Well, after a seemingly eternal winter, flowers are blooming and birds are singing and everything is crawling with life. I’m looking forward to a summer of spider-watching. Most of the orb-weavers (Araneidae) have only just started hatching, but in the meanwhile there are plenty of other kinds of spiders out and about! Meet a few of them after the jump.
A couple years ago the City produced these booklets about local wildlife; you can get them for free at the library. Super excited to check off as many species as I can!
Chironomids (midges) coat the railings of the pedestrian bridge at King/Queen/Roncy.
The first spiders to emerge in late April were catching more midges than they could possibly eat.
A long-jawed orbweaver (Tetragnathidae), perched on a twig near the mouth of the Humber.
Two long-jawed orbweavers (probably T. extensa?) making more long-jawed orbweavers.
Okay, so these arachnids are mites, not spiders, but they look cool so here you go.
Some kind of sheetweb spider—these ones are tucked away behind a tangle of web and hard to see!
Running crab spiders (philodromids) will flatten themselves out to hide. Not always effective.
A running crab spider (philodromid) snatches a midge from an orbweaver’s web.
This little jumping spider (Sitticus fasciger) was remarkably chill about being photographed.
A zebra jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) wandered onto my beach towel.
Jumping spiders are curious and sharp-eyed and have a cute/unnerving habit of watching the camera.
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mp I just got a cheapo macro lens for my phone, this is gonna take my spiderblogging to the next level you don’t even know