The Battle. The Spider and the Wasp.
Sept 18, 2016 8:59:14 GMT
deliasfanatic, cabintom, and 2 more like this
Post by nomad on Sept 18, 2016 8:59:14 GMT
It is amazing what you can find in your garden, mind is tiny yet I observe many insects there, mainly because it is well wooded and backs onto a large old Cemetery. We have a large Garden Orb spider (Araneus diadematus) outside our back door, that has made his home in our large potted maple. I have nicknamed her Shelob after the beast in Tolken's Lord of the Rings.
Recently we have had a large parasitic wasp visiting the garden but I had never managed to get any images, I think they may be a different species that visited us earlier in the summer and was shown in this section. Well one of these visiting wasps flew into Shelob's web and was grasped by her, there was a truly titanic battle and the wasp managed to sting Shelob several times but this seemed to have little effect on her although I noticed she did slow at times. However, in the end I am afraid there could be only one winner, although the wasp was valiant to the end appearing to be dead only to fight back getting in another hopeful sting, Shelob's powerful venom took its toll and the spider carried its victim to be wrapped and hung in its larder up among the dead leaves of the vine on the fence just above.
Excuse me if this post appear rather gruesome for those that only appreciate pretty insects but this is a part of the fascinating life of the insect World.
The images shown below were taken in shade and it started to rain, not ideal for macro work.
Recently we have had a large parasitic wasp visiting the garden but I had never managed to get any images, I think they may be a different species that visited us earlier in the summer and was shown in this section. Well one of these visiting wasps flew into Shelob's web and was grasped by her, there was a truly titanic battle and the wasp managed to sting Shelob several times but this seemed to have little effect on her although I noticed she did slow at times. However, in the end I am afraid there could be only one winner, although the wasp was valiant to the end appearing to be dead only to fight back getting in another hopeful sting, Shelob's powerful venom took its toll and the spider carried its victim to be wrapped and hung in its larder up among the dead leaves of the vine on the fence just above.
Excuse me if this post appear rather gruesome for those that only appreciate pretty insects but this is a part of the fascinating life of the insect World.
The images shown below were taken in shade and it started to rain, not ideal for macro work.
