• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Jennifer Marohasy

Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

  • Home
  • About
  • Publications
  • Speaker
  • Blog
  • Temperatures
  • Coral Reefs
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

Unidentified (Spider)?

October 6, 2007 By jennifer

UnknownSpider.jpg

I was just out photographing cycad cones for a new entry, when I happened upon this bizarre creature. It would appear to have eight legs, with the forelegs raised completely over the animal, presumably in an expression of defense. The noodle-like embellishments on the ventral surface of these legs (at least) appear to add a degree of emphasis to the expression.

Tucked under the bulk of the animal, between the short leg in the foreground (pointing towards the bottom left corner of the image) and the bulbous mass aligned with the central vein of the leaf, is another appendage that looks suspiciously like a palp. This would imply that the head of the animal is most proximal to the top left corner of the image and that the rear legs have been hyper-extended up and over the animal’s back.

The total length of the animal, legs excluded, is less than 4 mm.

Any ideas?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Plants and Animals

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Neil Hewett says

    October 6, 2007 at 9:11 pm

    I have been duped! It is a spider-mimicking insect. I returned after dark to see it behave quite differently.

    The eye, which seems eminently obvious now, signifies the direction that the animal would head, up and along the central vein. I could only imagine six tiny little legs propelling the animal forward, whilst the eight splayed ‘pseudopods’ remained unmoving; giving the animal an ethereal ‘astro-travel’ impression.

    I suppose these structures are modified cerci http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercus

    Isn’t nature marvellous?

  2. Wocky says

    October 7, 2007 at 2:20 am

    Respectfully, that’s a terrible photo (well, it’s artistic, but no good for identification.) Secondly, I haven’t got a hope of identifying the animal if I don’t know where it was found – I don’t even know what country it was in.

  3. Neil Hewett says

    October 7, 2007 at 6:47 am

    Wocky,

    The animal was found on a new leaf of an unidentified under-story plant in the Cooper Creek lowlands of North Queensland’s Daintree rainforest; Australia.

    The animal is tiny and on that basis, the photograph was surprisingly clear, but I agree that it is not good for identification. For me, its greatest ambiguity is in its mimicry.

    Hope this helps.

  4. gavin says

    October 7, 2007 at 9:21 pm

    Bet its something Neil made up from his electronics box just to test the camera lights.

  5. Neil Hewett says

    October 8, 2007 at 5:24 pm

    The CSIRO Insect Identification and Advice Service http://www.csiro.au/services/IAS.html believes it is a nymph from the order Hemiptera likely from the family Fulgoroidea (plant hopper) and that little more can be determined based on an image alone.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgoromorpha

  6. Jennifer says

    October 8, 2007 at 8:18 pm

    That sounds about right… a plant hopper … interesting the white fussy protruding structures.
    Great photo!
    You will need an adult for definitive identification … maybe you could put a sleeve over the branch to restrict the movement of the nymphs and see what they morph into?

  7. Jennifer says

    October 8, 2007 at 8:20 pm

    Correction… they were on a cycad cone … could you snap it off … put it into a small cage/jar and see what they morph into?

  8. Neil Hewett says

    October 8, 2007 at 9:40 pm

    Unfortunately, it was gone the following morning. But now that I know they exist, I’ll remain prepared.

  9. Gary says

    October 10, 2007 at 11:56 am

    Awesome work. What a find!

Primary Sidebar

Latest

Complicating the IPCC Planck Feedback, Plank #4 of Climate Resilience Theory

June 1, 2025

The Moon’s Tidal Push

May 30, 2025

How Climate Works. In Discussion with Philip Mulholland about Carbon Isotopes

May 14, 2025

In future, I will be More at Substack

May 11, 2025

How Climate Works: Upwellings in the Eastern Pacific and Natural Ocean Warming

May 4, 2025

Recent Comments

  • Dr Phillip Chalmers on Complicating the IPCC Planck Feedback, Plank #4 of Climate Resilience Theory
  • Don Gaddes on The Moon’s Tidal Push
  • ironicman on The Moon’s Tidal Push
  • cohenite on The Moon’s Tidal Push
  • Don Gaddes on The Moon’s Tidal Push

Subscribe For News Updates

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

PayPal

October 2007
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Sep   Nov »

Archives

Footer

About Me

Jennifer Marohasy Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method. Read more

Subscribe For News Updates

Subscribe Me

PayPal

Contact Me

To get in touch with Jennifer call 0418873222 or international call +61418873222.

Email: J.Marohasy@climatelab.com.au

Connect With Me

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 · Genesis - Jen Marohasy Custom On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in