Today, work just did me in. So by 3pm I was off for a bit of spider therapy. Expecting the large web of golden silk at her usual home, I was surprised to find the web gone as if someone had literally pulled it down. I found a few strands of support silk leading back into the forest so I followed these. Nothing. Just as I was about to give up, I looked to one side and there she was - hanging by 3 legs from a tangle of white silk. There were 5 males looking on - and what an opportunity to take some shots without the web constraining me or my tripod. Here is an orientation photo: She is hanging with her first and 2nd legs just suspended in the air, and two of the 5 males are to the left.
These two males then moved to sort of have a discussion just above her leg.
Here are 3 males and the tangle of white silk
Two males just thinking about who starts the mating game first?
The lower male obviously won the coin toss and decided to be first
Now he is climbing onto her abdomen
Later another decided it was his turn
Takes his first stop
And slowly makes his way along the ventral side of her abdomen
Another small step - followed by a brush-off
Back to the tangle
Then another try. The lighting with the sun and clouds changing was really neat - almost as if there was a spot light on her back.
Now he is walking to the mating position
A bit closer
And a bit closer (the variation in light has to do with dying batteries in my flash. But then she flicked him off
And another decided to try. This is a remarkable photo because you can clearly see the dragline silk strand extruded from the male's spinneret. Remember that the male is only about 5 - 8 mm long.
He manages to climb on
And make slow progress
Ever so careful not to disturb the female
You'll have to guess the end of the story because my compact flash card was full (these images are shot in raw mode with a 2 GB CF - so I get about 200 shots / card.
C. Frank Starmer