Orb Weaver Spider

Description:

This Unidentified Araneidae was spotted on a long thin twig which was growing out from a branch, which in turn was growing from a node (joint), high up on a main culm (stem). The branch was bent over, under its own weight, forming a long, drooping arch which constantly swayed in the breeze. The spider was clinging to a node near the tip of the twig, a few feet above the ground, when I first saw it as it swayed from side to side. So, I needed to devise a tactic to enable some picture taking. There was no way that I could hold the branch to stop the swaying. It would have pulled me off my feet. So I decided to stand near the centre of the arc of the sway, step back a little (so that it would not knock me over), follow the sway with my camera and take a picture each time it passed in front of me. The first time it passed by, I clicked and knew that I had my first picture. So, I readied myself for the next pass. Another click, but this time I knew that I did not have a picture - the spider was not there, in my viewfinder. I waited again for the branch to pass by, of course this time I could not hold the camera "at the ready" because I had to be able to see where the spider had gone. It turned out that I had been completely outsmarted by this little spider. After my first successful shot, it started climbing up the branch. and by the time it passed in front of me again, it was up on the next node and I was busy taking a picture of the node where it had been a few seconds before. The spider pretty much kept one step ahead of me throughout the entire fiasco and I ended up with a few photos of the spider and many more of blank bamboo nodes. Nonetheless, I did get some pictures for my spotting and the spider, unwittingly provided me with an amusing anecdote to help distract attention from the fact that I am useless at identifying spiders.

Habitat:

This spider was spotted in the rice mill backyard on a branch of a Spiny Bamboo (Bambusa blumeana) locally called Kawayan Tinik.