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Posts Tagged: Argiope trifasciata)
Saga of a Spider's Kill
For more than two weeks now, we've been watching a banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) trap and wrap its unfortunate prey (fortunate if you're a spider, unfortunate if you're the prey) snared in its web. Most of its prey are honey bees,...
A banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) straddling lavender stems. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What prey is this? It appears to be a huge black bee, a female Valley carpenter bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the prey, which turned out to be a female Valley carpenter bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Greed or Need?
Talk about greed. Talk about gluttony. How much food does a banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) need? For 30 minutes, we watched a well-fed banded garden spider catch bee after bee in its sticky web that it had cleverly anchored between two...
Fish-eye view of a banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) with prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An intruder, a smaller spider (top), heads toward the resident spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The intruder is toast--or a wrap. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Freeloaders Never Miss a Meal
If your dog is well, a little chunky, you're probably accustomed to someone saying "Fido never misses a meal, does he?" Well, those little freeloader flies never miss a meal, either. They not only never miss a meal, but they're never late for...
A banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) wraps a bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Freeloader flies, family Milichildae, gather around the abandoned prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of freeloader flies on a bee wrapped by a banded garden spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Spider and the Skipper
This is a a story about a spider and a skipper. Technically, a banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) and a fiery skipper butterfly (Hylephila phyleus, family Hesperiida). The garden spider lies in wait, its head down, clinging to its real...
A banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata)--as identified by UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro--waits for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) wraps its meal, a male fiery skipper (Hylephila phyleus). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
While the garden spider wraps its prey, two fiery skippers (Hylephila phyleus) prepare to mate on a Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
