While walking in the back yard last week, I encountered a HUGE orbweb strung over a path. Well, right away I knew who'd made the web because of its enormous size – a giant lichen orbweaver (Araneus bicentenarius). I also knew that in order to meet the architect, I'd have to return after dark. That's when these spiders emerge from their high retreats – usually under a roof eave or in a tree branches – to build or repair their orbwebs. Sure enough, I went out a night or two later and got some good photos of her. Isn't she beautiful?
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| I marked both sides of her web in the path with flags. But I forgot to tell James. He thought I'd marked plants (which I sometimes do) and walked through the web. Bad me! |
Alas, last Saturday I forgot to put my popsicle-stick raft back into our AC drip bucket. So I found a fatality at the bottom of the bucket – a male giant lichen orbweaver. I felt awful. See how much smaller he is than her?
As an aside, I used my new Ulanzi light accessory on my phone to get the photos of the orbweaver after dark. It worked great! I can't wait to blacklight with it!
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