Orchard Orbweaver

This is probably an Orchard Orbweaver in my picture. Based on the pictures in my spider field guide, I thought it looked more like a Basilica Orbweaver, but based on iNaturalist feedback and some online pictures I'm now pretty confident this is the Orchard Orbweaver.

I have to admit that spider identification isn't easy for me:

  • Many spiders are small, making it difficult to see details even with my camera's magnification. My Six-spotted Fishing Spider and Yellow Garden Spiders are reasonably good size, but they're the exceptions. My field guide generally documents their sizes in millimeters, and you'd probably be surprised how many spiders we have that are under a centimeter in size.
  • I can attach an extra magnification lens to my camera, though getting the camera to focus is harder. It needs to be manually focused, and if I sway slightly closer or further from the spider I can lose that focus. (I have better success if I'm able to lean or brace myself against something while using the extra lens.) And if I try and compensate for their small size by bringing my camera in closer, many spiders will move/hide from me.
  • Spider webs also make taking pictures harder. Sometimes I can't maneuver the camera where I'd like without disturbing the web. Other times I need to get to the opposite side of the web by going off trail. And while orbweavers like this one have basically 2 dimensional webs, some spiders make messier webs that require shooting through them.
So what's for lunch? I don't think I can say with confidence, though that looks like a stinger at the end of the abdomen. I'm suspicious that this is a small wasp, much smaller than most of the wasps I get pictures of since the spider is under a centimeter in size. I don't recall whether this spider completely covered its victim in webbing, but when that happens it's surprising how quickly a spider can wrap up its prey.
June 30, 2022 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary
Photo 211851140, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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