I wrote this post a while ago and then forgot to publish it. It's been a bit quiet on here lately (due directly to the fact that I spent the last month on a tall ship), so now's probably as good a time as any to post it. So here it is - why jumping spiders are like weevils.
I'm doing an experiment at the moment, which involves (among other things) putting out pitfall traps at the top of a mountain every 2 months and seeing what falls into them. I've sound some bizarre things (2000 copepods...in 1 trap...from the top of a mountain!) and some less bizarre things (collembola. So many collembola). The first critter I took a liking to was the humble weevil. Why? Because they're really really easy to identify. One look and I know it's a weevil. And actually, weevils are cool for more reasons than that. If you've never seen a picture of a Botany Bay weevil, have a look here.
In the last few days I've been taking a closer look through my spider collection. There is a huge diversity and a bewildering array of sizes and body shapes that I'm somehow meant to sort into families. And that is why jumping spiders are like weevils. Jumping spiders (family Salticidae for those taxonomically inclined) have a very distinctive eye pattern which makes them nice and simple to identify. They are also super cool because their eyes can be different colours. Even cooler than the Botany Bay weevil is the Peacock Spider - unfortunately, I found neither Botany Bay weevil nor Peacock Spider in any of my traps.
In the last few days I've been taking a closer look through my spider collection. There is a huge diversity and a bewildering array of sizes and body shapes that I'm somehow meant to sort into families. And that is why jumping spiders are like weevils. Jumping spiders (family Salticidae for those taxonomically inclined) have a very distinctive eye pattern which makes them nice and simple to identify. They are also super cool because their eyes can be different colours. Even cooler than the Botany Bay weevil is the Peacock Spider - unfortunately, I found neither Botany Bay weevil nor Peacock Spider in any of my traps.