Over the weekend I hiked out to one of my favorite spots on campus, the same place where I photographed grass-pink orchids this summer and watched courting turtles last fall. It’s this amazing area along a lakeshore where old logs in the water have been colonized by bog plants, creating little islands of habitat. Getting out to them requires scrambling down a bank and then walking out on the newer vegetation-free logs.
While I was crouching on a log admiring the sundew and pitcher plants, a meadowhawk dragonfly (I’m not sure of the exact species) blundered into a big spiderweb next to me. I admired it for a moment, thinking I might take a photo and then free it, since the spider seemed to be nowhere in sight. Then the dragonfly twitched and the enormous spider appeared out of its hiding place.
After a second it occurred to me to switch my camera to video mode. Ta-da! I can almost hear David Attenborough narrating. You can see the spider working to crunch the awkwardly-shaped dragonfly down into a more manageable package, crumpling up its wings and abdomen.
It was hard to keep the video perfectly in focus, since I was balancing on a log and couldn’t see what I was doing terribly well. But I’m not gonna lie, this was a pretty darn cool thing to watch. What a big meal for that spider!
Wow, that is so absolutely fascinating!! Great job!! One of the coolest videos I’ve watched in a while! Sounds like a gorgeous site, too!
Spider looks like a Marbled Orb Weaver. They are not always colorful, at least according to the photos on BugGuide.
The spider is the Furrow Spider, Larinioides cornutus. You can find more photos on bugguide here http://bugguide.net/node/view/34314/bgpage
Terry Thormin
Great video by the way.
Terry
Thanks for the ideas on the spider ID – it’s been a busy day and I hadn’t taken time to figure it out myself, so I appreciate it!
This is so cool! I had already scheduled a “Wordless Wednesday” post for my blog tomorrow before I read this. (It will appear at 5 am PST tomorrow, Aug 1st). Its photos of a dragonfly trapped in a HUGE spiderweb. I just went back and added a link to this post.
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Wow! I just posted, the other day, a spider catching a tiny bluet. I really should have thought to switch to video. I love how your spider winds web around and around the body of the dragonfly.
I’m going to follow Michelle’s example and add a link to this on my post.
And now, off to see Michelle’s HUGE spiderweb!
Hey again. I “Liked” Light Stalking’s page on FB a while back. Look what they posted today! http://www.lightstalking.com/35-amazing-and-colourful-photographs-of-dragonflies
You have to check these out! they’re beautiful.
You should also check out Naturally Curious on FB. Today they posted info about spider spinnerets. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Naturally-Curious/301449080030
Wanderin’ Weeta, thanks for stopping by my blog. I tried to visit you, but your blog is private.
Michelle, I don’t know what happened there. My blog is public, has always been. I just went back and checked the settings; still public. Try this link: http://wanderinweeta.blogspot.ca/2012/07/moment-under-sun.html