100 More Species #49: Ruby-throated hummingbird

Ruby-throated hummingbird Archilochus colubris

Hummingbirds are only found in the New World, and in the northeast the only hummingbird that one is likely to encounter is the ruby-throat. A couple other species are infrequent visitors, but the ruby-throat spends the whole summer in our area, nesting and raising tiny chicks. The group is much more diverse in the west, and especially in the Neotropics.

Hummingbirds are truly unique among birds, with a wing-beat frequency of over 50 per second, allowing them to hover in place, fly backwards or straight up, and perform aerial acrobatics no other vertebrate can manage. They feed mainly on flower nectar, supplemented with small insects and spiders. Commercially available hummingbird feeders are available, but ours has attracted only ants. Our cheap butterfly bushes--nearly dead when Alexis rescued them from the close-out shelf--seem to be what drew this female to the yard. The species is named for the metallic red feathers on the male's throat.
( hummingbird nest )

3:00 snapshot #1046

Alexis on her favorite perch. I've caught up to being only a week behind on my snapshots. Alas, she's up in Vermont with her family today. I got to spend the day hanging out with my dad doing weird errands and taking photos of giant bunnies.

100 More Species #50 Goldenrod crab spider

Goldenrod crab spider Misumena vatia

Certain animals tend to be referred to by either a male or female pronoun, whether or not individual's sex is known. I noticed when I was a child that some people referred to all cats as "her" and all dogs as "him." I do this with spiders--unless I know the spider to be male, I refer to it as a female. This is because the female spider is usually much bigger and more interesting than the male. Above we see a tiny male goldenrod crab spider, barely larger than the 3mm flowers of the goldenrod blossom. The female is usually a full centimeter in size, with an additional centimeter of legspan.

My first encounter with one was at the same phlox where I first saw hummingbird moths. A bumblebee was oddly still on the white flowers; I examined it closely and found my face alarmingly close to spider with a body the shape and color of a sun-bleached skull, jaws clenched on the dying bee. It's legs were held crablike, forever poised to seize. The encounter impressed me, one of the few times I was viscerally frightened by a spider.

This species is notable for changing color from yellow to white depending on where it is hunting. The spider specializes on pollinators, calling into question the blanket label of beneficial attributed to spider-kind. Looked at another way, this spider drives the evolution of pollinators, selecting against the slow and unwary.