Nikoi Island’s Micro World Day 3
Nikoi Island [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 ]
Final day at Nikoi Island! We finally got our butts up the hill and venture across the island in the morning before checking out. The forest paths were lined with spider webs, which seemed like good spots for spider hunting!
Behind the scenes photos courtesy of James and my Galaxy S4. 🙂
Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila sp.)
I promised Andrew some shots of the Golden Orb Weaver . Yogi likes to put them on his face to entertain the kids. Maybe that’s why I hear occasional screams coming from the Kids Club?
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That’s me trying to get a nice shot of the Golden Orb Weavers
Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila sp.)
Didn’t manage to get much nice shots as the Golden Orb Weaver tends to make micro-movements, making it almost impossible to shoot long exposures.
Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila sp.)
The Golden Orb Weaver is harmless to humans
Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila sp.)
The male Golden Orb Weaver , over 20 times smaller than the females above.
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A hilarious shot of James taking pictures of the Golden Orb Weaver Spider, wrapping him with my flashes.
Some kind of sticky fruit
Lots of these unidentified sticky fruits on the sandy path
Some kind of sticky fruit
Looking up close could tell us why it was so sticky!
Tiger Beetle (Cicindelinae)
Found this Tiger Beetle again in front of the cabin
Tiger Beetle (Cicindelinae)
The wings seemed out of position, but it was definitely flying fast!!
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
Oh.. what’s this? A tiny blob of dung? Yep that’s part of my finger at the side
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
Turns out to be a male Orb Web Spider . These males tend to be really small!
Big-Jawed Spider (Tetragnathidae)
There were many Big-Jawed Spiders on the path up the hill
Big-Jawed Spider (Tetragnathidae)
Did I mention that there were many Big-Jawed Spiders ???
Big-Jawed Spider (Tetragnathidae)
The Big-Jawed Spiders came in many shapes, and this mother is actually busy guarding her soon-to-be-hatched young. If you stare hard enough, you can probably see the legs of the spiderlings in the egg sac.
Big-Jawed Spider (Tetragnathidae)
Another view of the mother Big-Jawed Spider
Big-Jawed Spider (Tetragnathidae)
Side view of the mother Big-Jawed Spider
Two-Tailed Spider (Hersiliidae)
James found this huge Two-Tailed Spider
Two-Tailed Spider (Hersiliidae)
Full view of the Two-Tailed Spider
Two-Tailed Spider (Hersiliidae)
A lovely specimen of the Two-Tailed Spider makes a good photo for a book that I’m working on.
Two-Tailed Spider (Hersiliidae)
Slightly angled view of the Two-Tailed Spider
Two-Tailed Spider (Hersiliidae)
The reason why it is called the Two-Tailed Spider: extraordinarily long spinnerets lined with spigots.
Big-Jawed Spiders (Tetragnathidae)
The reason for many Big-Jawed Spiders along the path.. mating pairs!
Big-Jawed Spiders (Tetragnathidae)
Big-Jawed Spiders , male on the left, female on the right. The male is trying to insert it’s palps into the female’s epigyne.
Big-Jawed Spiders (Tetragnathidae)
Big-Jawed Spiders mating. The male has successfully inserted the palp! (see the black thingy at the bottom of the female)
Big-Jawed Spiders (Tetragnathidae)
Closer view of the p̶o̶r̶n̶ educational posture
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
This Orb Web Spider was also very common, and also the culprit for the many lines of silk criss-crossing the jungle path.
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I had to wave a magic wand for every step that I took to remove the silk from getting stuck onto my face
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
We also found several variants of this Orb Web Spider
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
Really many variants!
Big-Jawed Spider (Tetragnathidae)
For records purposes, I took photos of most of the Big-Jawed Spiders that I saw
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View down a “valley” from the hill
Remnants of a wasp
Remnants of a wasp that I found on the ground
Remnant of a wasp
I knew it was a wasp… because I found the head more than 20 meters away! Wonder what it was attacked by…?
Daddy-Long-Legs Spider (Pholcidae)
Male Daddy-Long-Legs Spider with bright red and yellow abdomen
Daddy-Long-Legs Spider (Pholcidae)
Huge palps.. all ready to mate!
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James tried a fish-eye view of the forest and caught me staring at the canopy
Crab Spider (Thomisidae)
Cute little Crab Spider found on the foliage
Crab Spider (Thomisidae)
Somehow this Crab Spider reminded me of Micheangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles….
Cricket (Gryllidae)
I skipped many of these Crickets , but James told me that the under-developed wings looked quite pretty. True enough!
Jumping Spider (Salticidae)
A beautiful Jumping Spider
Jumping Spider (Salticidae)
Looking left…
Jumping Spider (Salticidae)
Looking right…
Jumping Spider (Salticidae)
Just not looking at me!
Jumping Spider (Salticidae)
Took some time for the Jumping Spider to look at me!
Daddy-Long-Legs Spider (Pholcidae)
More Daddy-Long-Legs Spiders!
Daddy-Long-Legs Spider (Pholcidae)
Beautiful patterns on the abdomen of the Daddy-Long-Legs Spider
Daddy-Long-Legs Spider (Pholcidae)
The palps of the Daddy-Long-Legs Spider were so huge that it was almost covering the face!
Tube Dwelling Spider (Segestriidae)
One of the more interesting finds of the morning, a Tube Dwelling Spider
Tube Dwelling Spider (Segestriidae)
View of the eyes of the Tube Dwelling Spider
Tube Dwelling Spider (Segestriidae)
Dorsal view for the record
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
Male Orb Web Spider
Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila sp.)
Close up on a Golden Orb Weaver with some tiny flies sucking on it’s carapace!
Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila sp.)
Wider view of the Golden Orb Weaver
Spiny Back Orb Weaver (Thelacantha sp.)
A cute Spiny Back Orb Weaver
Spiny Back Orb Weaver (Thelacantha sp.)
View of the black face of the Spiny Back Orb Weaver
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
An interesting looking Orb Web Spider . Look closely and you will see the pink streaks on the abdomen.
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
Gotta take more shots of the pink streaks
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
View of the face
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
This Orb Web Spider was more of… red!
Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)
An obvious male Orb Web Spider because of the enlarged palps
Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila sp.)
Side view of a Golden Orb Weaver
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Lunch time!
Paper Wasp (Polistes sagittarius)
We were having our lunch when an injured paper wasp was struggling beside us.
Paper Wasp (Polistes sagittarius)
The wings on the Paper Wasp seemed damaged
Paper Wasp (Polistes sagittarius)
The Paper Wasp tried many times to fly off to no avail, so we brought it safely to the side
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Went back to pack our luggage before checking out, and goofed around with the luggage transporter. It refused to move as it was on loose sand, making me look like an idiot.
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James saying good bye to our cabin.
Monitor Lizard
While checking out, this baby Monitor Lizard came visiting us
Monitor Lizard
Enjoying the sun
Monitor Lizard
Decided to stick it’s tongue at me
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Final shot of the bar at our check out!
It had been a tiring but interesting 3 days at Nikoi Island. We did not see an astonishing number of different species of bugs due to the short stay, but it would certainly be worth revisiting – especially the hill trail at night! The mangroves were also excellent locations for sunrise shooters, with many potential foreground subjects that even a non-landscape/sunrise shooter could get some decent shots of. Lastly, being a very private island, there were no city lights for miles and the entire island makes for a great place to shoot the stars and milky way!
The complete album for Day 3 can be viewed here.
Nikoi Island [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 ]
