This is driving me crazy! I'm hoping you can ID this spider from its very distinctive web. It has an orb web, with these seed looking things placed along the middle line of the web. The spider itself is small and positions itself on one of these things. Unfortunately for me, it is on the away side, so I can't get a look at it. You can see the legs, but the body is not in view. This is outside a second story window.
This is Cyclosa conica (no common name in the USA; known as the trash line spider in Europe), an orb-weaving spider (family Araneidae) that is widely distributed in North America and Europe. It uses the remains of previous meals as a sort of camouflage.
Thanks very much, Suunto!!!
I witnessed a wasp pick one off the other day.
I have looked at the photos of Cyclosa conica, and they don't appear to match my spider. Could it be just a difference in age? Also, the debris in my spider's web is very neat and each is almost identical to the others, while other photos show quite a messy bunch of leftovers. Maybe my spiders (and there are at least a dozen out there) are just good housekeepers? :-)
Seriously, I agree with Cyclosa, just not sure about conica. Here are some photos I got of some spiders today.
Here is another - from a different web. Sorry about the quality, but they are small, and I am shooting through the window.
I turned this photo to a horizontal position for better viewing of the spider. It was actually vertical.
I deserve at least two demerits on this one - I failed to look closely at your first image, and leapt to an unwarranted conclusion; your last photo very clearly shows that this spider is not Cyclosa conica. In fact, it may not even be a Cyclosa at all! I've never seen one quite like this before, it may be in the related genus Allocyclosa - see http://tinyurl.com/y929boo for an example. Also, the very symmetrical objects in your spiders' web may be egg cases rather than remains of meals. Please accept my apologies for leading you (and any viewers) astray.
This message was edited Oct 8, 2009 7:56 AM
Suunto, I give you credit for hanging in there. I had looked and looked with no success. I believe you have hit the nail on the head with this latest... I'll continue to try to get a better photo, but I am 99 and 44/100% sure that you are right this time.
Thank you!!
