Housekeeping

I thought I'd take a series of pictures of this spider cleaning out it's web.

I underestimated its efficiency, however. I took this picture, one blurred picture, and the following.

The web was clean in no time at all, and the spider was ready to get back to sleeping and waiting for bugs.

Spider in the Park

It's fall and the spiders have gotten big enough to photograph again. They're also building bigger webs, often right in the path.

This neoscona crucifera (at least, that's my guess. I also have a question out, as per the usual!) was actually fairly sensible about working to the side of the path. It was the crazy photographer who slogged through the mud for a look.

Isn't he a handsome arachnid?

Belle

I mentioned earlier that I was wanting to get a good picture of Sister Sue or Big Spider so you could see just how lovely and multi-shaded these beauties are.

Neither of them felt cooperative; in fact, Sister Sue has moved higher than ever, but Belle moved in a couple of days ago and she was kind enough to pose at eye level. Isn't she stunning?

Sister Sue Moves Again

At least, I think this is she.

This is probably the last picture I'll post of her unless she moves again. She's now between yards and best photographed from the neighbors' yard. The new neighbors' yard. We haven't met yet, and I am reluctant to march up to their door and ask permission to photograph spiders in their yard.

When I started this, I thought spiders stayed put! I know, this contradicted the mysterious multiplication of webs in the Fall, but it was one of the things I "knew" all the same. Nope. They move. Mind, I'm only almost sure this is Sue. I know she's not over the gate any more, and that the tree isn't, measured in web-lengths, an impossible distance away. It's the same size web, too, though slanted a bit more because of its location. So--for my purposes, this is Sue. Maybe one of these days I'll find out how arachnologists track their subjects.

Sister Sue Shows Off

Sister Sue's Finished Web

Sister Sue is a showoff. Like Big Spider, she's moved her web. Unlike Big Spider, she is more visible now than before, arching over the gate. Also unlike Big Spider, she starts her web early. Last night, she started around six, before it was at all dark. Someone broke one of the weblines of her old web, and that got her busy. I'm not sure she was wise; one of the times I went out to check on her, there was a bird perched nearby and looking very interested.

She also stayed well into the morning, I guess because it was a cloudy day. Again, this is unlike Big Spider who has spent the day tucked away.

I'm still trying to get a picture that will adequately reflect the range of browns and golds on the two. They are truly stunning. The flash, unfortunately, washes them out a bit, and even Sue isn't out in full sun.

Barn Spider Dorsal View

Barn Spider Ventral View

The Return of Big Spider!

Big Spider finishing her web.

It turns out Big Spider hadn't died or disappeared. She just moved across the way a bit to a tree, and I didn't know to look. She is only visible from a couple of angles now, and I'm sure the tree bounces a lot less than the clothesline. That shook every time someone slammed a car door nearby, and we're not exactly a car-free neighborhood.

She's still really skittish, though, and careful about the light. Her web is up much later than Sister Sue's, and, even on a non-shaky web, she disappears almost as soon as we're out in the morning.

Big Spider's hideaway.

Introducing: Sister Sue!

Introducing Sister Sue! I think she's the same type of spider as the (late?) Big Spider. The bugguide.net people still think that's probably Neoscona crucifera, a nice, harmless, helpful spider. I'm seeing a bunch of medium-sized spiders with the same markings, so there will be more to watch.

Special Guest Star: Stretch

I was taking pictures of tunnel spiders and looked up to see, right next to me,  a slender brown spider patiently sending out line after line to see if one would catch.

It's funny. The spiders are very nervous about any vibration. Big Spider bolts the moment we open the door in the morning, and the tunnel spiders dive back into their tunnels as soon as they can. They don't seem to mind the lights, though, or the camera. Stretch here posed beautifully through all the camera and light use.

I assumed that he was trying to get an anchor line in place so he could spin a web; Big Spider has been known to spend an hour or so at it, and he was there for some time, but when I went out two hours later, he had successfully gotten a line across the sidewalk, but showed no signs of beginning a web. This morning, I found a new web in approximately the right spot, but the spider hiding there was one of Cousin Sal's relatives, not him.

The folks at bugguide.net say he's a male Neoscona crucifera, so it's a pity that there's a whole house between him and Big Spider.