Ok what happened here then ?

[LordV]

Found this this morning on a bottle top that I put some honey on to bait some ants yesterday. Both the crab spider and the ant were dead.
Brian V.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3173/2413947884_d586b6129e_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/2413947896_df62aa71fa_b.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2094/2413947960_36453ef63c_o.jpg

[qtaran111]

Kiss of death perhaps?


Either that or the bloody cold weather we've been having

[Action_Man]

Perhaps they got stuck in the honey, and during the cold of the night, they froze to death ? ...

[Zayets]

These are beautiful pictures Brian. I love the detail in them.

[Mike McCusker]

Murder suicide?

[Jay Lowery]

looks like the leg on the far left is stuck for sure. wierd though but good shots

[racketman]

Action Man probably close to the truth. Pretty small Crab, interesting shot.

[LordV]

Thanks for the comments and ideas.
We did not have a frost last night but I suspect the crab spider did get stuck in the honey after going after the ant. I think the ants carried on clearing the honey from around the body. Did wonder if the spider died from osmotic shock - the sugar would have tried to suck any water from the spider.

Brian V.

[bandit 1]

Hiya Brian,

Excellent series of shots & stereo, amazing capture all round! is that white stuff emulsified bees wax from the honey :confused: ???

Cheers for now
Mark

[Action_Man]

I think spiders breath through, whats known as, book lungs, which are underneath the spider, so maybe it asphyxiated ? .

Possible ? ...

[johnkermit1]

interesting story, and a really interesting find Brian. the shots are great. i love that crab spider.

[LordV]

Thanks again for the comments :)
Oddly 30 mins later the red ants had cleared the body of their comrade but left the spider alone.
Gordon- that sounds quite likely.

Brian V.

[johnkermit1]

that is interesting...."leave no ant behind" -sounds like they have some real morals..lol

[troypiggo]

I can't believe you guys are taking so long to figure this out!

The spider and the ant were best friends. Their names were Tom and Nick.
One day Tom said to Nick, "Let's go for a ride in my hot air balloon".
"But the balloon is only made from soap bubbles, and the basket is a brandy-snap" said Nick.
"I think we'll be OK. We're pretty light. My spider-friend Roger can fly using his own web" said Tom.
So up they went in Tom's balloon having a wonderful time soaring high above all the grass and bushes and trees. It was a good day.
As they approached LordV's house, the balloon suddenly lurched.
"Uh-oh" said Tom. "Look!"
The soap balloon was about to burst. Tom and Nick knew they were about to crash land.
"Mate, you're the best friend ever" said Tom.
"I feel the same way about you, my good friend" said Nick.
They gave each other a big hug just as the soap bubble balloon went "POP" and they tumbled to ground hugging each other in the brandy-snap basket.
"KABOOM!" the basket shattered on impact and the brandy-snap turned to white sugar. Tom and Nick died on impact.
As their spirits slowly floated upwards, Tom's spirit turned to Nick's and said "Look! The only reason we crash-landed was because someone placed that hard blue bottle-cap in the middle of nice soft grass! If some bastard hadn't put that there, we would have landed safely and we'd still be alive today."
The end.

:D

[sw2001]

Really strange. So you used the situation for some stacking? ;)
The photos are great.

[johnkermit1]

wow Troy, what a vivid imagination you have there..lol

[troypiggo]

Ha! :D Couldn't sleep this morning so thought I'd write :)

[LordV]

Thanks for the wonderful explanation Troy- loved it :) - have to say in my defence the bottle top was on a brick :)
Thanks for the comments Werner :)- yes it is focus stacked , but I did do it in situ as there were other ants still on the cap.

Brian V.

[troypiggo]

Are you calling Tom a liar?! :)
Well, if it was on a brick, I guess it wouldn't have made much difference then.

[LordV]

Are you calling Tom a liar?! :)
Well, if it was on a brick, I guess it wouldn't have made much difference then.
:) :)
Brian V.

[alliec]

Great find and captures Brian, love the rich colours in these. A very strange situation indeed.

[newb2pro_1day_or_so]

Running of the bugs!!! and then they collided. Oh well. There are plenty more out there. I just hope that spider didn't have 200 kids to feed...those poor things, haha. Great shots Brian. I'm no good at shooting live bugs yet...maybe things will die around my house if I'm lucky.