Welcome

Welcome to my blog

This is where I post various musings about wildlife and ecology, observations of interesting species (often invertebrates)
and bits of research that grab my attention. As well as blogging, I undertake professional ecological & wildlife surveys
covering invertebrates, plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians and some mammals, plus habitat assessment and management
advice. I don't work on planning applications/for developers. The pages on the right will tell you more about my work,
main interests and key projects, and you can follow my academic work here.

Monday 7 October 2013

The first fog of autumn

A non-technical post today - I'm mired in a swamp of academic marking, so something soothing is required... fortunately I woke up to a foggy morning which highlighted just how busy the spiders in our garden have been - enjoy!

A fine orb-web made by the garden orb spider Araneus diadematus
A large female garden orb spider Araneus diadematus at the hub of her web

A web shaped as a platform suspended from twigs and leaves - it reminds me of a mountaineering tent attached to cliff with pitons. Possibly made by a Theridion species, and there may be webs of spiders such as Linyphia tangled into it.
An incautious wasp becomes a meal for Araneus diadematus

Posted by davesbrain
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1 comment:

  1. Imogen Michel7 October 2013 at 17:33

    Amazing photos! I think spiders are so beautiful. In Brazil, I saw spiders (living in groups) who made platform-shaped webs like the one in your second to last photo which were more than 7 feet high! They really are amazing animals.

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