I started early today - and for the first time - I found a stick insect not mating!!
My favorite US crab spider Mecaphesa celer
My favorite US crab spider Mecaphesa celer
Lizard sleeping with eyes open
A lighting mystery - black silk - clearly not reflecting
Weaving white silk
Extruding multiple parallel strands of silk
Web weaving with single strands of silk
Web weaving with a single strand of silk - guided by her legs
Poorly focused male Argyrodes invading the Argiope aurantia web
Male Argyrodes invading the Argiope aurantia web Note the glue globules on the web silk. Argyrodes seem to thrive on the silk and glue protein
Complete Web of Argiope 1
Incomplete Web of Argiope 2
Video of completing her web: Argiope aurantia 1
Ingesting old silk for recycling
Prep for ribbon extrusion - marking the web around the central core
Extruding parallel strands for making a ribbon of silk
Extruding silk ribbon - here you can see the individual strands as she extrudes them from her spinnerets
Video of ribbon painting lower stabilimentum
Painting the upper stabilimentum
Completed web of Argiope 2
C. Frank Starmer