Day 106. Don't Look Away.

Vida's Sheep Jumping Spider: researchers believe that these tiny spiders developed their "woolly" appearance as a way to mimic lacewing larvae or scale insects

The scientific name for this species is Oviballus vidae, but it has also been referred to as the "sheepy jumping spider" or "Vida's jumping spider." It was discovered in 2015, and first described (in a formal context) back in 2020.

As this article (PDF) describes:

Recently, two new salticids, R. legitima and Oviballus vidae were described from South Africa, and suggested to be mimics of either scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) or lacewing larvae (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), due to their white colouration and the presence of peculiar tufts of white setae on the body.

The possibility of [scale insects] being the model is supported by Oviballus vidae being regularly collected from plants with woolly scales, although the movements of O. vidae quite closely resemble those of chrysopid larvae.

In fact, a fourth species of possible scale mimic, a new Rhene species, was recently discovered in a collection of salticids from southern Mozambique, indicating that this phenomenon may be more widespread than has previously been known or even suspected.

O. vidae was named after Vida van der Walt, the photographer who captured some of the first images of these spiders back in 2015, just after the species was discovered by Dr. Galina Azarkina. Vida van der Walt also took the photographs that appear in this post.

Sources & More Info:

Arthropoda Selecta (scientific journal): Rediscovery and Redescription of Rhene cooperi, another possible mimic of scale insects (PDF)

Spider Club of South Africa: Two New Species Named After SA Photographer (PDF, with the relevant info on page 5)

Field Guide to the Spiders of South Africa: Section on Vida's Sheep Jumping Spider

"kill them with kindness" wrong. bat attack

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What a terrible world we live in where you can google wild plants or bugs because you're interested in them and the first results are all "how do I kill this"

Shes the crème de la crème not just another jane doe~

gofundme.com

Donate to Help Harper aka Synth Escape a terrible situation., organized by Synth Charm

Hey there. I'm Synth, or Harper, I'm an Oregon based Voice Actor who… Synth Charm needs your support for Help Harper aka Synth Escape a t

I and my family are facing a crisis I never saw coming. My father has turned his back on us, and I'm terrified of what's next. I still need to escape this situation. Please, if you can, share or donate. Every bit helps even just a dollar, if enough people see, it adds up. I hope you can forgive me the near spam posting... but this stuff usually only succeeds if you're persistant about it, and whilte I look for every possible way to do it on my own, I really have to reach out to the community. Thanks to you all we got 6 percent of the goal

In 2 days, that's wild... from the bottom of my heart this means so much. but I really hope we can get out of this awful position we were so suddenly put in. 10k and 20k are gonna be a big help if we hopefully reach that far, but I know 30k will make it so we can actually leave this awful situation safe and sound without massive sacrifices. we've got pets we care for deeply, they're family, and he doesn't even consider that... this man has never cared for us though he claims otherwise, and now threatens us with pulling the one supportive thing he agreed to supply from under us at a pivitol moment in all our lives. I'm sad, angery, depressed, and oh so very tired... I'm sorry for the ramble, but I have been unable to sleep the past few nights because of the anxiety this has caused within me. I want to thank you all again for sharing, for donating, even just the well wishes helps a lot. you have all been wonderful, and I can't thank you enough. This has eased at least some of the immediate fear, but we're still a long way off from safety.

Now finished below!

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Springtime is coming on April 11... See you soon, neighbor!

Anyway if you see this you have to reblog and tag with a delight from ur day -- even the littlest thing counts

if i was a cat i would stretch out my little cat paws, meow, and then lay down in a sunbeam