Springtime visitors

Hyles lineata

Warm weather is bringing out lots of wildlife! Thursday I spotted a hummingbird, so I made a sugar-water mixture and hung the feeder up. At least one hummer has been back to feed from it.

About a year and a half back (September 2016) I found a Rustic Sphinx moth resting on the brick exterior of my house. Yesterday I found a different large moth - a White-lined Sphinx. It wasn't as large as the Rustic sphinx, but was still pretty impressive.




Tonight I captured a Carolina Wolf Spider that had got in the house. I released it into the back yard; there's probably more food available for it outside.

Spiny Backed Orb Weaver

Gasteracantha cancriformis

Earlier in the week it was Spider Lillies, now it's an actual Spider. Another first for me, seeing one of these "smiley face" spiders in real life. This one is pretty small, maybe 1/4 inch in diameter. I almost missed the spider, but couldn't miss the beautiful web.

Itsy Bitsy Spiders

It's been overcast and cloudy most mornings lately, but a few days ago the sun shone brightly on half a dozen dewy spider webs in one of the crape myrtles. What was odd to me was that most of the webs were built horizontally or at 45 degree angles. The web in this photo is the only one that was built vertically. Like the other webs it's only about six inches in diameter. Each web was guarded at its perimeter by a small (and quick) greenish-yellow spider,  with a narrow body and very long front legs. They were too fast and too small for me to photograph, but I'm pretty sure they were some kind of Long-Jawed Orb Weaver or Tetragnathid, sometimes called Stretch Spiders. I like finding the names of my garden's inhabitants.

Charlotte's Web

 

This small argiope spider spun her web in a red rose bush in my backyard.  Google says this is the largest spider most folks in the U.S. will ever see, obviously not written by someone living in tarantula territory. This was a small spider, only about 1.5 inches long including its legs. I learned it is also called "the writing spider" and that its baby spiders disperse on the wind with fine web "parachutes". I suddenly realized this is the spider of Charlotte's Web. Only the female argiopes have this particular pattern and color, and only the females spin such distinctive webs, so I know this is a girl spider, like Charlotte. Maybe she will write me a message one day!