I was studying outside and got distracted by a few visitors today. First up is Leucuage venusta: the Orchard Orbweaver.
I took this picture of a different orchard orbweaver earlier in the year:
Wikipedia seems to be a bit confused about how many species belong to the Araneidae orbweaver family (but what’s in a species, anyway?). Regardless of who belongs to the family, these spiders get their namesake from producing large spiraling webs to entrap their prey. Unlike my next visiter, Anasaitis canosa: the twin-flagged jumping spider.
Jumping spiders, members of the family Salticidae, don’t sit and wait for their prey but actively hunt. They use their silk as a tether before pouncing on their meal- allowing them to return to the previous position if they miss.
Spiders are so cool.
Vincent Cannataro, Ph.D. 