Spiders

Locate, observe, wait…click

St. Andrew’s Cross Spider – prey’s eye view! Photo taken in our garden of the female spider’s abdomen through the web. I had the opportunity to photograph a fascinating encounter between the large female and a smaller male spider. Photo sequence shown below.

St Andrew’s Cross Spider – entire abdominal view of the female through her web.

St Andrew’s Cross Spider – female taken from above showing the highly-coloured body.

St Andrew’s Cross Spider – much smaller male; photo taken from above.

St Andrew’s Cross Spider – the male seemed to build a web connection to the centre and then crawled down it.

St. Andrew’s Cross Spiders – the male progressively positioned itself on the opposite side of the main web, close to the female.

St. Andrew’s Cross Spider – suddenly there was a tussle and the male was “captured” by the female’s body and legs…but did survive intact.

Cicada Caught in Spider’s Web – I watched and photographed this unfolding story intermittently over several hours as the large spider (Orb Weaver – tbc) systematically “explored” the cicada. This was not easy. I was balancing on the top rungs of a step ladder, in cloudy and very windy conditions! I’m glad I did this as the following day the web and cicada had gone. Photo series taken in our garden, Lane Cove, Sydney.

Golden Orb Weaver Spider – after rain. Photo taken in Riverview, Lane Cove, Sydney.

Golden Orb Weaver Spider – photo taken in Riverview, Lane Cove, Sydney.

Leaf Curling Spider – with a well-stocked pantry. Photo taken in Riverview, Lane Cove, Sydney…early in the Covid-19 pandemic when hoarding was common!