Photo Adventures with Curiosity and Learning


July 6, 2008:Male and Female Nephila pilipes

This afternoon I returned to my Nephila pilipes web. The three males were still there as well as the dragonfly below. Took this shot but could not adequately focus - but here it is

jul 06 0152 dragonfly

This is the cephalothorax of the female Nephila pilipes. You can see the reflection of my flash in two of her eyes (in the black area at the front of her cephalothorax

jul 06 0162 female head eyes

and an invading Argyrodes - with glue drops on the circumferential silk fibers

jul 06 0175 argyrodes

Another view

jul 06 0182 argyrodes

The web - just yellow golden drops of glue on the circumferential fibers

jul 06 0186 web

Another example

jul 06 0187 nephila web

A male Nephila pilipes. Note the eyes

jul 06 0195 male dorsal nephila

Against the sky - you can see the tubes on his palps, used to inject sperm into the female

jul 06 0215 male palps ventral

Another view

jul 06 0219 male palps

Dorsal view - the eyes are clearly seen

jul 06 0226 male nephila

Another dorsal view

jul 06 0230 male web

Closeup - clear view of the eyes

jul 06 0232 nephila male close eyes

Another view

jul 06 0233 nephila male sky close

Her web with the male in the background

jul 06 0235 nephila web

Spanning the strands

jul 06 0243 nephila eyes close

A view against the cloudy sky

jul 06 0259 male nephila boxing sky

Argyrodes harvesting an insect

jul 06 0265 argyrodes stealing

And off she went

jul 06 0270 argyrodes cleaning

The male Nephila

jul 06 0283 male nephila eyes

A susprise - this little guy is a Hersiliid, sometimes known as the two tailed spider (note the two hairy tail-like extensions. These are apparently spinnerets) that makes no webs and usually runs around tree bark. How she managed to climb into her web is a puzzle - the dorsal view

dorsal Hersiliid spider

The ventral view

ventral Hersiliid spider

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C. Frank Starmer

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