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Signature Spider with Prey

Argiope luzona

Description:

The Argiope Spider shown here is one that I have been observing for several days now. My purpose is to photograph the entire process of web and stabilimentum disassembly and rebuilding (which normally happens very early every morning, in the two or three hours before dawn). I have photographed all of the steps in this process in bits and pieces, but not yet as one continuous process. I was visiting the spider this afternoon to check that it was still there, so that I would not go out in the middle of the night to set everything up, only to find that the spider has skedaddled. The web is deep inside a rather overcrowded stand of banana plants, close up against our backyard wall. There are so many plants there that it is pretty dark, looking in from the outside. So, as I approached and saw a struggling grasshopper on the web, I had no choice but to take a photo right away. I knew that by the time I had walked around to the other side of the web, to get a brighter picture looking outwards, it would be too late and I was right. In less than one minute I was in my usual position, with my back to the wall and the camera pointing out to a much brighter view, the spider had rushed down to the prey, wrapped it in a silken shroud and returned to the hub.

Habitat:

This Signature Spider was on its web, suspended between two banana stems in our backyard.

Notes:

Picture # 1. Rather dark and gloomy, but it fulfills its purpose of showing the grasshopper, before the spider wrapped it. If you zoom in, you can see, despite its desperate contortions, that it is a Pseudoxya diminuta nymph. The perfect afternoon snack for a hungry Argiope. Pic # 2. The grasshopper is completely immobilized and the spider is back on the hub. Pics #3 & #4. Time to eat.

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John B.
Spotted by
John B.

Palauig, Central Luzon, Philippines

Spotted on Apr 10, 2023
Submitted on Apr 10, 2023

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