dicko wrote:

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:21:28 GMT, "jthread" wrote:


"dicko" wrote in message
. ..

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:59:16 GMT, "jthread" wrote:


went out to my gf pond to clean out the frog mating uck and saw this:

http://www.safaricabs.com/spider1.jpg

http://www.safaricabs.com/spider2.jpg

spidey is bigger in person.

i'm awake now



Its a Black & Yellow Argiope, a fairly common spider. Impressive but
harmless. As kids we used to catch bugs and throw them into the web to
watch the spider do its thing.

-dickm

this one is very impressive. he's about 8" streached out. right now he's
sucking the life out of a grasshopper or something. freakin cool lokin
spidey



Actually, its a "she". I believe that zig zag web through the main
web is spun by the male who then ends up as a tasty meal after doing
his husbandly duty.

-dickm

I've always heard that there have been experiments showing that birds
can see and will avoid the web so as to not accidentally fly into it and
destroy it. It is also thought that it may reflect ultraviolet light
aiding in attracting insects as well as just an aid to stabilize the web.

Lar