Spiny-backed Spider and More

Top Photo: Spiny-backed orb weaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis) Only about 1/2” wide, spiny-backed orb weavers are distinctive for their shape and pattern. The individual pictured is mostly white with black markings and red spikes. But, they may also be yellow or red with shades in between. The spines may be black. Some suggest the spines may deter predators such as birds or even subterranean-nesting, spider-seeking, solitary wasps. I doubt birds would be put off by the spikes. I must admit, though,Read more

What You Could See…

Pictures often say so much more than words can. That’s why I’ve put together the following two dozen images of both plant and plant users (Lepidoptera and one Araneae) that you can find right here at the Museum. You may have to look a little closer than you may be accustomed to, but they’re here. Let’s start with the Araneae. The wolf spider below has captured something, and though it’s difficult to tell exactly what that something is, it looksRead more

Snowberry

I spotted a resting clearwing moth while I searched for caterpillars in the garden outside the Butterfly House here at the Museum. It was morning, and the day-flying moth probably spent the night where it perched, it was rapidly flapping its wings in shallow beats to warm itself for the first flight of the day.     Snowberry clearwings visit flowers for nectar, often hovering above rather than perching on the flowers as they sip the sugary liquid. Both caterpillar andRead more