Spider Web Drama

2013 08 1 spider and a meal.jpg

Earlier this week, I noticed a garden orb-weaver spider web under the eve of our covered deck. I could see it from above through the window from where usually I sit to create my blog posts. It was dusk and the spider was just completing a meal - the morsel tightly wrapped up in silk. I managed to get downstairs and outside to take a picture before the spider retreated to the cutter support above the web. By the next morning the bundle was gone and the web was repaired.

Earlier this week, I noticed a garden orb-weaver spider web under the eve of our covered deck. I could see it from above through the window from where usually I sit to create my blog posts. It was dusk and the spider was just completing a meal - the morsel tightly wrapped up in silk. I managed to get downstairs and outside to take a picture before the spider retreated to the cutter support above the web. By the next morning the bundle was gone and the web was repaired.

A few days later - again at dusk - I noticed a larger insect struggling in the web. It appeared that it had already been bound in silk but was still very much alive. I saw the spider come down from to the moving bundle. By the time I got outside, the struggling insect had torn away some of the silk and had grabbed the spider. I watched the struggle wondering whether the insect or spider would survive. It didn’t take long before the answer was known: a small bundle that was the remains of the spider fell away.

The aptly named assassin bug was the survivor.

Brookside Spider Web

As I was walking around the Brookside Gardens conservatory (the one that is not in use for the butterfly house this time of year), I glimpsed a spider web over the narrow rock lined stream that winds through the tropical foliage. I decided to see how well my new camera (Canon PowerShot SX280 HS) would capture it. The lighting was not optimal. I could only see the web from a particular vantage point and I could not see the spider itself very clearly at all because it was so small.

 

 

 

As you can see from the pictures I’ve included, the camera did an admirable job. Even the fuzziness of the spider’s legs is visible!