In love: the moth of my dreams plus spiky spidey

  
First the spider, found this walking around a big rock looking for petroglyphs (not successful re: that goal, but this spider was a major coup).

Wow. Broader than my thumb, that spidey. Beautiful markings, and fits right in with the desert decor motif: spikes, spikes, and more spikes.

Looks like a moth is neatly wrapped up, but I'm not sure. Do not envy that creature. Yikes.

Anyone know what kind of spider this is?


And now, the mothy love of my life.

Seriously, mouth agape, SHOCKED at this stunner as I hopped over the railing at Keys View in Joshua Tree NP to take pictures of this scarlet blur I saw buzzing, bumping and otherwise moving in what seemed to be a struggle along the ground. At first I couldn't tell if it was maybe 2 bugs: 1 flier, trying to tame and lift off with a non-flier. What WAS clear was that SOMEbody was the MOST amazing red. Yow.

So, here is the stunner (and you can click on these to look closer, as ever):

The blurry red is mostly what I saw--it was moving pretty fast, if randomly.

 

LOOK at the striped belly and that dashing face! Rowr!

(swoon)

Could this creature BE more spectacular?!?

woah.

I feel SO LUCKY that I got to see this

Seriously.

What ARE the odds? I was at Keyes View probably 5 minutes that day.

Man.

Maybe it's good chicken/cat karma?

Or maybe, I'm just VERY lucky. =)

Okay: so now I think I've figured out it's Hemileuca electra. This is the species a friend of mine was working on which caused us to meet (I was research/permit person, among other duties, at my park at the time).

[Update: just got a confirmation from him, and he thinks it's a male Hemileuca electra clio. See, ya get species AND subspecies when dealing with an expert. Nice. Thanks, Dan!]

Here's a video of Hemileuca electra emerging and expanding their wings, mating, and laying eggs.

How cool (at least visually, if not socially) would it dress up to be one of these moths for Halloween?

=)

Nature continues to knock my socks off.

xoxo biobabbler (sockless)

gorgeous, elegant white moth + spider question...

    
Two posts today 'cause of impending field work, so biobabbler may be electronically quiet for a few days (i.e. babbling live to other biologists while cruising for wildlife sign).

So, extra babble dose:
    
1. Beautiful stranger.

Profile of beauty. 

Wing-top view (this is where it becomes clear the moth is not well).

 Took this shot so we could see the antenna clearly, but I like this portrait best. 

Poor creature. Barely wiggling it's feet. But SO BEAUTIFUL. I moved it into some more natural habitat, away from the peril-from-passing-peds zone. Found it during a quick errand on the way to Yosemite Valley, Sunday morning.

E-mailed a moth friend and he said if there is red on the forelegs then it's the vestal tiger moth (Spilosoma vestalis). Genus for sure is Spilosoma. I see some red, but this poor pup is pretty beat up, so it's hard to say.

Now I know to take a front shot with forelegs in clear view next time I find a moth (especially fuzzy gorgeous white moth).

Thanks D!

2. In which family does my lovely spider belong?

This shot looks exactly like my spider, and it's in the Thomisidae family, crab spiders.

But, so does this one, which is listed as being in Philodromidae, running crab spiders.

The first is UC Berkeley's CalPhotos, the second is University of Michigan's site. I love the UM site but they explicitly disclaim super-accuracy, being run by and for students, so I'd kinda lay my $ on UCB's classification if these are all the same creature.

Plus, the running crab spider pics on BugGuide.net don't look much like mine. So, my guess is Thomisidae.

The back legs are small and slender, and the Thomisidae is supposed to have smaller back legs than Philodromidae, but I have no perspective from which to render a comparison.

Any spider-y experts out there (or any sort of entomologically savvy person)? Please render your opinion.

=) biobabbler

look at this...

amazing creature...


Who knew moths could be so outrageously stylish and stunning! This one's in Turkey.

biobabbler