One of our strangest-looking spiders is Ocrepeira, the asterisk spider. She has an amazing camouflaged color pattern complete with little lumps on her abdomen. She is actually related to our more common orb-weaving spiders, but has a very unusual web. … Continue reading
Up against a window and near the edge of our back deck I found a beautiful orb web and one of my favorite spiders in residence. It was a Orchard Orbweaver (Leucauge venusta). She is one of the few green … Continue reading
In early June I had a surprise in our yard. For the first time I found a Hypsosinga rubens in her web. This is a relatively small and rarely-encountered species. The range of the species includes most of the eastern … Continue reading
In central Ohio where I live, the winter is a time of rest for many animals. They seek shelter from the cold weather and hunker down. Some large animals hibernate, many smaller ones become inactive, in a sort of torpor … Continue reading
During the early summer back in 2015 I found that a few leaves of my backyard grape vines were covered with colorful galls. After some research, I identified these galls as “grape tube galls” which were likely created by Cecidomyia viticola … Continue reading