I've posted a lot of photos of the bees and butterflies on the zinnias and sunflowers at the farm. They're so pretty. There are other insects, too...spiders!
This vertical line in the orb web is a "trashline" created by a trashline orb-weaver spider. These spiders build a vertical line of discarded prey remains, molt skins, and plant bits through the center of their web. The clustered, lumpy pieces along the string also frequently include the spider's own egg sacs. The line helps hide the spider from predators by breaking up its silhouette or making it look like a piece of drifting trash.
Well, hello! No itsy-bitsy spider here!
The other day, Alex, our resident bug-ologist, said, “Hey! Come over and look at this. Wanna see a wolf spider?”
“Ummmmm…sure. Why not?”
This guy was camping out in one of the tomato trays. Sure glad I wasn’t the one emptying that tray!
As creepy as they may look, wolf spiders are actually good to have around. They eat roaches, crickets, flies, ants, and plenty of other insects. Wolf spiders hunt on the ground rather than spinning webs and are wonderful OUTDOOR neighbors!
I leave spiders alone, and politely ask that they do the same for me.
ReplyDeleteSame here...mutual understandings.
DeleteAs long as they stay outdoors I'm okay with having them around.
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteSuch fascinating creatures!
ReplyDelete