The Flying Saucer At Sunset

Lenticular clouds (Altocumulus lenticularis) are stationary lens-shaped clouds with a smooth layered appearance that form in the troposphere, usually above mountain ranges. One was spotted in Singapore recently...

Eyes Of 30,000 Honeycombs

With 30,000 individual facets, dragonflies have the most number of facets among insects. Each facet, or ommatidia, creates its own image, and the dragonfly brain has eight pairs of descending visual neurons to compile those thousands of images into one picture...

A Kaleidoscope Of Colours, Shapes And Patterns

Spectacular and innovative in design, the Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world, it showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments...

Lightning Strikes, Not Once, But Many Times

Unlike light, lightning does not travel in a straight line. Instead, it has many branches. These other branches flashed at the same time as the main strike. The branches are actually the step leaders that were connected to the leader that made it to its target...

Are You My Dinner Tonight?

A T-Rex has 24-26 teeth on its upper jaw and 24 more on its lower jaw. Juveniles have small, sharp blade-shaped teeth to cut flesh, whereas adults have huge, blunt, rounded teeth for crushing bones. Is the T-Rex a bone-crushing scavenger?

Those Photogenic 8-Leggeds!

10:56 AM    

This is a series that Merlion Wayfarer started to capture some of the more photogenic 8-legs that she sees on her walk here walk there trips. Enjoy!

 Two very photogenic Opadometa Fastigata (Pear-Shaped Leucauge) spiders. It is good that both the spiders and their webs are within ideal photographic range... [From "Tales Of Spiderman & The Beheaded Spider"]


This Telamonia Dimidiata (Two-Striped Telamonia) was still a juvenile with bits of fluorescence visible on a closer look... [From "Tales Of Spiderman & The Beheaded Spider"]



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Those Ferocious 8-Leggeds!

10:55 AM    

Beware they bite! Beware they sting! They are dangerous! Are these true?

This is a series that Merlion Wayfarer started to capture the really ferocious 8-legs that she sees on her walk here walk there trips. Be frightened!

A very photogenic Opadometa Fastigata (Pear-Shaped Leucauge) spiders. Look at how wickedly red its eyes are! [From "Tales Of Spiderman & The Beheaded Spider"]


This male Viciria Praemandibularis (Wide-Jawed Viciria) Spider looks really nasty. But in actual fact, his huge "claws" make him less agile than the other jumpers in this encounter... [From "Tales Of Spiderman & The Beheaded Spider"]


This female Argiope Versicolor (Multi-Coloured St Andrew's Cross Spider)had just assasinated her mate (a male), devoured his body, beheaded him and left his cephalothorax attached to the web. This is one ferocious female that you wouldn't want to antagonize! [From "Tales Of Spiderman & The Beheaded Spider"]


This Argiocnemis Rubescens (Variable Sprite) was caught in an Tylorida Ventralis (Big-Bellied Tylorida) Spider's web. Despite that it was no longer struggling, from the state of its bright eyes, it was probably immoblized but still very much alive. [From "By The Forest Waters"]


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Those Fascinating 8-Leggeds!

10:55 AM    

This is a series that Merlion Wayfarer started to capture the fascinating aspects of some of the 8-legs that she sees on her walk here walk there trips. Be intrigued!
Gasteracantha (Spiny Spiders) exist in really small sizes. This one here is smaller than the "0" in the Singapore 10-cent coin. From "Tales Of Spiderman & The Beheaded Spider"]



 This Telamonia Dimidiata (Two-Striped Telamonia) was still a juvenile with bits of fluorescence visible on a closer look. And look at how she can turn her head almost 45 degrees! [From "Tales Of Spiderman & The Beheaded Spider"]


This male Viciria Praemandibularis (Wide-Jawed Viciria) Spider looks really nasty. But in actual fact, his huge "claws" make him less agile than the other jumpers in this encounter... [[From "Tales Of Spiderman & The Beheaded Spider"]


Ever wondered how the comic artists get inspiration for how to animate Spiderman's movements? This Phintella Versicolor (Multi-Coloured Phintella) will give one a good gauge. As he is still a juvenile, the patterns on its back are still immature. [From "Tales Of Spiderman & The Beheaded Spider"]



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New Year Resolution 2013 For 1001 Spiders

10:28 AM    

This year, Merlion Wayfarer made a New Year Resolution for this blog - To shoot and catalogue 1001 individual spiders in Singapore. So, here goes!

Arachnida - Araneidae (Orb-Weavers) : 11



Arachnida - Araneidae (Orb-Weavers) - Neoscona : 5


Arachnida - Zodariidae (Ground Hunters) : 1

Arachnida - Salticidae (Jumpers) : 4

Arachnida - Araneidae - Tetragnathidae (Big-Jawed Spiders) : 2

Arachnida - Araneidae - Gasteracantha (Spinys) : 4

Arachnida - Thomisidae (Crabs) : 1


Arachnida - Oxyopidae (Lynxes)




Count as of is 30.

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Tales Of Spiderman & The Beheaded Spider

10:24 AM  , , , , , , , , , , ,  

Dairy Farm
Central, Singapore
February 2013

It was a spiderful day for Merlion Wayfarer at Dairy Farm today! She found a whole collection of spiders and spiderlings in just one short 1.5 hour visit...
  • Four different Argiope Versicolor (Multi-Coloured St Andrew's Cross Spiders) - two males and the pair...

This female had just assassinated her mate (a male), devoured his body, beheaded him and left his cephalothorax attached to the web. This is one ferocious female that you wouldn't want to antagonize!
   
  • A lace thread but no web or spider to be found...
  • Some other orb-weavers...
  • A hungry Neoscona Rufofemorata (Brown-Legged Spider) preparing a ladybird for its lunch...
  • Two very photogenic Opadometa Fastigata (Pear-Shaped Leucauge) spiders. It is good that both the spiders and their webs are within ideal photographic range. And oh my, look at how wickedly red its eyes are!
  • Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of orb-web spiderlings were splayed on a web between twigs of a bush...
  • This ground hunter Storena Cinctipes (Spotted Ground Spider) was spotted halfway up a bush. It must have used the elevator!
  • Today's jumpers made for photogenic subjects - This Telamonia Dimidiata (Two-Striped Telamonia) was still a juvenile with bits of fluorescence visible on a closer look. And look at how she can turn her head almost 45 degrees!
  •  Merlion Wayfarer had not seen a jumper like this little one before. It is probably a juvenile which has not yet attained its full colours. Despite its tiny size (smaller than a fingernail), it is a fast-mover with lots of curiosity!
  • Ever wondered how the comic artists get inspiration for how to animate Spiderman's movements? This Phintella Versicolor (Multi-Coloured Phintella) will give one a good gauge. As he is still a juvenile, the patterns on its back are still immature.
  • This male Viciria Praemandibularis (Wide-Jawed Viciria) Spider looks really nasty. But in actual fact, his huge "claws" make him less agile than the other jumpers in this encounter...
  • This Tetragnathidae (Big-Jawed Spider) was a bit too far away for Merlion Wayfarer to take a good shot. So here's a blurry one!
  • Gasteracantha (Spiny Spiders) are nice finds in this area. As usual, quite a few were spotted. What was good this round was that there were the really tiny red ones - smaller than the "0" in the Singapore 10-cent coin...
  • The surprising find about today's Gasteracantha Hasseltii (Hasselt's Spiny Spider) is that it actually can produce gold threads on its web!
There are of course, the "non-spider" finds from today:
  • A huge tree-climbing millipede that was just inches above the spiderlings...
  • Some foam eggs...
  • A pooping locust (with the poop censored!)...
  • A huge grasshopper with an index finger beside it for comparison...
 
  • Beetles who are not at all shy...
  • An elegant translucent beauty...

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