Saturday, June 23, 2012

Arachnopet


This little yellow character, maybe slightly larger than a pinhead, built a web on our balcony, precariously strung between one of the stakes for our tomato plants and the top of a boxwood shrub. When the sun came up in the morning, he was ready with glistening threads to catch some breakfast.

Hopefully he was successful; there are plenty of little gnats and flies around the houseplants on our balcony. I can't be sure, though. I went out in late morning and when I returned in the afternoon, he and his web were gone.

(This photo, by the way, was taken with my old camera -- the only one for which I have a macro lens. I hope to get a new macro to go with the new camera, which hopefully will result in sharper, more detailed shots!)

9 comments:

Elizabeth said...

The web, slightly blurry, is astonishing.

Lynne said...

I *LOVE* this shot just the way it is. It has a dreamy quality about it and I love the way the light is hitting the web. Spiders are amazing: they build intricate webs overnight that disappear in the day. Such a lot of work for bite of food!

One year we had an orb spider that built a web each night for a week on our deck. I photographed it each time and each time the pattern of the web was different. Amazing.

I appreciate your telling us which camera you are using in a shot. :)

e said...

Very shimmery, if that is a real word...I can't believe it is now gone.

Reya Mellicker said...

This is beautiful, image and words.

Do you like David Sedaris? Have you read his story about his "pet" spider?

xx

Linda Sue said...

Oh I LOVE your old camera's ability- that photo is just dreamy! It is alive and splendid! Your new camera has some fancy boots to fill.

Steve Reed said...

Thanks for the comments on the photo, everybody. I do like this pic, even though you can't see a lot of detail on the spider. (He WAS really, really tiny.)

Reya, I've read David Sedaris, but I don't remember the spider story. I'll have to look that one up!

Lynne, I tried to figure out what kind of spider this is -- and common orb weaver was one of the possibilities, based on his markings. (I keep saying "he," but it could just as well be a "she.")

Dave said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dave said...

He ate the caterpillars!

Ms.M said...

Ok I have tons of these little suckers in my home. Or ones that look like it. It is not fun when they bite. :/

The shot is spectacular.

M