In August, when we were in Maryland and North Carolina, these black-and-yellow garden spiders (Argiope aurantia) seemed to be everywhere. But this tarantula-sized one was by far the largest. In retrospect I should have put my hand next to it for some perspective.
This jumping spider was on top of the dahlia, but when I got close he ran around into this little cave.
Catching raindrops is probably not what this spider had in mind.
This dragonfly apparently had a recent encounter with a spider web – that’s a small spider attached to her left lower wing.
Female Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly, Corolla NC
There were several of these small spiders on one of our hikes in the outer banks of North Carolina. Each one has a black and white pattern on its back. This one was my favorite because it looks like a kid has drawn a skull on it.
UPDATE: It’s a Spinybacked Orbweaver. Thanks to Tom Murray for the identification!
On our hike up Echo Mountain, we came across a motionless tarantula in the middle of the trail. Seconds later, we noticed a huge wasp. Its body was about 2 inches long — the biggest stinging insect I’ve ever seen. It turned out that the wasp and tarantula were not in the same neighborhood by coincidence. The wasp flew over to the tarantula, grabbed it by the leg and slowly dragged it several inches across the trail!
From a little googling later that night, I learned that we were watching the female tarantula hawk wasp in action.
Tarantula hawk wasp drags a paralyzed tarantula to a horrible fate.
What’s going on here? Wikipedia explains (Warning! You should not read the following description!):
[Female tarantula hawks] capture, sting, and paralyze the spider, then they either drag the spider back into her own burrow or transport their prey to a specially prepared nest where a single egg is laid on the spider’s body, and the entrance is covered. The wasp larva, upon hatching, begins to suck the juices from the still-living spider. After the larva grows a bit, it plunges into the spider’s body and feeds voraciously, avoiding vital organs for as long as possible to keep it fresh. The adult wasp emerges from the nest to continue the life cycle.
Wikipedia also tells us that the female tarantula hawk “delivers a sting which is rated among the most painful in the insect world.”
The time finally arrived when I wished I had bothered to learn how to effectively use the video capabilities of my camera. If I had, the following clip would be better.
We saw another (much happier) tarantula on the way down. More pictures below.
Guarding our porch a couple of nights ago.
UPDATE: This might be a Western Spotted Orbweaver.
