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Vacuming for Gold - _TNY_1846

I vacuumed the house a couple of days ago and as I did the home office, I noticed something running over the floor.

 

After turning the vacuum off, I discovered that it was a small ground spider known as Callilepis nocturna which had found its way inside.

 

Using a shot glass and a paper I caught this one - which was't overly easy as they are quite fast runners. Then I got my camera and snapped a couple of shots of it on the carpet in the hallway before letting it outside.

 

After finishing the office, I turned my attention to the hallway - and promptly discovered Callilepis nocturna numer two!

 

This is the second one and photographed at 2.4:1 magnification after releasing it outside.

 

This one lacks a common English name, but in Swedish, this is a "guldspindel", meaning "gold spider". In Germany and the Netherlands, they instead focus on it being a predator of black garden ants and calling it "Ameisendieb" and "mierendief" respectively - both translating into "ant thief".

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Uploaded on June 24, 2025
Taken on June 18, 2025