At some point in the middle of July, when it was too hot to hike on the weekends, I took a stroll through my backyard looking for bugs and flowers that would be good photographic fodder. I have a tiny backyard, with an interstate just beyond the fence, so any strolling does not take much time. Nonetheless, there are plenty of bugs if you look close enough. And even some flowers.
Here are some pictures of spiders that I took in my backyard in July. After spending about 30 minutes attempting to identify the spider in the first picture (and not succeeding), I gave up and am simply calling these three photos "striped spider with egg sack", "orange and black spider" and "close up on baby spiders".
1 comment:
Hi, Todd:
Wonderful photos! I was surfing around looking for specific spider egg sac photos when I stumbled upon yours. Plus, 'No Ceiling' is the name of one of my favorite songs! Anyways, I read that you'd had a hard time identifying these spiders? Well, for what it's worth, that's a beautiful adult female Basilica Orbweaver, or Mecynogea lemniscata. The one in the second photo looks like a male of the same species, especially if you found it with or near the female. As for the spiderlings, if you witnessed them emerge from the egg sac in the first photo, then they are also Basilica Orbweavers. Spiderlings are nearly impossible to ID unless one watches the egg sac they came from and also knows the species of the mother...otherwise you just have to wait until they are older and have molted a few times to tell. Hopefully this helps...I know how frustrating it can be to have a specimen and not know the ID! I am an amateur arachnologist...and also an editor on this site: BugGuide.net --It is an amazing non-profit identification tool for ALL naturalists. A must have for any nature lover! We also have an 'ID Request' section where you can simply submit your photo(s) and watch our talented entomologists, arachnologists, biologist, botanists, etc (both amateur and professional) give you an ID for your bug or spider (as long as its from North America north of Mexico). I'm sorry if this sounds like an advertisement...I guess it sort of is in a way. But trust me, once you start using this site, you'll wonder where it's been your whole life! And you don't even have to become a member to be able to look at our guide and browse through the enormous catalog of bugs. It's the largest online site (or even book) that matches species names up with photographs. It's hosted by the University of Iowa and is fully volunteer run. It's just SOOO awesome. Anyways, I'm just really passionate about the site, as are all of our users, and I thought I'd spread the word to you since you seem to like nature, too! And next time you'll know the name of all your insects or spiders! :) And please note that we don't recruit members or pressure people to join...so please don't take this that way. Just check it out: BugGuide.net Okee-dokie, Happy New Year, Todd!
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