Daily Photo 2022: Nov. 01-15
They say that most of the unidentified life on Earth is in the oceans. Air-breathing insects and spiders, though, make up another avenue of mystery. This post imagines the life of such a creature.
2022 November 11
First things first! Before diving into imaginary insects, let's pause for a moment of Remembrance. This is a photo from the Cenotaph ceremony in Antigonish.
Olympus E-PL9, 12-200mm telephoto lens
f5.6, 1/1600 sec, ISO 500
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
Near the end of October, I went to Hal-Con. In addition to the conference and the costumes, the event also has a vendor floor. One crafty person was selling amalgamations of animals. I bought a tiny little mix of a spider and a dinosaur, with mechanical stick-ons to boot. I call the critter Aranaesaurus Rex.
2022 November 01
There's something to be said for quiet tenacity. The recent discovery of Aranaesaurus Rex speaks to this virtue. Unchanged since the Middle Cretaceous, the dinosaur-like spider is thought to have evolved its reptilian head not in mimicry, but in admiration of its giant contemporaries.
Olympus E-PL9, 60mm macro lens
f22, 1.3 secs, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 02
This oh-so-scientific article records observations of Aranaesaurus Rex over a two-week period. After the first specimen was isolated at Hal-Con, it was observed setting up a niche.
Olympus E-PL9, 60mm macro lens
f22, 2.5 secs, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 03
Unlike other arachnids, Aranaesaurus Rex appears to be vegetarian. Dried mango is its favourite food. It is unclear what its forebearers ate in the age of dinosaurs, or the intervening years before the widespread cultivation and drying of mangoes by Humans following the unlocking of artificial mango flowering by Ramon Barba in 1974. A minority of biologists point out that it is possible for sun-dried mangoes to develop naturally, and posit that they have always been the particular food of A. Rex, and that we may have discovered the insect now because of the recent spread of mango consumption.
Olympus E-PL9, 60mm macro lens
f22, 3.2 secs, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 04
"A man's house is his castle," the old saying goes. For this specimen, a castle is its house! Or, more specifically, a dice tower is. The behaviour of inhabiting structures made by other animals is well known among some spider species. There was some debate among scientific circles as to the placement of A. Rex among the arachnids, though. At first, only six legs were observed, suggesting that the animal was an insect. Though practically invisible, A. Rex actually has a tiny pair of forelimbs of dubious use - much like the much larger T. Rex.
Olympus E-PL9, 60mm macro lens
f22, 5 secs, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 05
Few animals have been observed reading. Fewer still have produced essays on the literary use of the circus in Robertson Davies' novel, World Of Wonders. A. Rex is not among such animals, but it did crawl over an open book. Aranaesaurus Rex is also certainly not the one typing this as an attempt to prove its intelligence and demand that more mangoes be sent.
Olympus E-PL9, 60mm macro lens
f22, 5 secs, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 06
Having gorged itself on manoges and knowledge, the A. Rex specimen escaped into Halifax and went exploring the Public Gardens. The metallic nature of Aranaesaurus Rex's carapace is unusual, likely a structural colouration that creates hue by way of microstructures which affect light.
Olympus E-PL9, 12-200mm telephoto lens
f20, 1/250 sec, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 07
Generally, spiders live on a liquid diet. Their digestive tracts cannot cope with solid food, which would interfere with their circulation system. Aranaesaurus Rex has overcome this limitation, no doubt for the express purpose of eating dried mango. While spiders do have fangs, the true teeth exhibited by A. Rex are utterly unique among spiderkind.
Olympus E-PL9, 12-200mm telephoto lens
f6.3, 1/60 secs, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 08
There is a variety of tarantula known to keep frogs as pets, one of the only examples of invertebrates exerting mastery over vertebrates. The A. Rex specimen, however, has been observed playing with the dice found near its dice tower. Will it, too, seek dominance over the local vertebrates?
Olympus E-PL9, 60mm macro lens
f2.8, 1/25 sec, ISO 6400, -0.3ev
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 09
Against all odds, the A. Rex specimen took an interest in this climbing pendant after listening to the song Climb Every Mountain. When the researcher suggested the song Itsy Bitsy Spider instead, the specimen just shot the researcher a very patronising look.
Olympus E-PL9, 60mm macro lens
f22, 5 secs, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 10
By attaining mastery over electricity, A. Rex may hope to dry mango for itself, and thus rid itself of the cajoling required to have Humans serve it all the time.
Olympus E-PL9, 60mm macro lens
f22, 13 secs, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 12
Typing is an interesting challenge when the keys are almost as big as you are! Still, it's not too difficult. The real trick was learning how to activate sticky keys so as to type capital letters and some punctuation marks. In a world designed by A. Rex, there would be a separate key for each character.
Olympus E-PL9, 12-200mm telephoto lens
f6.3, 1/13 sec, ISO 6400, -0.3ev
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 13 and 15
Aranaesaurus Rex is well-adapted to both biological and artificial environments. Being made of plastic, it has an affinity for scenery of a similar nature. This can prove useful if one is locked in a battle for control of the apartment with an A. Rex specimen. Eventually, it is possible to reach a balance wherein the critter can enjoy its favoured turf and plenty of mango, while the researcher is able to finish writing the article on such a beguiling and brilliant creature (Who, it must be noted, has had no editorial input on any of this).
Olympus E-PL9, 60mm macro lens
f6.3, 1/400 sec, ISO 6400
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
Olympus E-PL9, 60mm macro lens
f4, 1/160 sec, ISO 500
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 14
Even better for the Aranaesaurus Rex than a plastic flower or mandala of carefully-arranged lancet caps is a miniature city to explore. This architectural model makes A. Rex feel like the royalty it is.
Olympus E-PL9, 12-200mm telephoto lens
f5.1, 1/30 sec, ISO 6400
IrfanView: Crop, Colour
2022 November 24
I hope you enjoyed my game of posing my A. Rex over the first half of November! The back half of the month was unusually occupying for me. I was very busy at work, and spent a few weeks anxious about a few medical appointments which turned out to be not so worth the worry. On top of that, I had a camera error. Consequently, I took a few weeks off from my usual photography. I hope to be back for December. One bright spot during that time was a visit from my mother. I took her to the climbing gym, and she was adventurous enough to give it a go. Fun times!
