Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you if you've got a fear of spiders, but the orb-weavers have returned for their rent-free season in the tomato hoop and this was such a cool photo, I couldn't resist.
These spiders are not harmful and in fact keep many garden pests in check. But, they sure do give you a scare when you realize one is just beside you and you hadn't noticed! (** Not to worry, the tomato is just for scale, they typically use the greens of the tomato plant for their web anchoring)
Lately, they've been especially active building elaborate and impressive webs that really stand out in the morning light. Orb weavers (as opposed to many other spiders) often build a new web each day. They hide away most of the daylight hours, come out at evening and consume their old web, and begin building a new one in the same or similar spot. This is why the webs are so perfect looking with very little debris.
It's that time of the week! Remember to head on over to your pick up location to grab your box of farm fresh produce this week!
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Cheers, Bonnie & Rudy Pic above: Orb weaver spider...Interested in another fun spider-fact? The stickiness of a web increases it's visibility, so the spider has to build it's web balancing the likelihood of catching it's prey (low-visibility web) with the likelihood of holding onto it's prey (stickiness of the web). |
