Eight-legged mama

Normally, I don’t have much luck photographing spiders, but at this time of the year, when cooler temps are moving in, I have gotten a few nice shots, particularly of wolf spiders, the terrible hunters of the forest floor.

We saw this beauty in the mown area atop the dam. It’s sudden movement is what allowed me to see it at all, but then it paused at the edge of the taller grass and let me take this portrait.

That is an egg sack the spider has affixed to her spinnerets. This is common among wolf spiders, and I understand it doesn’t slow down their hunting at all. Unlike web spinners, these spiders catch prey by being swift or by ambushing. Carrying a sack of eggs while doing so is apparently not a problem.

When the eggs hatch, the tiny spiders will crawl up to their mother’s abdomen where they will remain for a time.

It be Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Missouri calendar:

• Tree, rough-winged and barn swallows stage in large flocks.

Posted by: Roundrockjournal    Source