Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Early one summer morning, as I strolled along the perimeter of a wooded section in a city park, I saw a number of tiny spider webs made visible by a heavy dew that had fallen overnight.
Intrigued by these adornments of the undergrowth, I walked over to take a closer look. To my surprise, the webs appeared to be deserted.
Seemingly, the builders had completed their beautiful constructions and then left—or so it appeared at first.
Eventually I learned that this elusive faunal lily , the Orchard Spider, was normally "at home," but not "receiving visitors," as it were—at least not those that didn't fly or crawl into its web.
My visit announced by the sensed vibrations from my footsteps was not welcomed, so the tiny trapper spider had dropped off the web and disappeared into the leaf litter.
But, over time, I learned by a little exercise of stealth and patience to capture these images of this shy spider.
(Fortunately, the other Orb-weavers in the Gallery are much more cooperative subjects. The most "cooperative," the Common Garden Spider, is seemingly oblivious to the lens. Another, the Cross Orbweaver Spider, is not quite so willing to be observed, but will return in a few minutes after being disturbed.)
As you can see this diminutive spider hangs down below the web to catch unwary visiting bugs—convenient, too, for disappearing when disturbed by footsteps!
Here it has captured a hapless insect that, having become ensnared in the sticky strands of the web, was quickly wrapped in a silken shroud to be kept for later consumption.
One other unusual
characteristic of this species is the difference in size between the males and
females, what entomologists term sexual dimorphism.
(Other examples of a distinct difference between the sizes of the sexes to be seen in the Gallery are the Crab Spider and, among the insects, the Praying Mantis.)
I suspect this is a male Leucauge venusta because of the size difference between it and the image below. (Pencil to the left for scale.)
For comparison, here is a similar view of a female Orchard Spider.
It is at least twice as large as the male, but, as you can see from the same pencil scale, this is still one tiny spider.
Another interesting characteristic is its varied coloration. It covers a wide spectrum, from almost translucent, to a metallic background with a silvery or golden sheen, highlighted with a random scattering of yellow, red, black and green spots and stripes.
All in all, for the cost of just a little stealth, we have images to consider of a most interesting resident of—I have since learned—many places in my own yard. So very likely there will be more views to come of the colorful and well-named Leucauge = spider family name; venusta = beautiful.
Any thoughts, pro or con? Why not drop me an anonymous note at the Comments page?
OR
Go back to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.