Spider identification is difficult at a glance, and even from photographs. Many of the key features for identifying spiders (and other arthropods) to species lie in their genitalia. In spiders, these are rather inconveniently placed underneath the body, so if one is to have a chance at getting an ID from photos, one must be able to photograph the underside in some detail.

Enter the Spi-Pot. This device is simply a tube attached over a clear viewing window, with a padded plunger used to immobilize the spider with the ventral side gently pressed to the viewing window.

I made such a device simply by taping a pill bottle (with the bottom cut off) onto a microscope slide, and used a cotton ball rolled in a tube of paper as a plunger. This was sufficient to get a decent view of the spider’s epigynum, and with careful placement of a diffused light I was able to get some pictures.  I have submitted these the bugguide.net, and have already received an ID from Kyron Basu, who identified this as a spider in the family Amaurobiidae, genus Callobius. I am hoping that with the epigynum shots I have made, the ID of this spider can be nailed to species.  Buggide is awesome.

Using a microscope slide allows the Spi-Pot to hang from a glass, exposing the ventral side of the spider.

OK, the seam holding the tube to the glass could be a bit better…

The money shot (I hope).

By the way, if you are awaiting the posting of the Weekend Expedition, I have one in the works, and am probably out photographing it as you read this. The actual shooting I got in this weekend was marginal due to the hot dry weather, and I was unable to get out at a decent hour for photography. I am remedying this with a Tuesday morning expedition to the cliffs at the base of Dallas Road in Victoria, where I hope to surprise some insects before they get super active. Wish me luck!

References

Zschokke, S., & Herberstein, M. E. (2005). Laboratory methods for maintaining and studying web-building spiders. Journal of Arachnology, 33(2), 205-213.

Wow! It has already been 6 months since I have been blogging here at Ibycter! I started this blog on January 17th with three posts, and have kept up a pace of roughly three posts per week since that time, with two regular features, the Weekend Expedition and Cheapskate Tuesday. Midweek, I usually post some find I make during the week, or perhaps a more in-depth article on some aspect of Red-throated Caracara biology or tropical fieldwork. I have plans to expand these in-depth articles, as well as the midweek finds, especially as we are in the full swing of insect season here in Vancouver.

Here at Ibycter, I have the amazing ability to see exactly what works well, by seeing the view counts for each post. Here is a rundown of the top 5 posts by view count, followed by three posts I thought did not get enough attention.

Posts You Liked

5. Cheapskate Tuesday 10: the Monster Macro Rig A full how-to about my regular light setup for use with a 100 mm macro lens.

4. Schrödinger’s Grant: This lighthearted piece was Catherine’s name for the limbo that is waiting on results of a grant proposal.

3. How not to make money off a viral story: A simple and old story of copyright infringement of images of a large mosquito.

2. Found: Red-legged Frog on Burnaby Mountain : Sometimes, when writing under the fluorescent lights in the lab gets to be too much, I head out to the woods of Burnaby Mountain to see what I can see. This time I found a less-than common frog.

1. What to expect when your Cellar Spider is Expecting: sometimes the best wildlife stories are close to home!

Posts I liked

3: The Red-throated Caracara: Introducing my favourite loud bird: the overview you were waiting for.

2. Snakes!! A bit about snakes in the rainforest.

1. Ever meet a treetrunk spider? How a beautiful spider got from the forests of French Guiana to our basement suite wall.

So there you have it, Ibycter‘s 6 month blogiversary, and my first roundup post. Please let me know what you liked and didn’t like about these last 6 months, and what you would like to see for the future.