Sunday, August 2, 2009 -- The Return of the Arachnid

Well, not exactly the return -- more of an update. Note the size of Ariadne's abdomen (that's what golf named her -- don't know why, maybe because the name seems rather similar to Arachnid?) compared to her cephalothorax in the picture below. The two outside views are from yesterday, the center one is from July 22. She has also moved her web from the middle of the garden to the end of the garden, reaching from potted pepper plants on the opposite side of the walkway from the garden, which is up against the house wall, so the stretches about four feet wide by about six feet high, in a sort of triangle shape. We've tried to get a picture of it, but it just doesn't show up. We're hoping for an early morning view with dew on it, but that hasn't happened yet. We even tried spraying it with water, but it's so hot, the mist evaporates almost as soon as it lands on the lines of the web. golf just went outside and got a couple of more pictures. Ariadne was positioned the wrong way for golf to get a picture of her, top-down view, and golf could get pictures her only from the underside of her body. Still . . . shows her size pretty well. Plus, you can really see the size difference between her abdomen and cephalothorax.