SPIDERS

Banded Garden spider on web, summer, Phippsburg, Maine

Golden Orb weaver spider with classic, zig-zag web pattern, September, Phippsburg, Maine

Golden Orb Weaver spider on web, summer, Phippsburg, Maine

Flower Crab spider waiting to ambush prey in Tree peony petal, frontal view, Phippsburg, Maine. Canon 60mm macro lens.

Crab spider, Misumena vatia on pink peony blossom stalking prey. Canon 60mm macro lens

Flower Crab spider waiting to ambush prey on Tree peony, spring, Maine, Phippsburg

Golden Orb Weaver spider on web, September, Phippsburg Maine. Spiders' webs have greater tensile strength than steel. The larges piece of fabric woven from spider web in the world is in the New York Museum Of Natural History. It is so rare that even the creator is not allowed to touch it. The fabric was woven from the webs of over four million Golden Orb Weaver spiders.

Golden Orb weaver spider with classic zig zagging web pattern in a summer meadow, Phippsburg, Maine

Spider suspended, Cross Spider, Phippsburg, Maine. In September, Cross spiders are abundant in Maine. They seem to suddenly appear with webs strung everywhere, across doorways, across yard paths, by your front door: anywhere that you will certainly walk into the web. Spiders' webs have greater tensile strength than steel.

Maine, insect

Cross Spider Maine, insect, Araneus diadematus. In August, these spiders seem to suddenly appear with their big webs all over the yard. I walk into them every day!

Spider's web with dew drops Maine, insect

Cross Spider on web

Golden Orb Spider Phippsburg Maine

spider on a web horizontaly

Cross Spider on web horizontaly, right facing, Phippsburg, Maine

Golden Orb Weaver spider, my garden, coastal Phippsburg, Maine

Ruby-throated hummingbird, Phippsburg, Maine. This bird was caught in the web of a Banded Garden spider. It had struggled to free itself, then fell exhausted to the ground. I had pulled away most of the web, very carefully with tweezers. You can still see parts of the web on teh bird's wings. The tiny bird lived to fly away.

Crab spider on Verbena hastata, Blue Vervain or Swamp Verbena, also called Wild Hyssop and Simpler's Joy is a native, Maine wildflower, mid July, Phippsburg, Maine

Crab spider on Verbena hastata, Blue Vervain or Swamp Verbena, also called Wild Hyssop and Simpler's Joy is a native, Maine wildflower, mid July, Phippsburg, Maine

Cross Spider, Araneus diadematus is a variety of Orb Weaver.

Cross Spider Araneus diadematus Also known as European garden spider, Diadem spider, or Cross Orbweaver Family Araneidae (Orb Weavers). This one had captured a dragonfly in its web and was wrapping it for eating later. Phippsburg, Maine

Golden Orb Weaver spider with mummified food sac on web, Phippsburg Maine, early September

Golden Orb Weaver spider with mummified food sac on web, Phippsburg Maine, early September

A Cross Spider, the biggest one I have ever seen, trying to subdue a dragonfly caught in its web. Cross spiders are orb weaver spiders. They spin an elaborate web to capture prey. They build a new web every day. This one attempted to tackle this dragonfly three times before being able to subdue it. The dragonfly put up a great fight. Once the spider fell to the ground, a distance that for a human would have been about 50 feet! It climbed all the way back to its web, which took over two hours. Oh, the drama!

Cross Spider Araneus diadematus Also known as European garden spider, Diadem spider, or Cross Orbweaver Family Araneidae (Orb Weavers). This one had captured a dragonfly in its web and was wrapping it for eating later. Phippsburg, Maine