spiders
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Spider
A jumping spider amongst the leaflets of a hickory. I thought this big, bold specimen would just sing out its species identification, but no. You got me. Turns out there’s a good bit of variation within some spider species.
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Spiders
Literally ran into this one’s silk and started carrying her along. Zebra Jumping Spider, fairly common, which may be because they are relatively easy to identify. Six-spotted Orbweaver, although I could only get pictures from the underside. About eye-level in a tree. Common Spitting Spider. A neighbor. Pholcus genus spider with something else alive. Actually,…
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Spiders
These small wolf spiders have been in every layer of leaves I’ve looked at closely in Green-Wood for a couple of weeks now. Not grass, leaves, which give them so much cover. So many in the Dell Water I was afraid I’d step on them. They are runners and jumpers. A different species, and found…
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Spiders!
I don’t think they’re scary, but my goodness, this one sure was big. Common House? One of the long-jawed orbweavers? Couldn’t see this with the naked eye, but in the camera, wow! Basilica Orbweaver. Characteristically makes vertical hangings of its egg cases. There were a bunch of these Basilicas in these bushes. What a revelation!…
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Spiders
Of all the creepy-crawlies, spiders might be the hardest to photograph. They’re small and the slightest breeze moves their webs. Autofocus pretty much refuses to recognize them. Manual focus is tricky, too. This preposterous creature is in fact a Spined Micrathena. The spiny adomen may deter predators; the un-spider-like shape may do something similar. To…
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Sheet Music
A bridge and a stream. What more could Organ Pipe Mud-dauber Wasps (Trypoxylon politum) need than shelter from the rain and a source of their building material? Well, spiders, of course. These wasps paralyze spiders to feed their young inside these mud-nests. Here’s an interesting observation: Tufted Titmouse and Downy Woodpeckers breaking into these to…
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Spider Year
It’s the one year anniversary, more or less, of the spider who stayed out in the cold. This big Araneus diadematus orb-weaver had her web(s) outside one of our windows for three months last fall.We only saw her eating once in that time. All B&B spider adventures can be seen here. The current indoor spider…
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Spiders
An Argiope genus spider. There was some iNaturalist/bugguide.net debate about the specific identity of this beauty, seen this past weekend on the NY/CT border at the home of friends. There were a lot of spiders, and much else. In fact, the family is cataloging lifeforms around the property (1,200+ observations on iNaturalist; hundreds of species),…
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Spider Update
On Wednesday, Araneus diadematus ate brunch. Judging from the size and shape of the mummified-in-silk prey, I’d say it was a fly. The temperature was already near 50 that morning and would rise up to 60 in the afternoon. Diptera weather! There were also two gnats stuck to the web, but these were so small…
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The Spider Who Stayed Out in the Cold
This large Araneus diadematus orb-weaver has been living outside a Bronx living room window for nearly three months now. That included the last of summer, when a large window fan blew out towards her, making the web bounce like a trampoline. The web spans the breadth of the window. When she isn’t in its center,…
Backyard and Beyond 