Post by duncan74 on Sept 5, 2018 18:40:16 GMT
A good way to examine and photograph spiders is to use a "spy pot" if you get a couple of round plastic pots ( Cadburys trifle pots are strong) cut the bottom out of one but leave a slight lip, then get a piece of fine polystyrene about 5mm thick and cut it round to fit on the bottom of the pot and glue it in place, cut a piece of graph paper to fit (this is usually in 2mm squares and can give you size of spider or bug) then glue on top of the polystyrene, now take the other pot and cut all of the bottom out, use a piece of emery paper to sand any sharp edges then tear off a bit of cling film to fit over that pot, keep it stretched tight,
Now use this one to catch the spider in and push the pot with the polystyrene and graph paper into the one with the cling film and trap the spider, if the cling film is tight you can get a good photo of the back (dorsal side) of your subject without harming it, and measure it off its size on the graph paper. And if you shift the spider/bug around you can get a photo of the underneath (Ventral side) of the spider/bug, this can help with the ID, in some cases, the sternum and the (Epigyne) look at the palps to identify male or female, female palps are straight, males look like they have little boxing gloves on them, I made a little plastic platform which is the same size as the spy pot, on which I can stand my Brunel Field Microscope to look at the subject close up.
Duncan
2009_0108spypot0001 by Duncan Mclean, on Flickr
2009_0108spypot0008 by Duncan Mclean, on Flickr
Now use this one to catch the spider in and push the pot with the polystyrene and graph paper into the one with the cling film and trap the spider, if the cling film is tight you can get a good photo of the back (dorsal side) of your subject without harming it, and measure it off its size on the graph paper. And if you shift the spider/bug around you can get a photo of the underneath (Ventral side) of the spider/bug, this can help with the ID, in some cases, the sternum and the (Epigyne) look at the palps to identify male or female, female palps are straight, males look like they have little boxing gloves on them, I made a little plastic platform which is the same size as the spy pot, on which I can stand my Brunel Field Microscope to look at the subject close up.
Duncan
2009_0108spypot0001 by Duncan Mclean, on Flickr2009_0108spypot0008 by Duncan Mclean, on Flickr
