Along Came a Spider

Orchard Orbweaver Spider

I love the fall. Cooler and drier temperatures make it a lot more pleasant to walk outside, watching for migratory birds and butterflies. Wildflowers like asters and Wingstem look pretty against the ripening grass and colorful leaves. And insects and spiders that hatched in the spring and matured all summer are feeding to fatten up enough to lay eggs for next spring's brood. When the school nature walks start up again at the nature center each fall, I tell the children that one reason I need to be the leader is so that I can get a face-full of spiderwebs before they do! Starting in about September, any fall morning walk on a trail involves much arm waving and face wiping to remove the spider webs stretched during the night.

Argiope Orbweaver Web is pretty against the brown grass

This time of year I find spiders and their signs all over. Webs stretched from trees, from buildings, covered with dew and full of drifting seeds. I've found funnel webs and chains of mummified remains of insect meals. A jumping spider took up residence in our porch. And an enormous Dark Fishing or Nurseryweb spider appeared at the entryway to the nature center, greeting all visitors for an entire afternoon.

Orbweaver spider in a porch window

Spiny Orbweaver spider web festooned with Burnweed seeds

Funnel Spider web

Past spider meals

Fishing Spider on the wall

Jumping Spider in my porch

Some people are really scared of spiders. I don't blame them. They are strange looking and hairy, and they have an unfair reputation for biting. (Mostly, if you leave them alone, they leave you alone.) I was looking up something about Little Miss Muffet when I chose the title for this post, and found that some people think she was the real daughter of an entomologist, Dr. Muffet, whose spiders scared her. Personally, though, I think spiders are marvelous and beautiful. I don't think I really appreciated them until I moved to Florida and was introduced to the glorious Golden Silk Orbweaver (sometimes called "Banana") Spider that spins her strong golden webs that can stretch a couple of feet in diameter and are strong enough to catch a lizard. They would set up in the treetops, between the utility lines, and often on the side of our house, sometimes just outside a window. All summer I would watch the females as they grew huge, feeding and tending their webs, eventually affixing a big fuzzy egg sac nearby. I watched the strangely small male spiders stay out of the way, and the shiny web parasite spiders that grabbed a sneaky meal caught by the big female, and sometimes even consumed web. You can read more about them in this post from October 2012.

We've had some good spider activity at our house this year. Early this summer, I found the first Green Lynx spider that I had seen at our house. She was perched on top of a flowering milkweed plant. I was away a lot during the summer and didn't pay much attention to her again until fall when I spied her with a Monarch Butterfly that she had snagged for a meal. Lynx spiders don't catch food with webs, but instead position themselves atop flowers and wait for unsuspecting pollinators to get just a little too close, and...pow! At first I was shocked and a little sad that the Monarch had become prey in our garden, but I watched her lay eggs and knew she did get a chance to pass on her DNA to the next generation. A few days later, I found the spider with another large meal, a Monarch caterpillar. But once again, I wasn't too sad because the milkweed bush was loaded with caterpillars, and if they all survived they would have run out of food. I mentioned this my previous blog, but I think it is important to see Monarchs as part of a bigger ecosystem and not protect them at the expense of their predators who depend on them for food.

Green Lynx spider on milkweed early this summer

She caught a big Monarch butterfly for dinner. Notice her big abdomen--filled with eggs

Another big meal for a hungry spider

A few days later, the Lynx spider was missing. I thought she'd become food herself, caught by a bird or squirrel. But then I noticed her on top of a different bush where she could be even more stealthy. Truth is, the Monarch caterpillars were quickly defoliating the milkweed, so it was a smart move on her part. And just in time, too, because a few days after that I found her again, looking much thinner and clutching a huge egg sac. She tended the sac for several weeks. Then one day I checked on her and she was gone, but the eggs had hatched and dozens of tiny spiderlings clung to the remnants of the sac. I read that after about 2 weeks, the spiderlings would shoot strings of web into the wind (this is called "ballooning") and would be carried off to new locations to begin their adult lives. The cycle of life.

New perch with more shelter

Holding her egg sac. Note small abdomen.

View of the egg sac from below

Spiderlings

Spiderlings cluster around the egg sac. Click here for a video of the spiderlings wiggling.

Also active this time of year are the Argiope or Garden Orbweaver spiders. We have a couple of varieties here in Georgia. The Black and Yellow, or Zipper, or Writing spider and the Banded Garden Orbweaver. They make huge webs in perfect orbs and often decorate them with little lacy segments, call the "stablimentum". The purpose of the stablimentum is not exactly clear. The spiders may hide behind the screen they create, or it may alert birds to the presence of the web so they don't fly through. These spiders often perch in the center of the web and jiggle it back and forth and the stablimentum may attract prey to the web. Whatever the purpose, the effect is very interesting. Some spiders make more of a zigzag in their web, thus the name "Zipper Spider". They are fierce predators and you will often find a large grasshopper or butterfly wrapped up in silk in the web. In September I found a bundle in a Garden Orbweaver web and was a little afraid that it was a hummingbird. After looking more closely, I think it was a large moth. But a spider's gotta eat, too, right? A few weeks later I was in the right place and time to see a Banded Garden Orbweaver nab a grasshopper. I never realized how quickly they can immobilize and wrap their prey. Their spinnerettes can produce sheets of silk when they need it, rather than just one strand. It was fascinating. Many of the female spiders at this time of year are eating for more than one, with their huge, egg-filled abdomens. Argiope spiders make an egg sac that resembles a balloon.

Black and Yellow Argiope spider with zig zag stablimentum

Black and Yellow Argiope behind stablimentum. Hiding from prey?

This one caught a big moth

This Banded Argiope spider caught a grasshopper. Note the fancy striped legs.

Argiope spider egg sac

I mentioned the Golden Silk Orbeaver (Nephila clavipes) spiders found in Florida. I hadn't seen any up here in North Georgia yet. But recently I read reports from our natural history museum that some had been spotted up this way, along with a related spider from Asia, called the Jorō Spider (Nephila clavata). The first reports of this spider in North America have been here in Georgia. They're quite large and very pretty and I hoped to see one some day. Well, my wish came true this fall, and I found one, all right--in my own yard! As I have talked to people about this it has become clear that they are very widespread now and many of my friends have seen them, too. I have been watching this one grow from a smallish, skinny spider to a magnificent beast with an ever growing web. She seems to mostly catch bees, but one day I startled a Brown Headed Nuthatch and it flew into the web and became stuck. Here is a link to a video of the encounter on my photo website. I helped it out and have been checking the web for birds every day since then. So far there have been no other bird snags. I was tempted to remove the web and kill the spider because she is a potentially invasive exotic. But I really hate to do that. They're beautiful animals, just doing what they need to survive. I have not heard yet whether people consider them a problem, and I'm not sure how much good it would do to kill just one, anyway. Meanwhile, I'll keep watching the web and will hope for the best. And we'll see what spiders appear in the garden next spring. 

Jorō spider in her web

Brown-headed Nuthatch caught (for a moment) in a spider web

Monarch Madness

Monarch Butterfly enjoying Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) earlier this summer

I've been away a lot this summer, but I am happy to report that our garden is doing just fine without me. Luckily, I put in a few days of weeding and thinning in June, or the whole place would be a mad jungle, overgrown and covered with towering goldenrod and swamp sunflowers. Instead, it is a lush and thriving riot of colors, but with some boundaries! And so when I returned this week from yet another trip out of town, I was tickled to discover about 20 monarch caterpillars happily munching on the big Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) in the front yard. It is common to see Monarchs here all summer, but the population really picks up in September and October as the butterflies make their way, usually above the treetops, to Mexico for winter. I believe that the caterpillars I'm seeing were from eggs laid one or two weeks ago. It appears that there are two batches on the bush--the big fat ones that are just about ready to pupate, and the ones about half their size that will be grown in about a week. I saw a female laying eggs yesterday and I hope that the ravenous hordes leave a few branches for the last generation.

Monarch caterpillars, madly munching

This is important to me because I love Monarchs. They're really pretty, and who doesn't admire their amazing migration story? And they're in danger. Monarch populations have decreased by about 90 percent from numbers recorded over 20 years ago. The causes are many--habitat destruction, pesticides, herbicides, and loss of their food source--milkweed, to name a few. It's exciting and uplifting to participate in the Monarch life cycle. Our yard is certified as a Butterfly Habitat and is a stop on the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail. Monarchs will only lay their eggs on plants in the Milkweed family. There are many varieties specific to regions of the country. We plant native nectar and host plants for many kinds of butterflies and refrain from using herbicides or pesticides in the garden. The result is a healthy habitat for all sorts of creatures--butterflies, bees, wasps, birds, moths, spiders, etc.

Milkweed Bugs eat Milkweed Seeds

Aphids infest the milkweed every year. They drink the sap. I don't mind them, but if they bother you, you can squirt them off with a hose or just brush off with a paint brush. Pesticides will harm other insects, such as butterflies.

Great big Green Lynx spider and lots of aphids

Japanese Lady Beetle (aka Ladybug) and aphids

Milkweed Beetle eats the leaves

But the garden is not without its perils for the butterflies. Last night I walked past the milkweed bush again and flushed a bird that was probably hunting for caterpillars and bugs on the stems. A moment later I spotted the female Monarch that earlier I had watched lay eggs. She was caught in the jaws of an enormous Green Lynx spider perched on top of the milkweed bush. The spider had caught the butterfly and was eating it. I felt a temporary twinge of sadness for the butterfly, but then cheered for the spider who needed food for herself. Her huge abdomen was swollen, probably with eggs, and she needed nourishment, too. The butterfly had passed on her genes through her eggs, so she had fulfilled her biological destiny and was now part of the food chain. Whether those eggs will grow to adults and also pass on genes is a crap shoot. But this is why butterflies lay so many eggs, and why it is important for there to be milkweed patches all over for them to lay their eggs on. This morning I found that the spider had caught one of the caterpillars and was busily sucking it dry. Birds and wasps catch and eat them, too. Aphids are very attracted to milkweed. They are sap suckers, and sometimes they will harm or kill the plants. But the aphids attract ladybugs and their larvae that snack on aphids like popcorn. Milkweed Bugs make their home in the plants and eat the seeds, and Milkweed Beetles eat leaves. The 20 hungry Monarch caterpillars will strip the leaves off the bush within another week or so and may eat themselves out of house and home. All these beings are competing for the resources on these plants.

Green Lynx spider with Monarch for dinner

Something killed this caterpillar, and now it is food for the ants. The green blobs are caterpillar poop, also called "frass"

Green Lynx Spider with Monarch caterpillar for breakfast

New Monarch egg, with shadow of a ladybug larvae on the back of the leaf

Big, fat Monarch caterpillars quickly defoliate a milkweed plant

Some people who grow butterfly gardens will collect the eggs and grow the caterpillars to adults inside protective enclosures to keep them safe. I totally understand their care and concern, but as I told someone yesterday, I am more of a "free range" butterfly gardener. It makes me uncomfortable to make these creatures my captives. I feel much better about providing an opportunity for them to grow and thrive out in the world, but as part of a greater ecosystem. That's another aspect of the tragic loss of the massive Monarch population. They are part of an interdependent web of life. We all feel their loss. I encourage everyone who has an interest in helping the Monarch to try to plant native milkweed in their garden or even in a container garden on a deck. Do your part to help keep this iconic insect from disappearing. Go out and garden on!

The caterpillar doesn't seem to mind the aphids

Update: a few days later I went out to see if the Green Lynx spider had caught any more caterpillars and found that it was missing! In its place was a caterpillar, casually chewing on the leaves of the hunter's lair. I thought the spider must have become a meal for a hungry wasp or bird, an ironic turn in the in the circle of life. But then I saw some movement in the Blue Mist Flower bush next to the milkweed. The spider had simply moved to richer hunting grounds. Maybe she got tired of eating bitter Monarchs, but in any case, the milkweed is now packed with caterpillars and other insects of all shapes and sizes, safer for now. The egg I pictured above hatched and its tiny contents now roam the branches alongside of the aphids. And I spotted the first of what I imagine are many chrysalids hanging from a low tree sprout, far away from the caterpillars and things that hunt them. And so it goes...

Caterpillar chewing on the spider's lair

Happy spider

New hatchling, not much bigger than an aphid

A fresh chrysalis, hopefully one of many

Ramble On

Tight Tendrils gripping Wingstem

I have a group of friends, the Nature Ramblers, who get together each week at the State Botanical Gardens in Athens to learn about nature. We are led by excellent guides, who often focus on botany, but the members of the group are interested in just about everything and we do not miss an opportunity to appreciate a mushroom or butterfly or toad that we might find along the walk. The motto for the group is "seeking what we find" and usually the group does find something interesting about every 5 feet or so. We don't walk very far, but we make up for lack of distance with excellent content.

Redbud Leaf

Today was a Ramble day, but I had a prior commitment in the morning and arrived about an hour late. I texted a friend to see where the group had gone. You'd think that a big, slow moving group would be easy to find, but there are a lot of trails at the gardens and they could be just about anywhere. While I waited for an answer to my text, I headed in what I thought was the likely direction and tried to find some more birds to add to my June Challenge list as I walked.

Young, Eastern 5-Lined Skink

(For those of you who are not familiar with it, the June Challenge is a friendly birding competition set up by my old birding community in Alachua County, Florida. The goal of the challenge is to actually lay your eyes on as many birds within the county boundaries as you can. The birding is fun and group oriented and people share sightings and locations with everyone who wants to try to add a tough to find bird. The winner gets to keep a huge trophy for the year and is celebrated at the end of June potluck. Not wanting to miss out on all the fun, I'm doing my own version here in Athens, with a couple of rule changes. First, I am allowing myself to bird outside of my county. Athens-Clarke county is small--121 square miles, vs. 969 in Alachua County, so I made my birdable region a 30 mile radius from home. 2nd, because I am the only one participating here and I don't have any teams to help me, I'm allowing myself to count some tough birds I only heard but didn't see, like the Bob White Quail or Barred Owl. It will be fun to see how many I can find.)

Katydid munching on Jewelweed

Anyway, as I was walking to find my fellow Ramblers, I heard a Barred Owl call and stopped to try to see it and maybe even get a photo. It sounded pretty close and I hooted back to try to get it to respond, but it never did. Then I looked down and saw a familiar plant at my feet--Virginia Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria), which is a host plant for Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies. I probed the soil around the little plant looking for the tiny flowers that sometimes grow just under the soil, but didn't see any. It was a good find, anyway. I never did see the owl, but a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers flew out of a tree just ahead and I followed them for a while. Acadian Flycatchers were hopping back and forth in the branches overhead. A Buckeye Butterfly landed in front of me, flashing its big eyespots. It was getting later and later and at this point I had missed most of the walk but I decided that I was enjoying myself. So when I got the text from my friend telling me they were nearby, I walked over to say hi, then turned back and continued my solo ramble.

Virginia Snakeroot

First I walked along the powerline cut to see the prairie plants and look for butterflies and other insects that like heat, sun and flowers. It seems I had chosen to come to the hottest and sunniest part of the garden just when the sun was getting strongest, and I was starting to melt. But my hunch was right and I saw some good bugs--Delta Flower Beetles on Queen Anne's Lace and Daisies, a couple more butterflies and a tiny spider hiding in a Wild Onion flower.

Delta Flower Beetle on a Daisy

Skipper on Bee Balm

Tiny Spider in the middle of the Wild Onion flowers

Next I headed down to the river for some shade and to see if I could find anything interesting in the woods. We've had a lot of rain and the river was rushing and the water sounded cool and calm. It was much cooler there, but the mosquitoes found me and were eating me alive so I turned back out of the deep shade. Luckily, the rest of the trail I followed was still shady, though not as buggy. Walking the path back towards the garden, I saw Indigo Buntings and a Hooded Warbler. Then I watched as a pair of Black and White Warblers hopped up and down the branches of a tree, then one sat still and preened. They looked ruffled like they'd been bathing in the river.

Black and White Warbler

Green Caterpillar (Skipper?) blends in with the green stems 

I think it's nice sometimes to not have an agenda and to just go where the opportunities take you. I wafted down the trail, turning over leaves here and probing rotting logs there. The recent rains that brought out the mosquitoes also brought out the mushrooms and other fungi and right ahead of the Black and White Warblers was a beautiful Eastern Box Turtle, standing on the trail and eating mushrooms. After I took its picture, I moved it out of the way so it wouldn't get stepped on by runners.

Chanterelle

Fungus that looks like fingers
(Which is where it gets its name, I guess! I'm told it is called Dead Man's Fingers, Xylaria polymorpha) 

Big floppy tree fungus with a slug

Eastern Box Turtle with mushroom on its face

Everywhere I went I found something interesting--a red beetle, an Ebony Jewelwing damselfly, a katydid, bullfrogs, a grasshopper. I found a spider hiding behind a Wingstem plant, and chased a small toad around a tree. Though I missed the expert information and camaraderie of the real Ramble, I had a very satisfying morning just going wherever the trail took me. And I'll be back again to join the group next week.

(Read the Nature Rambling blog by clicking this link)

Red Beetle

Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly

Big, Camouflaged Katydid

Grasshopper that looks like granite

Big spider hiding behind a Wingstem stalk

Toad trying to hide from me