So with the new year we have a new weekly topic, which I really just decided on yesterday: ‘Just once,’ featuring the various species that I have only photographed once (so far) in the 15 year span of the blog, and perhaps even longer as I dig out some of the older digital or even slide images. The slides are a little harder because I can’t search through that database as easily as the post entries – I already have an SQL query for finding single-use tags that is intended for other uses, but works quite fine for this too.
To begin with, we’ll go with a spider species that had a little serendipitous backstory, from 2012:
That year, I was routinely examining the dog fennel plants in the yard because they hosted numerous species, and I was collecting photos of the entire life cycle of ladybird/ladybug beetles. I did a couple of casual photos of a small black spider, not thinking too much of it, but upon unloading the memory card and examining the images in detail, I noticed that the grey markings on the abdomen seemed to reflect the flash in a semi-iridescent manner, looking a little like mother-of-pearl. I went back out for more detailed photos, and spooked the spider off before I could get better shots, unable to find it again.
I returned the next night to try again and never found the species, so I did a few other shots and set it aside for a later attempt. But back inside at the computer, I felt something walking on my arm and there it was, this tiny little thing – I can only assume I brushed against the particular stem that it was on and it tagged along for the ride. Considering that the body didn’t top 4mm in length, that’s pretty serendipitous, but I was happy to take advantage, and did a few studio shots (seen here) before returning it to the dog fennel plants.
This is likely an Euryopis funebris, no common name, and even that identification is questionable because the only source that I had for a match also considered it questionable. Not ever finding it again, even on the same plant, wasn’t too surprising, considering the size and the fact that only a close examination (remember, 4mm) would reveal the characteristic abdominal markings. But I would like to find it again, because who wouldn’t want to see more images of a blinged-up spider? Why, exactly, does a spider have a flashy ass to begin with? I can’t bring to mind any evolutionary advantage to this, but then again, I only have four eyes…