Cleopatra and Arsinoe are the giant spotted orb weavers that hang out in the oak tree near the gate but lately ive noticed a smaller orb weaver making a web on the actual gate. Ive named her Hazel. She’s pretty calm and low key. Cleopatra is always busy, ever moving and spinning up june bugs. Hazel is very still and composed like Arsinoe but even more so. The disposition of each orb weaver is individual. There are two tiny ones living on the front porch but they are so little i can barely even see them yet. They’re too young for me to get a sense of them so i will reserve the naming until they get older, both to see if they survive and to give them some time to grow big enough to observe.
Hazel may be a giant lichen orb weaver or a spotted orb weaver. Im not familiar enough with the giant lichen variety and Hazel doesnt stretch out often enough for me to make a definitive decision on that, so for now, she’s an orb weaver. Any spider experts, feel free to correct me, i could use the expertise.
After reading up on them ive discovered that my favorite orb weaver, wilma the weather spider, was probably a red-femured spotted orb weaver. This one is my favorite because she will have slightly see through bright red legs, just on the top half of each leg.
