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RE: Nature Identification Thread #23- Now Paying out Steem Basic Income Memberships to Participants!

in #nature6 years ago (edited)

I took this picture on Thursday, in Alaska, overcast kind of day, It was a pretty good sized spider/not-spider

Wiki says all spiders have 8 legs, this one only six legs but they also said the front two could be adapted like mandibles. The legs on the right are longer than the ones on the left, I don't know if it is because of injury or not. From the tip of middle right leg to tip of middle left leg I would estimate 2 1/2 to 3 inches. In my post I jokingly said maybe it is a mamma longlegs since female spiders tend to be bigger than their male counter parts. Am I pretty close to being right or just a common garden spider missing a couple of legs?

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It is Phalangium opilio (male) , on the picture on the closer look 2 front legs are folded i guess so 8 legs altogether.

Cool, thank you for that information, I have only recently taken a fascination with bugs and small things because of my camera, they make good subjects to take pictures of.

Phalangium opilio
Phalangium opilio is "the most widespread species of harvestman in the world", occurring natively in Europe, and much of Asia. The species has been introduced to North America, North Africa and New Zealand. It is found in a wide range of habitats, including meadows, bogs, forests, and various types of anthropogenic habitats, such as gardens, fields, hedgerows, lawns, quarries, green places in built-up areas, walls and bridges.