Marbled Orbweaver

Here is, I believe, a Marbled Orbweaver. If this is true, this is presumably a male since the females have a very round abdomen. Though you'd probably consider this to be a small spider, there are quite a few smaller spiders kicking around. (I suspect that when arthropods get much smaller than this, they mostly go under our radar. But that doesn't mean they're not kicking around out there.)

The large round female abdomen is no doubt important in their ability to lay "several hundred" spider eggs. In the fall a female will create an egg sac with these eggs, and in the following spring pitter-patter X 4 of little spiderling feet will be heard (if you have extremely sensitive hearing) as they emerge.

September 8, 2020 at Fairview Farm
Photo 94667782, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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