Feb. 25, 2018 - Spider Webs and a Crab

Some mornings here in Florida the humidity is almost 100% and dew settles on everything outside, including spider webs. That makes the webs visible and shows the intricate weaving done by the spiders. This photo was taken at St. George Island State Park.

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Most of the webs I saw at the state park were of this variety; strands of silk extending out from a central point like spokes on a wheel.

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Here’s a close-up of the previous web showing how tiny drops of water collect along the strands of silk, like beads on a necklace. Note the spider in the upper right portion of the photo.

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This was an especially large web. I estimate it was 1½ feet from top to bottom.

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At the park I did see a few webs structured like this. I’m assuming it was made by a different species of spider.

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I also visited Ochlocknee State Park on a morning when dew made the spider webs visible. There, almost all the webs were shaped like this one. I seem to recall that Larry Weber, a Minnesota author, has recently written a book identifying spiders by their webs. Perhaps I can get a copy of that book and find out which spiders made each of these webs.

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This has nothing to do with spiders, but I also walked the beach at St. George Island State Park and photographed this Ghost Crab. It is just at the edge of its hole, ready to disappear at the first sign of danger.

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