Shamrock Orb Weaver

While walking in the overgrown field next to our cabin I notice a somewhat small Orb Weaver web suspended from a multiflora rose bush. At the top of the web in small nest of dead leaves was this very large reddish/brown Shamrock Orb Weaver (Araneus trifolium).



This Shamrock Orb Weaver was the size of a grape. As an indication of its size, the spider is in an Autumn Olive tree and the red berries are about 1/4 inch in diameter.



The Shamrock Orb Weaver with rose hips from a multiflora rose.



An image of the bottom side of the Shamrock Orb Weaver showing the spinnerets on the abdomen. The spider's silk is produced by the spinnerets.



A side view of the Shamrock Orb Weaver shows the size of the abdomen compared to the rest of the spider.



The size of this spider's abdomen causes this spider to have a high center of gravity and it tends crawl through the branches up side down.



The spider hangs on as the weight of its abdomen tries to flip it.

Marbled Orb Weaver

Marbled Orb Weaver (Araneus marmoreus) is a very common Orb spider in our neighborhood. In less than a 100 yard walk through an overgrown field I found 4 of these very colorful spiders.The Orb weaver spiders build large webs, 3 to 6 feet above the ground, suspended from trees or bushes. Once you find a web, look for some folded-over leaves at the top of the web, this is where the Orb Weaver's wait for their next meal.



While photographing  the first Marbled Orb Weaver, a second, smaller Marbled Orb Weaver crawled out the same branch.



I'm not sure if the smaller spider is the offspring of the larger Marbled Orb Weaver, but they were friendly to each other (and me). The smaller spider wander off and re-appear several times while I was photographing the larger spider.



Just a few yards away from the first two Marbled Orb Weavers, I found this one hiding under some ferns.



Not only do spiders have 8 legs, they also have 8 eyes. Different types of spiders have different eye placement configurations and the eye patterns are used to identify different families of spiders.The Orb spiders have 4 eyes in the center and 2 eyes on each side of its head.

Garden Orb Weaver

I started out looking to photograph a dragonfly and caught a glance of this Garden Orb Weaver (Aranedia) in its leaf nest above its web.



I must have chased a grasshopper into the web and the Garden Orb Weaver quickly wrapped the grasshopper in a silk web.



A close-up view of the Garden Orb Weaver hanging from its web.



The underside of the Garden Orb Weaver showing silk coming from its spinnerets.



Garden Orb Weavers can be identified by the angled humps on the backs of their abdomens.