Today I’ve been busy writing up a manuscript on a very special spider that I worked on in Singapore, called Orsima ichneumon. It’s early days to report our findings yet, but in the meantime I couldn’t help but share a couple of these beautiful images that my husband (Caleb Nicholson) took during some sessions in the lab.
A very plump (gravid) female showing off her splendid colours
A typical male with a much slimmer and constricted abdomen, brighter colours, and very long forelegs
Males perform courtship displays to females, including showing off their brightly coloured abdomen by bending it upwards to face her
A mating pair – after a series of complex courtship maneuvers, the male spider (right) inserts his pedipalp into the female’s genital opening (epigynum) to transfer sperm
Two males, front legs outstretched, about to lock jaws in battle
Juveniles have translucent legs and a cute orange mask
The photographer being a great field assistant, watching spiders near Gombak Field Station in Malaysia
Even roadside collecting for these spiders in Malaysia is pretty special, here we could hear gibbons calling in the valley
Checking out the umbrella “beat sheet” for Orsima spiders on the roadside
Invertebrate Behavioural Ecology Lab 