|
Marbled Orbweaver
This gorgeous spider had built her web in a tree just about my eye-level. It was not a complete web, I think she was in the process of taking it down and eating the silk. She had a retreat web where she had curled over a leaf and spun silk around it: it was impossible to see her when she crawled into it.
Orb weavers (family Araneidae) make up a huge family with several hundred species in North America. They vary greatly in shape, size, and color. They have 8 eyes arranged in 2 horizontal rows of 4 eyes each. Their chelicerae (jaws) usually have a small bump, or boss, on the outside margin. Male orb weavers are commonly much smaller than the females; this is amply born out by these pictures. |
