Cuteness overload

If the World feels too big at times, think about how vast it must be for this little fellow. This tiny tiny little zebra spider is the size of a lentil (that is the corner of a swab container box for reference). Yet it can jump at almost one meter per second, making it a very fast and ferocious hunter, After getting fed up with my photo session, it went on running and jumping around, preying, and ended up feeding on an even smaller spiderling hiding in a nearby wall. Dangerously cute!

Zebra spider, salticus scenicus

Bandon, Co. Cork, Ireland

September, 2020

My garden spider

Well, my closest neighbor, at least of which I am aware of…

Cross spider, garden spider - Araneus diadematus

Cork, Ireland
2017, September

You have arrived at your destination

So, I moved to Ireland, for professional reasons. I spent the night in a cheap hotel near Dublin's Airport. Found out that it wasn't really a single room. Or it was but had company with me. Found a friendly Irish spider doing its thing on the ceiling. Definitely, this "added bonus" was not listed in booking. This is my first photo in Ireland. Technically, not a good one (ISO way beyond camera's usable sensitivity) but I want to keep it as a reminder that, whatever you want it or not, Nature is always around us and we are part of it. Well, I love it!

Spider (unknown species)

Dublin, Ireland
2017, September

Wasp spider

Well, a different perspective of the wasp spider reveals that it’s all fluffy and colourful. Not that scary, isn’t it?
[PT] Em português, a Argiope bruennichi tem diversos nomes comuns: cesteira-dos-jardins, aranha-vespa, tecedeira-vespa, aranha-tigre, tecedeira-de-brünnich ou aranha-dos-jardins

Wasp spider; Aranha-vespa, aranha-tigre - Argiope bruennichi

Vieira do Minho, Portugal
2017, August

Stuff of nightmares

I’m, definitely, not an arachnophobic.

 Wasp spider; Aranha-vespa, aranha-tigre - Argiope bruennichi

Vieira do Minho, Portugal
2017, August

The guardian of my garden

I have built a couple of garden wooden boxes to grow some vegetables at home. Each time I water the garden, creatures run afar in seek of refuge and I’m able to witness far more life there than what I’ve actually planted. The most notorious one is this green huntsman spider that has become a local resident. In this moment, it took refuge in top of a full grown arugula leaf. I’ve nicknamed “the guardian”.

 Green huntsman spider; aranha-verde-de-huntsman - Micrommata virescens

Vieira do Minho, Portugal
2017, April

Lullaby

So… first, for the appropriate soundtrack for this moment, click here. Secondly, I have seemed to have disturbed a friendly wolf-spider in its most natural environment: my bed!

Para uma banda sonora apropriada a este momento, clicar aqui. E, aparentemente, importunei uma amigável aranha-lobo no seu ambiente mais natural: a minha cama!

Wolf-spider, Aranha-lobo-radiada (PT) – Hogna Radiata

Vieira do Minho, Portugal
2016, Outubro

Web framed autumn’s colors

First picture I took this fall. Not much of detail (and much more is lost in the small sized jpeg) but I really liked the autumns colors emerging from the landscape behind it in a rainy and foggy afternoon.

I’m still without a macro lens, thus I’m being forced to explore other approaches to smaller animals. In this case, I went for composing a nicely wet web as a frame for the landscape.

Primeira foto deste Outuno. Sem muito detalhe (e muito mais é perdido no jpeg de baixa resolução) mas eu gostei das cores da estação a emergir da paisagem, num dia de chuva e nevoeiro.

 Non-identified spider/ Aranha não identificada (PT) – ?

Sintra, Portugal

2012, October

Web designer

A young spider hangs in the center of a perfectly shaped web, in some rocks right above the tank where the newt was. After loosing my macro lens, it's also the closest I can get with a 50mm prime and a 25mm extender.

Non-identified spider/ Aranha não identificada (PT) – ?

Sintra, Portugal

2012, June

Eyes on you

Close to Castelo dos Mouros, I was looking at some colorful bushes, searching for interesting stuff to point the camera at. I was also being watched very silently. This very tiny little spider kept very immobile, maybe trusting its natural camouflage, while I got closer and closer to my minimum focusing distance. Me and Tiago Pereira got some different perspectives of the arachnid.

 Crab spider, Aranha-caranguejeira (PT) – Misumena Vatea

I'm not too into extreme crops, but it's just for the record of the interesting viewing equipment of the thing.

Detail of crab spider, Aranha-caranguejeira (PT) – Misumena Vatea

Sintra, Portugal

2011, August

Patiently waiting...

From the previous location and even from the same day, here are two mesmerizing spiders. Well… identifying spiders is playing with uncertainty. Specially, when my reference database (naturdata) has more than 150 species, most of them without photos or description. I’m really trying not to be a wild guess.

 Funnel maker spyder, Tecedeira-de-funil-de-cabeça-estreita (PT) – Lycosoides coarcata

Same tactic: just waiting. In this case, in totally open groud, waiting for some bug to pass by. I didn't know this but she has some nasty poison. Well, nasty for things smaller than her.

 

Wolf-spider, Aranha-lobo-radiada (PT) – Hogna Radiata

North shoreline of River Homem

Terras de Bouro, Portugal

2011, June