The Art of Spiders and Flies

[theresa dockery]

Originally Posted by Andestine

But not knowing any spiders outside of GB, are there really some that are quite that bizarre in the world, or was the artist exaggerating things a bit? Mind you, the natural world never ceases to amaze me

No idea, but googling 'weird spider' yielded this:
Photo in the News: Bizarre Assassin Spiders Discovered in Madagascar

I wonder if Jorgen Lissner uses an MP-E 65??
Having seen some of the amazing macro shots on WAB, I'm really hoping that Nikon bring out a similar lens.
Though, I do need to learn how to use the equipment I've already got before I start thinking about buying any more.

[loripo]

No illustration but I liked this...
Spiders were called "ximu" (meaning "happy insects") in ancient China. Even in today's folk culture, spiders are believed to bring happiness in the morning and wealth in the evening. In addition, it is a custom to feature spiders as symbols for luck in auspicious paintings. This custom originated from a story in ancient times:

One morning, an official woke up and walked out of his bedroom. Suddenly, he saw a chestnut-sized spider hanging from a web on the door beam. The spider was right in front of his eyes. The official danced with joy and cried: "this is a happy insect!" Then, he couldn't help shouting "happy insects dropped from Heaven; happiness dropped from Heaven …" A few days later, good news came: the emperor issued an order of general amnesty and promised advancement to all officials. That's how the auspicious painting featuring a spider hanging from a web came from. The painting was entitled with the name none other than "Happiness Dropped from Heaven".

I shall now call them that

[Andestine]

Originally Posted by theresa dockery

You know, I never even noticed the inaccurate number of legs...shows how observant I am!

I'd like to think it was a deliberate artistic mistake, but I guess we shall never know.

One last piece of ancient Peruvian art:



(Aerial photograph of one of the 'Nazca lines' of Peru, dated to 400-650 AD. The geoglyph is around 45 metres in length).

Although this one has the right number of legs, it does look suspiciously ant-like.

Thanks for posting that smashing spider

I think that the closest we have to an ant-like spider in Britain is very locally distributed in the south and east of England, but I've never seen it: Myrmarachne formicaria (a big clue there ), the ant-mimicking jumping spider

Outside of Britain, the Solfugids would look antlike if they weren't so big

(Harter, J. (1979). "Animals : 1419 copyright-free illustrations of mammals, birds, fish, insects, etc. : a pictorial archive from nineteenth-century sources." Dover Publications, New York.)

Originally Posted by theresa dockery

No idea, but googling 'weird spider' yielded this:
Photo in the News: Bizarre Assassin Spiders Discovered in Madagascar

Spiders with elongated necks and giant jaws! What incredible creatures, and newly discovered too

I wonder if Jorgen Lissner uses an MP-E 65??
Having seen some of the amazing macro shots on WAB, I'm really hoping that Nikon bring out a similar lens.

There seems to be no EXIF data for Jorgen Lissner's images, and nothing recent on his equipment. In 2001 he was talking about this (but that's all I could find out in a quick search):

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography...hp?pageNum=111

I don't think that Nikon have yet bought out anything comparable to the MP-E 65. The only thing I could find was some reference to using bellows, which is hardly an equivalent

I never got into the Canon vs. Nikon debate and can't even remember why I went for Canon last March, but I've never regretted it for macro work.

But with that spider at 2mm, I'd think that the MP-E 65 would be unbeatable But as I was saying to Chrissy, there's a lot to be said for trying extension tubes and reversed lenses first.

Though, I do need to learn how to use the equipment I've already got before I start thinking about buying any more.

Exactly what I found myself saying to a photographer just a few short months ago! And then I just cracked and took out a loan (going against all my previous vows never to get into any kind of debt - see what photography does to one's morals! ).

But the truth is, as I've heard it, that the MP-E 65 is a pretty hard lens to use successfully, for all kinds of reasons, especially at higher magnifications. So I'm not really going to be expecting any kind of success for several months after buying it.

It would be such fun, though, if several of us here got one around the same time and were able to compare successes and frustrations at the same stage of learning

But going back to Haeckel, just leafing through the illustrations in Robert's book on the Spiders of Britain and Northern Europe I saw enough variation in the shapes of spider abdomens to convince me that the artist may not have been exaggerating too much (and some tropical spiders really are beautifully bizarre in shape compared to ours )

Episinus angulatus, Ero tuberculata, Oxyopes heterophthalmus, and several of the Thomisidae (not all found in Britain) have very interestingly-shaped abdomens, but most of these are rare in Britain, or locally distributed.

Ah, but these spiders are ever-fascinating creatures! But our poor flies are getting no attention at all, of late. I shall have to find ways of redressing the balance

Cheers,

Andestine

[Andestine]

Originally Posted by loripo

No illustration but I liked this...
Spiders were called "ximu" (meaning "happy insects") in ancient China. Even in today's folk culture, spiders are believed to bring happiness in the morning and wealth in the evening. In addition, it is a custom to feature spiders as symbols for luck in auspicious paintings. This custom originated from a story in ancient times:

One morning, an official woke up and walked out of his bedroom. Suddenly, he saw a chestnut-sized spider hanging from a web on the door beam. The spider was right in front of his eyes. The official danced with joy and cried: "this is a happy insect!" Then, he couldn't help shouting "happy insects dropped from Heaven; happiness dropped from Heaven …" A few days later, good news came: the emperor issued an order of general amnesty and promised advancement to all officials. That's how the auspicious painting featuring a spider hanging from a web came from. The painting was entitled with the name none other than "Happiness Dropped from Heaven".

I shall now call them that

Thanks so much for that lovely story, Lori. I've just got back from my first social event in eleven years and although it was very rewarding (all about trees), and I met a few truly wonderful individuals, I was longing to get home and back to my 'real world' of peaceful solitude with perfect company And your heart-warming story reminds me so much of why I find so much more contentment when living on this other plane of existence

Off to me bed now to recover from the ordeal of re-entering that other world I gladly left behind so many years ago.

Cheers,

Andestine

[theresa dockery]

That's a great piece of spider lore Loripo!
I don't think spiders have ever been portrayed as positively

Originally Posted by Loripo

It was identified as a member of the rare genus Ricinulei, which is only found in the most remote and inaccessible parts of the Amazon Jungle. These spiders are only 5-10 mm in length. One leg is noticeably longer - it is a protrusible tube, and at its tip is the spider's reproductive organ, normally only visible with the aid of a microscope.

Ah, so that's why it had one extra long leg...and there was I suspecting a degree of 'artistic licence' was involved - very interesting!


Here's a wee bit of modern glass art from Wesley Fleming:
(I won't upload photos, as it may breach copyright laws)

Spider (Argiope aurantia) - glass sculptor Wesley Fleming - artwork, 'Argiope aurantia'

Flies (Drosophila) - glass sculptor Wesley Fleming - artwork, 'Drosophila - 12 species'

On his website there are plenty of glass spiders, flies, beetles, mantids, damselflies, wasps....even a very realistic Extatosoma tiaratum!

Extatosoma tiaratum - glass sculptor Wesley Fleming - (none)

[theresa dockery]

I quite forgot that it was the art of spiders AND FLIES! How very disrespectful of me

Originally Posted by Andestine

I think that the closest we have to an ant-like spider in Britain is very locally distributed in the south and east of England, but I've never seen it: Myrmarachne formicaria (a big clue there ), the ant-mimicking jumping spider

They're truly incredible mimics - such a shame we don't get them in Scotland

Originally Posted by Andestine

The picture is in that classic old style that I dub 'Lion v Tiger' - two predators engaged in a dramatically fierce, yet (I presume) unlikely battle!

Still a fabulous piece of art though

[theresa dockery]

Here are some Japanese woodblock prints of 'tsuchigumo' (earth spiders), mythical beings which can take the form of giant spiders or humans (usually beautiful women, in order to entrap male prey!).

'Minamoto no Yorimitsu battles the tsuchigumo' by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861).


'Minamoto no Yorimitsu battles the tsuchigumo' by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861).


'Minamoto no Yorimitsu battles the tsuchigumo' by Toyokuni III (1853).


'Apparition of the Spider Princess' by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1887).


'Tsuchigumo' by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1845).