It has been another unusually hot week in Shakerag. The other morning I found this snail on the glass outside my livingroom. It is harder than I expected to identify him. I know he's a mollusk and gastropod and terrestrial, but other than that I am drawing a blank.
Does anyone know a good website for identifying snails of the eastern U.S.?
Okay, so once again, I have to give the spider warning.
Spider photos follow!
The next critter is a bit more familiar. She's a Black Widow. There are several species of Black Widows. They are a type of cobweb spider which means they don't make pretty, intricate webs. Their webs are messy, but strong.
The silk of Black Widows is stronger than that of most other spiders.
They are usually solid black except for bright red markings that frequently resemble an hourglass on the underside of her abdomen. This is highly variable.
These visible markings are on her back.
I may have to turn her over and see what that side looks like.
Here she is posing with her egg sac. A single female Black Widow can have up to eight egg sacs in a single year.Most of the young don't survive to hatch due to cannibalism.
Black Widow females pick a spot and stay there waiting for food and mates to come to them. Above, you can see the remains of one of her meals.
The females are poisonous even to critters as big as humans.
The males don't bite or even eat as adults. They are much smaller and nondescript.
I have never seen a male Black Widow.
As always, you can click on any of the photos for a closer look.
Don't forget to
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That's such an interesting little snail. I usually just see ugly black slugs with no shell. Really great shots of the spider too! That's one bug that doesn't bother me.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots of the snail. I have heard that there are black widow spiders here but have never seen one. V
ReplyDeleteThese are crazy good! I can't help you out with the snail identification. I love the second shot of the spider. Awesome, Susan!
ReplyDeleteGreat capture of the snail and spider. Don't know that I would take pictures of a spider.
ReplyDeleteI just zoomed past the spiders...but that snail is pretty cool!
ReplyDeletebeautiful shots of all of them!
ReplyDeleteno worries about the warning here!! I LOVE spiders and everything else in the bug world!!! Your shots are great!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the spider warnings! Love the snails!
ReplyDeleteI personally love spiders... they're beautiful, they're crafty (I mean, look at those webs!), and they're resourceful (the ultimate stockpilers). :)
ReplyDeleteBEAUTIFUL SPIDER CAPTURES... though the poisonous warning is sounding in my head... poor little snail. In this heat, he must really be suffering. Love the perspective of the first shot.
ReplyDeleteSnails I like..spiders not so much...but in picture both GREAT!
ReplyDeleteGreat macro shots. Very well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks, all!
ReplyDeleteSnail, I always saw it after a rain when I was a child, but it seems that I haven't seen it for years. Nice pics in your blog. Greetings from China.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chinatours! Snails really are interesting creatures, You are probably my most distant reader ever! Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDelete