For the last probably two months we have been watching this spider in our backyard. It's quite a large spider, but the amazing thing is it's web. It's the biggest spider web I've ever seen, the photos don't do it justice. I've been trying for ages to get decent photos of it but there's only so much you can achieve with a digital point and shoot. The kipper did some research on google and we found out it's called a
Golden Orb Weaver and they are one of the biggest spiders in Australia.
The web is strung between our fig tree, a climbing rose, two standard rose bushes and a frangipani tree and it would be about 2.5 metres across and probably the same from top to bottom. It's done a stirling job of keeping some of the fruit fly away from the figs. I could sit and watch it for ages. Everytime something flew into it's huge web it would scuttle across, wrap the bug up quickly, then scuttle back to the middle of the web and proceed to devour said bug.
We've watched it get bigger and bigger over the weeks but this morning when I went out to say good morning it was gone. I was a bit sad really because it had been a fascinating slice of nature happening in our back yard. But the next time I went out, about an hour later I saw her very gingerly making her way back across the web from the direction of the fig tree. She was half the size and her huge stomach was all shrunken and wrinkly (sound familiar?). So I'm guessing there are hundreds of tiny orbettes swarming over the fig tree.
This is her after 'labour' and I know just how she feels!
Posts
The web is strung between our fig tree, a climbing rose, two standard rose bushes and a frangipani tree and it would be about 2.5 metres across and probably the same from top to bottom. It's done a stirling job of keeping some of the fruit fly away from the figs. I could sit and watch it for ages. Everytime something flew into it's huge web it would scuttle across, wrap the bug up quickly, then scuttle back to the middle of the web and proceed to devour said bug.
We've watched it get bigger and bigger over the weeks but this morning when I went out to say good morning it was gone. I was a bit sad really because it had been a fascinating slice of nature happening in our back yard. But the next time I went out, about an hour later I saw her very gingerly making her way back across the web from the direction of the fig tree. She was half the size and her huge stomach was all shrunken and wrinkly (sound familiar?). So I'm guessing there are hundreds of tiny orbettes swarming over the fig tree.
0 comments:
Post a Comment