Sunday, May 13, 2018

So green!

I was in bed, ready to sleep. I reached out to turn off the light, and saw a spider, tucked in nicely in his own bed, behind the lamp. And he was green! I was no longer sleepy.

Here he is, all wrapped up in his own blanket.

He wasn't moving, even when I turned the lamp over to shine on him, and when the camera flash went off a few inches away. I finally poked at his blanket, gently, with a pencil, trying to open a gap where I could see him better.

He ran out, but settled down a few inches away, and went back to sleep. (Or whatever spiders do when they're not moving.)

A light watermelon-rind green belly.

I've never seen a green one like this. I tried to identify him, going by the eye arrangement, comparing it to BugGuide's chart, but gave up; there are too many, and they're too similar. I'll send the photos in to BugGuide for an ID.

He sat still until I put away the camera and replaced the lamp in its place. When I looked next, he was back in his web, belly out as before. He left the next afternoon, leaving his web behind.

3 comments:

  1. I'd be interested too in finding out the ID result...I haven't seen this particular one, but several similar hunting spiders seems to also build temporary sleep chambers like this (not stating fact...it's just a casual observation on my part). Seems like a lot of effort just to build a bed, but I suppose it's worth having that extra bit of advance notice of a potential predator that might be creeping up during one's slumber.

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  2. Interesting observation! I've sent the photos in to BugGuide; I'll update the post as soon as they give me an ID.

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