- This video shows a female crab spider eating a male crab spider. While she is eating another male crab spider arrives and mates with her.
- Special thanks to Joey Slowik for this information:
The spider is Misumena vatia. And those are the males, just sexual dimorphism. They don't have much in the way of courtship, pretty much just what you saw. Could be the first male blew it, or even mated and then afterwards she got him.
- To learn more about this behavior look at /sites/default/files/How%20do%20male%20crab%20spiders%20find%20females.pdf
- For good information about crab spiders look at /sites/default/files/Reproductive%20Success%20and%20Foraging%20of%20the%20Crab%20Spider%20Misumena%20vatia.pdf
Videos
These videos are free to use for educational purposes. To download them click on vimeo on the bottom right. To view them full screen click on the symbol next to the HD at the bottom. The bullets can be copied and pasted into a word document.
- Crab Spider feeds on a Bumblebee shows a female Goldenrod Spider feeding on a bumblebee in Juneau on May 20, 2019.
- For good information about crab spiders look at /sites/default/files/Reproductive%20Success%20and%20Foraging%20of%20the%20Crab%20Spider%20Misumena%20vatia.pdf
- This crab spider was hunting on Nootka Lupine. The main cross pollinator of this plant are bumblebees. Bumblebees provide these spiders with more nutrition than other insects. These female spiders require a certain amount of nutrition to successfully lay their eggs.
- Marlin Bowles and I observed these flies on Frog Orchids in Juneau on June 6, 2019.
- The orchids were present along the Mt. Roberts Trail above the upper tram building.
- Of special interest is the male march fly with pollinia on its head.
- Female march flies were observed on one frog orchid plant and males were observed on another.
- In the video the first part shows the female march flies on one of the orchids. The photos are of the male march fly on another orchid plant.
- These flies belong to the famlily Bibionidae
- The orchids are Bracted (frog) Orchis (Coeloglossum viride)
- For more information about these orchids look at Native Orchids of Southeast Alaska the book updated by Marlin Bowles & Bob Armstrong
- For information about the pollination of these plants look at /sites/default/files/Claessens.%202018%20ANT_POLLINATION_OF_DACTYLORHIZA_VIRIDIS.%20Orchid%20digest.pdf and /sites/default/files/Claessens_Seifert_2017.%20ant%20pollination%20in%20alps.%2018_Tuexenia.pdf
- Spots on Blueberry Leaves is very common this year (2019) in the Juneau area.
- I have noticed a lot of plants with these spots on the Spaulding Meadow Trail, in the vicinity of Amalga Harbor, along the Outer Point Trail on Douglas Island and along the trails in the Eagle Beach area.
- I have collected several leaves for analysis.
- It looks like one of the leaf fungus which has been known to spread to the fruits.
- For more information about this fungus look at /sites/default/files/Exibasidium%20leaf%20and%20fruit%20spot%20disease.pdf
- Once I get an analysis of these leaves I will post the information.
- Black Oystercatcher eating Blue Mussels is a video I took on May 28, 2019 in the Tee Harbor area in Juneau, Alaska.
- It was feeding in the same location as these mussels have been tested for PSP. The results so far are:
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Date Collected Location Sample Site PSP Result (µg/100g)
5/3/2019 Juneau Tee Harbor Bay Blue Mussel 12
5/22/2019 Juneau Tee Harbor Bay Blue Mussel 73
6/5/2019 Juneau Tee Harbor Bay Blue Mussel 753
Note that the FDA threshold is at 80ug/100g tissue. This information was provided to me by John Harley Postdoctoral Researcher; Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center; University of Alaska Southeast
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I suspect on the day the oystercatcher was feeding on these mussels the PSP content was above the FDA threshold. This is also the time of year when some may be feeding their kids.
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It would be a good idea to monitor some of the Black Oystercatcher nests in the Juneau area. Especially when they are feeding their kids. And also sample mussels for PSP in the areas the oystercatchers are nesting.
- Crows dropping Mussels shows Northwestern Crows feeding on Blue Mussels in the Tee Harbor area.
- The mussels in the area where they are feeding has been tested for PSP.
- The results show:
- The results so far are:
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Date Collected Location Sample Site PSP Result (µg/100g)
5/3/2019 Juneau Tee Harbor Bay Blue Mussel 12
5/22/2019 Juneau Tee Harbor Bay Blue Mussel 73
6/5/2019 Juneau Tee Harbor Bay Blue Mussel 753
Note that the FDA threshold is at 80ug/100g tissue. This information was provided to me by John Harley Postdoctoral Researcher; Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center; University of Alaska Southeast
- Crab Spiders Nest and Young shows a nest where the young have just emerged and a couple of the youngsters.
- According to Predator Upon a Flower: Life History and Fitness in a Crab Spider by Douglass H Morse the female crab spiders typically make their nest in a leaf that they have folded over.
- In the first part of this video you can see a thimbleberry leaf folded over and next what the nest looked like.
- Nearby there were a couple of tiny crab spiders hunting. These spiders were only about 1 mm wide and probably had recently hatched.
- One of them hunting on a thimbleberry flower caught a black fly.
- Their emergence occurred at a perfect time as lots of tiny no-see-ums and black flies were emerging at the same time.
- Both of these insects really seek blood from us so ............................................
- Learning How to Hunt shows a newly hatched crab spider trying and eventually capturing a small fly.
- At hatching these spiders are a little less than 1 millimeter wide and they must learn themselves how to capture insects.
- This event happened on June 24, 2019 in Juneau, Alaska.
- At this time numerous tiny no-see-ums and black flies were emerging. A perfect size for the also tiny spider.
- American Three-toed Woodpeckers feeding their youngster shows both the male and female woodpeckers feeding the young.
- For more information about this event look at this article by Mary Willson in the Juneau Empire /sites/default/files/Three-toed%20Woodpeckers%20fly%20into%20town.pdf
- Spider Building its Web was filmed on June 27, 2019 in Juneau, Alaska.
- It was doing this about 10 p.m. under a light that was on all night.
- The next day I looked at the web and it had caught loads of tiny insects that appeared to be no-see-ums and biting black flies.
- The spider was tentatively identified by Joey Slovik as Tetragnatha versicolor a species of Long-jawed Orb Weavers.
- To learn more about these spiders look at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Tetragnatha_versicolornomic Tetragnatha versicolor eats pest insects,
- According to this article this spider has a positive importance to humans because it eats insects that bite us.
- For more information about them also look at http://www.americanarachnology.org/joa_free/joa_v28_n1/arac_28_01_0097.pdf.Aiken, M., F. Coyle. 2000. Habitat distribution, life history, and behavior of Tetragnatha spider species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Journal of Arachnology, 28: 97-106. Accessed February 24, 2014 at http://www.americanarachnology.org/joa_free/joa_v28_n1/arac_28_01_0097.pdf.Aiken, M., F. Coyle. 2000. Habitat distribution, life history, and behavior of Tetragnatha spider species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Journal of Arachnology, 28: 97-106. Accessed February 24, 2014 at http://www.americanarachnology.org/joa_free/joa_v28_n1/arac_28_01_0097.pdf. http://www.americanarachnology.org/joa_free/joa_v28_n1/arac_28_01_0097.pdfAiken, M., F. Coyle. 2000. Habitat distribution, life history, and behavior of Tetragnatha spider species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Journal of Arachnology, 28: 97-106. Accessed February 24, 2014 at http://www.americanarachnology.org/joa_free/joa_v28_n1/arac_28_01_0097.pdf.