Uploads from Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au, tagged opisthoncusmordax

Salticidae > Opisthoncus mordax male

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:12:25 -0800

Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au posted a photo:

Another shot but with a wider dof.

Salticidae > Opisthoncus mordax male

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:12:17 -0800

Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au posted a photo:

A super closeup of the male's palpal organ, hardly sclerotised, so possibly not fully mature, but still somewhat structured.

Salticidae > Opisthoncus mordax male

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:12:32 -0800

Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au posted a photo:

This is a slightly smaller male, but it might be sexually mature, body length about 8mm.

Salticidae > Opisthoncus mordax male

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:12:21 -0800

Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au posted a photo:

The fangs and cheliceral teeth from below.

Salticidae > Opisthoncus mordax male

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:12:44 -0800

Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au posted a photo:

Here's a challenge. Brodie has raised an interesting issue. If I can summarise: * We have not seen female O. mordax. * We have not seen male O. parcedentatus. * We have seen MANY instances of male O. mordax hanging around retreats which have O. parcedentatus inside. * There are many similar male/female examples where the male is as different to the female as the male O. mordax is to the female O. parcedentatus, eg Helpis minatabunda. All this gets us mighty suspicious that there may be some connection, but our evidence is only circumstantial at the moment.

There is no doubt that this photo is of the male that Koch named O. mordax around 1872. He would have gathered a whole heap of specimens and worked through them back in Germany. But he only had the male. And the female has never been found. This could mean that another species altogether, such as O. parcedentatus for which we rarely if ever see the male, might be married up, so to speak, with this male. Koch's drawing show the large cheliceral teeth we know so well. The mature male palpal organs are unusually small.

Salticidae > Opisthoncus mordax male

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:12:36 -0800

Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au posted a photo:

A little obscured by alcohol, this is the male palpal organ, probably a sub-adult. This specimen about 8mm body length

Salticidae > Opisthoncus mordax male

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:12:29 -0800

Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au posted a photo:

This is here to show a super closeup of the male palp. This is pretty close to what Koch drew when he described the species.

Salticidae > Opisthoncus mordax male

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:12:40 -0800

Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au posted a photo:

Here is a front view of the male palpal organ. It is rather small. There is a weak white spine near the palp -- it is hardly likely that this male would need much defence against the predatory sexual habits of females, being a big, agile and heavily armed spider itself.

Salticidae > Opisthoncus mordax

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:36:43 -0800

Robert Whyte www.arachne.org.au posted a photo:

Showing mouthparts.