not so itsy-bitsy

[piranha]

this is my "pet" spider. zie's been making zir web behind my nightstand lamp for more than 6 months now. how silly is it that i have taken to catching flies for zir, now that it is winter and only the ones in the composter survive?

[ETA: thanks to beaq i now know what species this is: araneus diadematus, female. it's a common garden spider, not so common inside.]

Comments

orb weaver!

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

ah, that's what it is -- to be precise, araneus diadematus, female, and yeah, apparently a garden spider.

it's not really that surprising that it is inside -- we have bindweed coming in from the outside, and all kinds of insects -- clearly nature thinks the shack is pretty much ready to be taken over.

thanks! i know extremely little about spiders. this one is fascinating to watch; she does a lot of interesting things, like eat her own web complete with small insect carcasses. and she is so FAST when something gets caught in the web. and of course the web building; awesome. i wonder how long she'll live. it's not like she's gonna mate inside.