Wife got a new toy for me my son from temu. Dunno how it's called, but it's like a pair of scissors but with a big capsule for a tip designed for catching bugs and shit.
Much like me, my son loves playing with them. Spiders, ants, worms...if it crawls he wants to play it with.. He loves squishing them to death too, but I am trying to teach him about death and stuff and how it's only justifiable when you plan to sustain yourself :)
Anyways, we made a new friend today that he grew particularly fond off
Don't ask me why, but when it comes to spiders and ladybugs he always was and is super careful to not damage them. I guess he likes em too much for whatever reason and doesn't enjoy harming them. The young mind works in mysterious ways 🙂
I am no spider expert but what we got is probably a green huntsman, scientifically described as as Micrommata virescens. A very common spider in Northern and Central Europe. That or a closely related species.
This one is probably a female specimen, as it fits the general female phenotype when it comes to color and size:
In the females of Micrommata virescens, the body length can reach 12–16 millimetres (0.47–0.63 in), while in the males it is about 7–10 millimetres (0.28–0.39 in).
The cephalothorax and the long legs of the females are bright green, with a lighter green abdomen showing a darker green median stripe. The eight eyes are arranged in two rows and surrounded by white hairs. Males are dark green-olive and have a narrower abdomen, with red sides and a red to red-brown median stripe bordered yellow. Young spiders have a yellow-brown cephalothorax, with dark marginal and median stripes. Only after the last molting in the following spring the juveniles assume the typical coloration of the adults. source
Female Green Huntsman source
The weather is only getting better from now on so we will be catching lots of bugs, expect more posts like this one soon :)
I think we will keep the spider for a few more hours before we return it to a bush or something.
Our little huntsman needs to hunt after all :)