Orb Weaver (Araneus diadematus) in Action
Orb weavers are common garden spiders. The females grow quite large - 2 inches or more across, Males only half that. In the autumn they mate. Then she eats him.
Orb weavers are common garden spiders. The females grow quite large - 2 inches or more across, Males only half that. In the autumn they mate. Then she eats him.
I see a spectacular Pacific sunset in a late season thunderstorm. My wife sees a giant spider that's going to try to kill her. Eye of the beholder, I guess.
A big black & yellow zipper spider in the oregano. This one is about 2" leg to leg. Big, but better than those fat orb weavers that string webs head high.
All summer the garden is thick with big, fat orb weaver spiders. By mid-autumn, they're all but gone. Here's one of the few left weaving a web backlit by the sun setting over the Pacific.
Garden spiders get large late in the summer. Here's a video of one that build man-sized web 30 feet overhead and used my car as an anchor.
A spider weaving a web between two trees high in the air with the sun setting in the background.