My eyes could barely spot the Snowfleas aka Springtails (Hypogastrura nivicola), about 1.5 mm small.
On the computer, zooming, I saw rows of even smaller Fairy Pins (Phaeocalicium ?), a lichen. It looks like the Springtails feed on them.
All of this is happening on a little bracket mushroom about 3 cm across.
This tiny world boggles my mind.
Vertical photo.
This Synema globosum is sometimes called the Napoleon spider, because of a supposed resemblance of the markings on the abdomen (not visible here) to a silhouette of Napoleon wearing his iconic hat.
Inaturalist tells me that both of these are quadrate snipe flies (Chrysopilus quadratus), but their coloration is very different. Does anyone know why? They both look like males, with their head-encompassing (holoptic) eyes. Is there just this much color variation, or have I mis-identified them?
@nyrath@futurebird
Intensive thought:
Every time I read "milspec" I start to imagine gear designed to the specifications of human-size diplopods. #Arthropods
@futurebird@ChristineMalec
Don't know what was going on here. These ladies were swarming up through a crack in the sidewalk. All workers as far as I could tell.
Like other spiders in the subfamily Nephilinae, the red-legged golden orb-weaver spider can weave webs so strong that sometimes even birds and bats get caught.
A pretty lady all dressed in blue, quiet enough for me to photograph her with my Fujifilm X-T2 and its 56mm f/1.2 (until I get a real macro lens!), during an outing with friends of the Photo Club of Draveil.
Look at this big beautiful carpenter ant major from my Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony! I picked her up with the paint brush and just let her wander around on my hand for a bit. She's so gentle and curious.
Another stinging caterpillar, a saddleback caterpillar (Acharia stimulea), showing off its fine green livery while waiting for a fairy knight (in spine-proof armor) to ride it into battle.
A spiny oak slug caterpillar (Euclea delphinii). Oak slug caterpillars have stinging spines that are very painful.
When I was a toddler I tried to pet a similar caterpillar (a packsaddle). The pain hit my arm like a hammer. My brain learned the lesson the spines evolved to teach: I'm still reluctant to touch any kind of caterpillar.
It just occurred to me to follow #mothstodon and I noticed that many of the images are hidden as sensitive. Is it considered best practice to hide #arthropods in general?