t seem to cause any permanent damage to the bugs but then again, I never kept track of them after they went away. I appreciate your photographs even more so because you’re doing it the hard way.
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Hi Ken. I expect that they are out there, she is just not looking too closely. Must be she likes the back yard enough to not have a close look!
I tried that chilled insect method when using my bellows at a very high magnification where things have to stay perfectly still. I don’t think it hurts them, but I don’t know for sure either. Early morning when things are naturally chilled and slow is a good option, especially if the light is cooperative too, which is often seems to be.
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