More new arachnoid members
Cyrtophoras: The tent-weaving Spiders
My garden is becoming a spider haven. I've found atleast two new spider varieties. One is the Cyrtophora. These spiders don't build sticky webs but instead build a tent structure and several 'obstacles' above it such that prey would loose balance while flying, fall onto the tent and before the prey can recover and try to fly back, the spider would quickly go poison the prey. Obviously, this seems a lot inefficient and complex but this spider optimizes its effort by keeping the tent for several days together. The tent building itself takes several hours. I'm seeing a colony grow up here and each overall tent-structure is connected to the next spider's tent! over here you can see the 'tent' (at the bottom) and the many 'obstacles' above it. The spider sits on the inner side of the top of the tent. It almost looks like a piece of wood. It is said that Cyrtophora variety is closely related to the more 'efficient' orb-weaving spiders. What is 'efficiency' when they are still here and surviving? :) Nick's Spiders has a nice explanation of how these spiders live.
The Silk Gland
This is the same spider that I've talked about earlier. In the image, you can see two things: a. the spider holding a pretty stomach-filling prey and b. the silk gland at its rear end and silk emerging from it. The silk acts like a safety link to secure themselves. ... oh, and she is pregnant again if you didn't notice! :) She has changed her 'hide out' place because its become sunny. I'm yet to find out where she has moved to. and I don't see her kids (from the previous litter) in the vicinity anymore.
Hello, What is your name?
Here is a new spider that I observed last sunday. I'm yet to identify the species but this seems to be from the Argiope family. Notice the zig-zag decorated pattern on the web and the bright stripes on the body, the long 'pairs' of legs (when this spider is sitting in its default position, it looks as though its got only 4 legs because its legs align themselves in pairs). Note that this guy weaves a sticky orb-web and is never seen building webs that are high above ground level. From what I've seen, they are about 1 feet above ground level.
My garden is becoming a spider haven. I've found atleast two new spider varieties. One is the Cyrtophora. These spiders don't build sticky webs but instead build a tent structure and several 'obstacles' above it such that prey would loose balance while flying, fall onto the tent and before the prey can recover and try to fly back, the spider would quickly go poison the prey. Obviously, this seems a lot inefficient and complex but this spider optimizes its effort by keeping the tent for several days together. The tent building itself takes several hours. I'm seeing a colony grow up here and each overall tent-structure is connected to the next spider's tent! over here you can see the 'tent' (at the bottom) and the many 'obstacles' above it. The spider sits on the inner side of the top of the tent. It almost looks like a piece of wood. It is said that Cyrtophora variety is closely related to the more 'efficient' orb-weaving spiders. What is 'efficiency' when they are still here and surviving? :) Nick's Spiders has a nice explanation of how these spiders live.
The Silk Gland
This is the same spider that I've talked about earlier. In the image, you can see two things: a. the spider holding a pretty stomach-filling prey and b. the silk gland at its rear end and silk emerging from it. The silk acts like a safety link to secure themselves. ... oh, and she is pregnant again if you didn't notice! :) She has changed her 'hide out' place because its become sunny. I'm yet to find out where she has moved to. and I don't see her kids (from the previous litter) in the vicinity anymore.
Hello, What is your name?
Here is a new spider that I observed last sunday. I'm yet to identify the species but this seems to be from the Argiope family. Notice the zig-zag decorated pattern on the web and the bright stripes on the body, the long 'pairs' of legs (when this spider is sitting in its default position, it looks as though its got only 4 legs because its legs align themselves in pairs). Note that this guy weaves a sticky orb-web and is never seen building webs that are high above ground level. From what I've seen, they are about 1 feet above ground level.