The White Wolf

  

Another beautiful denizen of the dunes on Cape Cod...a Shoreline Wolf Spider (Arctosa littoralis).  

Such amazing camouflage!

This individual seemed very pale, so we started calling it the "White Wolf."  

Here's a closer, head-on view:

 

 

P.S.  Thanks to Eric for his patience and these great photos!  

Close to the bark

  

I returned home from the farmers' market to hear a Brown Creeper calling in our front yard.  Luckily my camera wasn't too far away, and the creeper spent some time feeding in a few different trees.  

Here it is searching crevices in the bark:

 

 

The creeper appeared to be successful locating prey, but the prey was too small for me to see while watching.  However, zooming in on photos later revealed a couple of prey items.

 

A small insect larva at the tip of the bill:

 

 

 

 

And possibly a small spider?

 

 

 

 

Turned out there were two creepers, both feeding along different tree trunks.

 

I love how well Brown Creepers blend in with the landscape of the trees—  the bark and lichens and mosses:

 

 

 

I'm also grateful for such wonderful visitors to our yard!

Like sand, like spider?

  

Here's another great example of camouflage with beach sand.  Eric photographed this jumping spider, Terralona californica, on 21 August 2024.

It's a little bit easier to see than the isopod, but it's still impressive to see how well the colors of the spider match the colors of the sand:

 

 

Although they are small and can be overlooked, we often see Terralona running along the high tide line on the beach, and sometimes catching small flies.  Here's the same spider from the front, showing its large eyes:

 

 

 

Thanks for the great photos, Eric!

 

Silky skies

  

Silk!  After hearing about Eric's dragonfly and butterfly observations last night, I was scanning the San Francisco Chronicle headlines and noticed an unusual one -- something like "Baby spiders are falling from the sky..."  

Young spiders drift on silk threads to disperse to new areas, and there were reports from the Bay Area of clumps of silk both in the sky and on the ground.   I wondered if they were in Sonoma County, too, so while eating lunch today we kept an eye out and sure enough, we saw several clumps of silk crossing our view.

Then I went out to try to photograph a few for the record and these are the results.  Often there was a larger, denser clump of silk at the end of a very narrow thread-like strand:

 

 

I was photographing these bundles of silk almost directly overhead and they were fairly high up, so I couldn't always see the entire streamer at the time.  I was impressed to see how long some of them were when I started to review the photos.  Look carefully to see how far the slender threads extend from the clump:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the concentrated clumps of silk were about half the size of my palm.  And I estimate the lengths of the strands in these photos range from ~2 feet (0.5 meter) to ~5 feet (1.5 meters) long.  

 

I wondered if you could find a spider in the silk, so I walked briefly to check for silk on nearby vegetation.  I found several, but I didn't have any luck finding a spider.

I'm curious about why these silk balloons are so prominent this year.  Is it a certain species of spider?  Or are spiders producing more silk this year for some reason?  Or are there just more of them this year so they are more noticeable?  Or was it something about the weather that caused larger clumps of silk to form?  Hmmphhh!

A wolf dressed in beach clothing

  

Eric found this amazing spider on the beach at Reid State Park in Georgetown, Maine, yesterday (15 September 2023).  Meet the Shoreline Wolf Spider (Arctosa littoralis)!

The spider blends in with the sand so well that sometimes it was hard to see the entire spider.  It was a little easier from the side, so here's that view:

 

 

And one more view looking down at the spider from above.  This perspective made me think of a kaleidoscope, with repeating patterns radiating outward:

 

 

 

Shoreline Wolf Spiders have a broad distribution, so if you're walking a sandy beach, keep your eyes open. This wolf spider is so well camouflaged that you may notice some movement across the sand before you realize that there is a predator hiding in plain view!

Spooky spider

  

 Happy Halloween!

Eric photographed this very large spider — a Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) — in Scituate, MA, last month.  He thought it would be a good photo to share on Halloween, so here you go!  (Don't worry, it's just a photo...and this species is not likely to bite people.)

Agility training?

 

 

This wonderful jumping spider was jumping (and I mean jumping!) across a trail to Race Point beach in Provincetown, MA, today (28 September 2022).  

 

I think it might be Habronattus agilis (agilis would be a good descriptor).  Check out its cool alternating stripes: 

 

 

 

P.S.  For a fun video clip of this species (and many others), see Dick Walton's web page on jumping spiders here.  

Lunch guest

  

This little jumping spider joined us outside for lunch today (2 October 2021).  The last time I saw this species, I thought it might be Habronattus tarsalis.  The bright orange legs are quite something!

Beach denizens

  

Eric and I made a quick trip out to the outer beach on Point Reyes yesterday (5 June 2021).  A few fun beach invertebrate highlights included this Red-backed Jumping Spider (Phidippus johnsoni) hanging out in a large piece of driftwood (above), a nice look at some Western Tiger Beetles (Cicindela oregona) along the upper beach near a freshwater seep :

 

 

 

Noticeably abundant amphipods, or beach hoppers, feeding on drift algae washed up along the strand line:

 

 

 

 

And a Pictured Rove Beetle (Thinopinus pictus) feeding on the aforementioned amphipods (!):

 

 

 

Taking notice

Eric noticed this small jumping spider on his T-shirt, so we went out in the backyard for a photo:

 

It was an excellent jumper, so before we knew it, the spider ended up on my jacket and started looking around: 

 

This juvenile Red-backed Jumping Spider (Phidippus johnsoni) seemed to be taking notice of everything:

 

What eyes!  What a face!  What a "hair-do"!  

At home under a log

During a neighborhood walk a couple of days ago, Eric peeked under a log and was surprised to see quite a gathering:

 

Arboreal Salamanders, a Sierran Treefrog, isopods, and a spider!  There must have been something special about that spot.  We gently replaced the log, but it's hard not to wonder how all of them might have been interacting.

September stunner

This morning Eric called me over to point out a nice-looking spider web lit up by the sun in the backyard.  It was a special one.  Here are a few of the highlights:

 

 

 

 

Ladder of color

This morning, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a beautiful spider web in our backyard.  I ran out to take a few photos before leaving for work, but tonight I'm having trouble deciding which photo I like best.  So, here's a spider silk series from 24 July 2019.

The first two images show the same strands, just from slightly (very slightly) different angles.  By comparing them, you can see how small adjustments can change how the colors appear:

 

 

The next three images are the same "color ladder" running up the web, but framed differently, with more or less of the web showing around the lit up strands.  See what you think!

 

 

 

Morning silk

I wandered into the backyard again this morning to look for spider web strands.  Below are a few close-ups from 29 June 2019.

Strand with satellite:

 

A colorful intersection:

 

Most of the time when I photograph spider web silk, the color order seems random.  However, this morning I captured one strand with colors that were very close to being in "rainbow order" — that is, the colors were almost displayed in the same order you'd expect in a rainbow (starting from the right and running to the left) = red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet: 

 

A light celebration

If you've been reading this blog for the last few years, you might remember previous posts about color patterns in spider web silk.  Since it was the solstice today, I was thinking about light.  So I went out quickly before work to see if I could find a nice spider web strand.  I'm a little out-of-practice, but here are a few examples to help celebrate the summer season.  Pick your favorite!

 

 

 

 

P.S.  Here are links to some past examples:

Celebration of light -- 20 June 2017

Silk Road to Enlightenment -- 22 June 2017

 

Spiderworks -- 3 July 2017

Early evening light -- 5 July 2017

Color combinations -- 9 July 2017

Game of threads -- 17 July 2017

Shifting sun -- 31 July 2017

 

The thread continues -- 13 August 2017

Bands of light -- 14 August 2017

Solstice, silk, and light -- 21 June 2018

 

Around the corner

Earlier this month, Eric looked out the window to see an enormous spider web high in a maple tree in our backyard: 

 

I went out to take a closer look.  

There were wonderful "waves" in the lower part of the web:

 

And a dazzling, beaded pattern in the center:

 

 One more radiating perspective:

 

Halloween is around the corner...