Insect and Spider Identification: Very Small luminescing spider, 1 by Scismgenie

Scismgenie wrote:
I encountered a very small (about 2-3 mm) spider hanging from a long web inside my house.

I got out my macro gear and started taking photos. I did a few existing light shots,with 'fair ' results, and needed more light, so I broke out the flash unit.

To my surprise, after a few flash exposures, the spider began emitting a golden glow. The more flashes the stronger the glow. I did a little looking around and found that there has historically been only one credible report of glowing spiders in the past, with no pictures made, dating from Oz in 1926.
I live in California.

The photo is one of the existing light photos after the glowing began.

I would think that Glowing is a defensive mechanism, perhaps to make the spider appear larger and more unappealing?

Anyone ID this species?

This message was edited Apr 1, 2009 3:08 AM

This message was edited Apr 8, 2009 2:05 AM