The spider wraps her lunch

The dragonfly had just landed in the spider's web and was struggling to get free.  I had already rescued two from apparently abandoned old webs but this one was active and the spider pounced. The dragonfly is a teneral common darter and the spider a female cross orb-weaver (Araneus diadematus).  In the first couple of photos the spider was subduing its prey with a venomous bite.  Then it proceeded to wrap it in silk.  When I came by half an hour later the dragonfly had gone, presumably carried into cover to be devoured at leisure.

Ecdysis

At first I wasn't sure what was going on here.  It looked as though a spider had caught another spider.  But in fact it is a spider just recovering from moulting its old skin.  Spiders, like other creatures with an exoskeleton, have to step out of their old skin in order to grow.  The process is known as ecdysis, a word new to me.  The cuticle splits along the spider's back and it slowly hauls itself out through the split.  At this stage it is fragile and vulnerable and has to wait some time for its new outer layer to harden before it can get on with life.

The same process, described by the same word, occurs when a dragonfly emerges from a nymph.  You can watch a time-lapse sequence here of a Mexican red-kneed tarantula moulting (not a common species in Newcastle, fortunately).  There is a clearer video of a wolf spider moult here.

I think this is probably a Daddy Long-legs Spider, Pholcos phalangioides.

Cucumber green spider

A spider has featured on this blog only once before.  This little beauty is a female cucumber green spider, Araniella cucurbitina.  It weaves a small orb web in a bush or hedgerow and sits in the middle of the web, relying on its camouflage for protection.  The female is about 8mm across and the male is half that size,

This one had built a nest in the protection of a leaf curled over with silk.

Here she is spinning a silk thread and controlling it with a hind leg.

When last I looked there was second clump of eggs surrounded by silk and the spider had moved on.  Freshly emerged spiderlings are red and they change to brown in the autumn. 

A Close Shave

This drama unfolded on a cob wall which is home to many hairy-footed flower bees.  A male bee became entangled in a cobweb and was attacked by a spider.

A male bee has no sting and has only his jaws with which to defend himself from the (presumably venomous) bite of the spider.  I am normally non-interventionist in this type of situation but because my mother was there I had to rescue the bee.

He looked a bit bedraggled but agreed to pose for a few photos while he got his breath back.

I thought the bee might have been seriously bitten by the spider but after he had got rid of some of the cobwebs he flew off a few minutes later, apparently none the worse for his adventure.

Having written a blog post called A Close Shave I am now wondering how I can use A Grand Day Out and The Wrong Trousers.  Watch this space.