Photo Adventures with Curiosity and Learning
Nephila clavipes (banana spiders) at the Motley-Rice marsh
June 22, 2005
From time to time, I visit the brushy area that borders the Cooper River in
search of banana spiders and interesting angles for capturing the Ravenel
bridge. In early June, I found what I thought were some juvenile banana
spiders - shown here. Note the coloration is auite different from that of
the mature spider.
August 14, 2005
Now that the Ravenel Bridge has been open for about about a month, I wanted
to explore the spider garden along the Cooper River. I was not
disappointed. Lots of females and a number of webs with both male and
female spiders. Here is a female.
Here is a much smaller male
Another male
Another female
And here is the puzzle. Almost always the male is oriented perpendicular to
the female. I suppose to keep an eye on her - as she likes tasty treats
after mating.
Again note how the male is almost always perpendicular to the female
There were also some delicate flowers in the field between the road and the
spider garden
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
C. Frank Starmer
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