Photo Adventures with Curiosity and Learning

References:
• Why a garden spider does not get stuck in its own web
• Florida Nature and, for insights into web building see:
• Garden Orb Web Spiders (Brisbane),
• Web Construction by Araneus diadematus ,
• Garden Orb Weaver: Univ of Southern Queensland

Meet Sasha, (a barn spider or garden orb-weaver Neoscona hentzi), who moved into our garden - I'm not sure where the name barn spider comes from unless they are seen with high frequency in barns. Here in Charleston, these spiders appear in gardens and protected areas. (Chick Gaddy recently (Jan 14, 2006) suggested that Sasha was likely to be Neoscona hentzi or N. crucifera not Araneus cavaticus because of her prolific hair. Sure enough, I checked some Google images of N. hentzi and I believe he is correct - thanks Chick!).

Sasha is interesing, of course. She has quite different web behavior when compared with Natasha, our golden silk spider from last year. Each morning since I found Sasha, a garden orb-weaver (july 3rd) I have noticed that the web is in place in the early morning, but by mid afternoon it is gone. The next morning, the web has been replaced with a new web. She has quite a literary heritage and was the subject in E.B. White's book, Charlotte's Web.

The web is called an orb web, like a wagon wheel with spokes radiating out from the center. She weaves these spoke first, then weaves the circumferential elements as a spiral, i.e. she weaves continuously around and around the center until she is either finished or is disturbed. (More recent observations (Sept 2003) its clear that she builds her web in the early evening, usually within 30 minutes of twilight. In the morning, the web of often, though not always, gone within 1 - 2 hours after sunrise. Here you can find photos from night as she builds her web and hunts. You can all see photos of how she hides herself during daylight, blending in almost perfectly with pine straw and palmetto tree bark. Here is a photo of Sasha (dorsal view) in the early morning, before she destroys her web and retreats to the bushes for a quiet day. Excuse the focus problem - the wind blows, the light is low and I have an unsteady hand (sigh).

The silk is not very strong and its easy for rain or a mild wind to destroy it. But Sasha is fearless, rebuilding the web in approximately the same position each evening. Here are some photos of Sasha and her web. She is about 1 cm long, appears to have either 8 legs with one missing or 7 legs and a sort or redish-orange color. She is a juvenile barn spider. Several months later she appeared in the front of our neighbor's home, but now was about 5 cm in length. Here is a ventral view of her.

Here is my silk spinneret, for making silk. See the thin silk thread that connects my spinneret to the top of the circle? (Click on this photo for a close inspection of my spinneret. Do you know why my silk is not as strong as the silk from my cousin, Nephila clavipes?

It seems that Sasha builds her net for the evening crop of flying food, then during the morning, destroys it. Hiding in the bushes, she sleeps until evening, when she starts the web rebuilding. Here is a twilight photo that shows the launching position.

C. Frank Starmer

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