A spider safari

Today for 30 days wild we did a spider safari. Any day is as good as the next for spiders if you ask me, but I am aware there are many people either fearful or wary of spiders. If you are in either of those categories, thank you for reading on, I hope that at the end of the post you look at them for the wonderful and diverse group they are and by understanding them better you might keep a certain level of respect for them, but enjoy them more. All the photos were taken today.
 My daughter found a large cluster of Garden Orb Spider Araneus diadematus spiderlings in between two pots (above). These spiderlings balls are now everywhere (even on my car!). Once they hatch from their silky cocoon, they will stay in a tight ball for a few days in a communal web. After they moult they will disperse to make their individual webs and start catching tiny insects, mostly aphids.
 There are two age groups of Araneus in the garden now. The tiny newborn spiderlings and the year old spiders which have survived the winter and are not mature. This large male has built its web in a flowering sage with is always busy with insects.

Male Araneus diadematus on his web.

A male Philodromus aureolus

 We also found this lovely spider crawling on a hedge, on our way back from school. Males of some crab spiders have iridescent scales on their bodies. I think this is Philodromus aureolus. After failing to take a photos where it was as it was quite mobile, I potted it to photograph at home. Shortly after I released him in the garden I found another individual on ivy, and what could possibly be the female of the same species (below). Crab spiders don't build webs, instead sitting on leaves or flowers to ambush flying insects that stop to bask or feed on the flowers.There are several common Philodromus species, and without microscopic examination of their genitals (or palps in the case of males) identification to species is not possible, which is sadly true for many species of spider.

A female Philodromus sp.

 I searched on some bare ground in the garden and didn't take long to find a wolf spider, a Pardosa, (probably amentata). Wolf spiders don't build webs either, but they move about searching for insects, although they also do quite a lot of basking on sunny spots on the ground. As they don't have a 'home' females carry their egg sacs with them attached to their abdomen, which you can see in the photo below. This photo also illustrates the maternal behaviour of spiders: many species build a cocoon for their eggs, which they attach to a dry corner, or carry the egg sacs with them, or the spiderlings (wolf spiders do this!) or even feed the spiderligs with eggs, regurgitated prey or especial eggs. The most extreme form of maternal behaviour is matriphagy, in which the mother allows the spiderlings to eat her, and eventually kill her.

Female wolf spider, Pardosa sp., with her egg sac.

 Another favourite place for spiders is the log pile. I removed a few logs and found a Blue Lace Spider, Amaurobius similis. A spider that forms a very characteristic form of carded silk and can be found on crevices on walls or trunks or on thick ivy. Amaurobius is one of the bunch of species in which females sacrifice themselves to their first batch of spiderlings, a matriphagous species.

Amaurobius similis. 

 And a few logs later a large female House Spider, Tegenaria sp. House spiders built sheet webs funnelling into corners, where they have a retreat. When potential prey lands on the sheet they come out and trap them. You can entice them to come out by spraying some water on the sheet web. If you see a large spider with long legs in the autumn running around on your living room carpet, or you find one in the bath in the morning they are likely to be a male Tegenaria. They have abandoned their retreats and go about searching for mature females to mate.

Female Tegenaria sp.

 Then it was time to go inside. I have a thriving Pholcus phalangiodes (known as Daddy Long Leg spiders) population in the house. They hang from corners in the ceiling, not moving much. This mature female, which lives under a shelf in the toilet, with her distended abdomen, looks ready to lay her eggs. She will wrap them loosely with silk and carry them in her mouth until they hatch. Then she will sit by her spiderlings for two weeks (presumably not eating anything during this time). Despite their spindly appearance, Pholcus are fearsome predators, capable of subduing much larger and stronger spiders by wrapping them in silk with their long legs.

Pholcus phalangioides, mature female.

Losing old legs and growing new ones

I see lots of Philodromus spiders with missing legs, some of them with up four legs missing. They are - incredibly - able to walk, and presumably find enough food to stay alive. Many spider species have weak points in their legs, when in danger of being predated or otherwise attacked, they shed them, a phenomenom called autotomy. Spider autotomy has actually been shown to be a voluntary act, as anesthetised spiders would not shed their legs. For a spider, it is costly to lose a leg, as it might impair reproductive or fighting ability, or success at hunting, but it is a small price to pay when the alternative is to be eaten. And the best thing is that sometimes legs are not lost forever, as immature spiders maintain the ability to regenerate lost limbs in the next moult  (although long lived spiders that moult when adult, like tarantulas, do keep that ability for life). The spider on the top shot, enjoying a juicy aphid a few days ago, has regenerated the middle pair of legs on the foreground: notice that they are thinner and shorter than the rest, and lack the colour pattern seen on the equivalent legs on the other side. Even in the Philodromus below, which has lost four legs and a palp, the apparent stumps of the missing legs are actually the miniature folded regenerated legs.

...and dying

The above shot completes my Philadelphus series. This crab spider, the same individual featured on the previous post, trapped a fly that had come to feed on the flowers.

Feeding, hunting, resting, mating...

Around the summer solstice, the Philadelphus or mock orange blossoms. In addition to its lovely scent, its broad, cup-like white flowers make a beautiful background for insect photography. It is just fitting that insects love these flowers too. The following photos were taken yesterday and today.
Small spiders such as this crab spider (above) sit on the flowers to ambush flying insects attracted to them. Small garden spiders build their webs also amongst the blossom.

A fly resting

Carpet beetle (Anthrenus sp.) feeding on pollen

Greenbottle (Lucilia sp)

Bumblebees often feed on the blossom. Here, Bombus terrestris.

A mating pair of ichneumon wasps

A small bee (Hylaeus?) enjoying the pollen

Spring gallery

It has been quite warm today, 18.5 oC! A great day to start spring, the garden was buzzing and there was a lot of "firsts" of the year. One of those days it is hard to choose what to blog about. I saw my first butterflies of the year, a Red Admiral Peacock (in flight), a Small Tortoiseshell feeding on willow and a male Brimstone; first queen wasp; first pair of 7 spots mating and my first photo of a ladybird taking off. Also, first Bombus hypnorum, B. hortorum and first female Anthophora plumipes. The following shots are the best of the day.

A fortunate consequence of 7 spot ladybird communal hibernation is that you don't have to look far for a partner when you wake up!

A groggy queen wasp landed on yellow plastic 

And a hyperparasitoid flightless wasp, possibly Gelis sp. which looks rather like an ant walks on the blue bin

Philodromus spider sunbathing 

The first female Anthophora plumipes leaves a daffodil, which has marked her back with yellow pollen 

A male A. plumipes briefly resting on a buddleia trunk. Males look velvety this early in the year. They have been patrolling the garden since the 11th of March

 A Pholcus spider on the outside toilet looks much fatter than yesterday, after enjoying her spiderly meal.

A Harlequin and a 7 spot look like they are playing peek-a-boo

B. hortorum visiting Hyacinths