This is the Sunburst Candy Spider from Thailand. Not AI (sucks to have to declare this). Very real and had been on my wish list for a long time.
The taxonomic placement is unclear, so we are leaving it at Cyrtarachninae.
Nicky Bay
Blind cave spiders~
This occurs due to the process of regressive evolution. In an environment without light, vision provides no advantage in finding prey or avoiding predators. The loss of their eyes means that energy and resources once used for eyes are instead allocated to other traits.
Please take some time to look through some of the discoveries photographed in 2025. It should interest some invertebrate enthusiasts. yes? yes?
bit.ly/nickybay2025
Been looking for a fresh specimen of Leucauge sarawakensis for a long time! Each time we found one, someone walked into its web. Hence, the ex situ shots.
Nicky Bay
Nicky Bay
Nicky Bay
Tarantula foot-pad. Who knew they could be so pretty?
A collection of pretty stag beetles that fight with their mandibles. I had one grasping my lens before. They are ridiculously strong!
bit.ly/lucanidae
I finally got to observe these tiny theridiosomatids that live at the edge of streams, thanks to Yuya Suzuki.
Then my 9-year-old showed me her comic book detailing Wendilgarda's hunting strategies to tell me what a noob I am. 😱😱😱
Nicky Bay
Nicky Bay
Nicky Bay
Meet bob the red velvet mite
Nicky Bay
Nicky Bay
Nicky Bay
After years of trudging through forests and peering into the hidden lives of tiny creatures, the number of lifers I get should rightfully decline but 2025 proved to be remarkably defiant. This year de...
Stag Beetles from the family Lucanidae are strikingly charismatic beetles, easily recognised by the males' oversized, antler-like jaws that resemble a stag's horns. These impressive mandibles are used...
