Spiders, Spiders, Spiders

 

It is Halloween ... a good time to share some spiders with you.  This is a collection of my spider art with comments about the spiders.  

Jumping spider

I must confess, I am just a little squeamish about spiders.  If one surprises me, I’m a ditz and may let out a little yelp.  That said, they are fascinating little creatures and I’m even up to inviting my favorites, the jumping spiders, to hop aboard me, for my closer inspection.  Jumpers are so cool – great big ‘head lights, i.e. four eyes facing forward and more tucked back farther.  Their eyes are so shiny, I sometimes see my reflection in them.  That dark spot in the center of the jumper's eyes is my head reflected in her eyes.  

 

The little sweeties stalk their prey.  No fancy orb for them, but rather a bungee cord.  When watching one hunting on huckleberry, he jumped from one leaf to another, but always had a safety line behind him.  Should he miss his next landing, he just dangles, eats his line as he shortens it, and soon is back in a safe place.  Should I disturb one on a telephone several feet off the ground, he may take a flying leap.  Close watching shows he has his bungee cord out and he’ll land somewhere farther down the pole.  

Crab Spider

Crab spiders are another spider who don’t need to bother with an orb.  They like to sit quietly and grab with their extra long front legs.  My favorite time for looking for crab spiders is when Shasta daisies are in full bloom.  The spiders often tie half the petals together, thus creating a shady place to quietly wait.  They’ll even nab bumble bees!  This one is looking at a small bupresid beetle.  

Wolf Spider

Little black wolf spiders are awfully common around here, but they come in bigger species too.  Many wolf spiders skitter around on the ground and pounce on their prey; others hide in burrows, ready to ambush their prey.  They have a behavior I find fascinating.  The female wraps her eggs in a tidy, silken bundle and carries it with her while her eggs ready for hatching – as seen in my sketch.  Once the babies hatch, she carries them on her back until they are old enough to fend for themselves! 

European Cross Spider

Orb weavers weave the traditional orb, usually a small orb for small spiders and bigger ones as they grow.  One summer I spend an inordinate amount of time watching an orb weaver, a European cross spider, on my deck.  She was so fascinating I wrote a series of four blogs about her life ... and mine (http://elvafieldnotes.blogspot.com/2014/02/henrietta-part-i.htmal).

The 'Halloween spider' at the beginning of this blog, is another orb weaver, a black and yellow Argiope.  They are the biggest spiders I find around here ... and noted for the zig zag webbing in the center line of their orb.  There is a variety of opinions as to why they add the zig zag; does it stabilize the web?  Does it keep birds from flying into the web?

Banded Argiope

This summer I finally found my first Banded Argiope – same genus as the black and yellow Argiope.  I’ve known for years they are in the area, but it took me forever to find one.  She also had the zig zag in her web.  I’m pretty sure this is a relatively young banded Argiope.  Many of the online photos are much plumper.  

Meterpeira

At first I didn’t realize these beautiful spiders are also orb weavers.  I spotted a messy cone with lots of little guy lines.  When I looked for the spider I found her tucked inside the little cone.  Only after I read about Metepeira did I realize she is also an orb weaver.  When I went back I looked carefully and found a delicate orb off to the side.  Just a couple of weeks ago I found another.  This time she was resting on the outside of her cone and it appeared the cone was closed off.  I suspect her egg sac is tucked safely inside.  For more about this little treasure go to this blog of mine: http://elvafieldnotes.blogspot.com/2020/05/space-aliens.html.

Harvestman

My last ‘spider’ isn’t a spider at all, but many of us assume they are.  Spiders are all arachnids and differ from harvestmen because their thorax is separated from their abdomen.  Spiders usually have 3 or 4 pairs of eyes.  If you look carefully at a harvestman, you’ll see their thorax and abdomen are fused into one unit and riding on top is one pair of eyes!  Sometimes we call harvestmen ‘daddy long legs’ because they are so leggy!  

Nature Comes to Me

 Note:  You don’t need to bust your eyes out trying to read my handwriting on the journal pages.  My text here is a slightly expanded and edited version.  

 

Oct. 7.... I was pretty bummed when I saw the air quality this morning.  We’ve had day after day of light smoke and promises of clean air coming.  So far, when we do get a day of decent (not too smoky air) there always are chores to do in the yard or an appointment.  Usually we are out and about at least three days a week.  We haven’t taken a wildlife photo since Aug 31!  

 

The air was supposed to be good by last Sunday .. Monday ... Tuesday ... now it’s Wednesday and the air quality is getting worse.  I felt a little like a boil ready to pop if I didn’t get out into nature.  

 

But then nature came to me!  We’ve had a family of crows in the neighborhood all spring and summer.  I see them out my front window many mornings.  I’ve nicknamed them the ‘Bad Boys’.  I like the crows, but named them that way because one of my neighbors wishes they would disappear. She has a legitimate beef.  Last year she watched them raid a bird’s nest.   

 

I enjoyed listening to them beg when they were nestlings and now we watch the raucous bunch swoop in and inspect one area after another.  Lately their focus has been on harvesting walnuts. Until this fall, I wasn’t aware of a small walnut tree in the next block.  I looked for it when the crows started dropping nuts on the asphalt and was surprised to find I can see the top of the tree from my couch!  

 

I decided to brave a little smoke and go outside to sketch the Bad Boys.  The crows were most cooperative.  I could see how easily they rip the green nuts off the tree, and how easily the green husk pops off then the nut is dropped.  Once the husk is off, the nut looks like the unshelled nut you and I buy in the grocery store; but now the crow needs to get that hard shell off.  Sometime the crow drops it onto the asphalt again; sometimes he flies to the top of a telephone pole and pounds away.  He may pound for 2-3 minutes before making any progress and another 5 minutes to harvest the yummy nutmeat inside.  

 

I watched one crow wait patiently for another to finish his nut and then the glean was little was left up there.  Another crow just flies in and steals without much of an argument.  He must be ‘top dog.’

While watching I had another treat in store. Our local grey squirrel was also making trips to the walnut tree, and racing back with one nut at a time. He is a fussy inspector, but eventually picks a spot to bury his nut.  Our neighbors across the street are in the process of extensive landscaping.  I think they are going to have a few walnut trees they didn’t plan on.  

 

I started my crow sketches outside, but finished up inside.  The squirrel was a constent motion machine so we took photos of him for me to sketch from.  After a mix of being outside and finishing sketches inside, I had a good taste of nature.  I felt ‘centered’ again.