Master Gardeners of Ventura County
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Master Gardeners of Ventura County

Posts Tagged: spider web

The Arachnid Version of a Web Designer and Developer

Orb-weaver spiders know a thing or two about web design and development. And their skills have nothing to do with computers. Have you ever stepped out into your garden in the early morning and seen a spiral or wheel-shaped web glistening with droplets...

An orb weaver spider with its prey, a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An orb weaver spider with its prey, a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An orb weaver spider with its prey, a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of the spider and the bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the spider and the bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of the spider and the bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

After breakfast, the spider slides down a stem to find a shaded spot away from the blazing sun--and to rest for a bit. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
After breakfast, the spider slides down a stem to find a shaded spot away from the blazing sun--and to rest for a bit. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

After breakfast, the spider slides down a stem to find a shaded spot away from the blazing sun--and to rest for a bit. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 5:07 PM

Pity the Poor Honey Bees

Pity the poor honey bees.  They have to contend with pesticides, parasites, pests, diseases,  malnutrition, stress and that mysterious malady called colony collapse disorder in which adult bees abandon the hive, leaving behind the...

Freeloader flies, from family Milichiidae, crowd the carcass of a honey bee trapped in a web. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Freeloader flies, from family Milichiidae, crowd the carcass of a honey bee trapped in a web. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Freeloader flies, from family Milichiidae, crowd the carcass of a honey bee trapped in a web. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 4:56 PM
Tags: Desmometopa (0), freeloader flies (0), honey bee (0), Milichiidae (0), spider (0), web (0)

Where's Charlotte?

A spider web is one of nature's most marvelous wonders. It's art, it's architecture, and it's engineering. The silk is as beautiful as it is deceiving. It's 10 times stronger than Kevlar; as sticky as cotton candy covered with honey; and as flexible as...

Backlit by the morning sun, a spider web glows, glistens and glitters. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Backlit by the morning sun, a spider web glows, glistens and glitters. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Backlit by the morning sun, a spider web glows, glistens and glitters. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A spider's dinner, all wrapped and ready to eat: a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A spider's dinner, all wrapped and ready to eat: a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A spider's dinner, all wrapped and ready to eat: a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 10:08 PM
Tags: architecture (1), engineering (1), spider web (5)

Nature's Suspension Bridge

Nature's suspension bridge--that's what the spider builds.With the unseasonable warm weather and crafty spiders at work, can spring be far behind?Spiders are already building their webs on fruit trees yet to bud and bloom. They're setting traps for the...

Nature's Suspension Bridge
Nature's Suspension Bridge

INTRICATE PATTERN of a spider web on nectarine branches. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Friday, January 28, 2011 at 9:21 PM
Tags: nectarine tree (1), spider web (5)

Sorry, Spider

When you see a honey bee trapped in a spider web, it's usually dead and about to be consumed.Not this time. Today a foraging bee, minding her own "beesiness," was nectaring among the catmint blossoms in our garden when she ran smack dab into a sticky web...

Sticky Web
Sticky Web

HONEY BEE is caught in the sticky web of a spider. Note the glue-like webbing by her feet. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Freed
Freed

FREED from the spider web, the honey bee is about to nectar a catmint blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 9:14 PM
Tags: catmint (18), honey bee (250), spider web (5)

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