So exciting to open my kitchen door on 1/27/18 and see my exit blocked by a dangling spider! It is climbing up its web to a Chinese fir. Seems like a warm January though it is actually average. I assume many of you are happily enjoying this most bug-free time of year. For that reason I haven’t shown you the beetles I saw on 1/1/18, snuggled up under dead tree bark, in diapause. But I plan to share them eventually…
I wasn’t expecting paparazzi when I slipped out to enjoy a pleasant winter thaw. I thought my camouflage was more than sufficient. Feel free to call me Wolfy!
January 21, 2018 provided a pleasant and unexpected winter thaw!
Apologies! Live and learn! I went back to check the frozen “spider webs” after they had melted. Much to my amazement the under-structure of the “chandeliers” was goose down, not spider webs!
Who would have dreamed? Magic is created in the most unexpected ways!
I never dreamed of anything as lovely as a dogwood hung with frozen spiderweb chandeliers melting in this morning’s advection fog!
Halloween may be over but daring jumping spiders are still out there! Meet phidippus audax! (Try saying his name! It’s fun!) Does he look like a little tarantula to you?
Note identifying yellow dot on top of abdomen/back.
Per Wikipedia: Phidippus audax is a common jumping spider of North America. It is commonly referred to as the daring jumping spider, or bold jumping spider. The average size of adults ranges from roughly 13–20 millimetres (0.51–0.79 in) in length. They are typically black with a pattern of spots and stripes on their abdomen and legs.
This caterpillar was spinning in the wind, hanging from its own silk thread. It was climbing back up to who knows where.
Most silk used for clothing comes from silkworms or moth caterpillars, whose larvae produce silk to form cocoons.
After decades of trying, scientists may have finally found a way to make body armor out of spider silk. Aside from being very cool, this would mean ultra-lightweight, super-strong, flexible body armor that would provide highly improved protection for America’s soldiers and law enforcement officers.
And in case you’ve forgotten, caterpillars are insects! Like all insects, caterpillars have six legs emerging from their thorax. The problem is they also have stumpy prolegs that emerge from their abdomen. Technically these are not true legs, even though they have the same function.
Crab spiders (I think this is one) can change their color based on background.
carriestaples 