Macro Monday (Garden Spider)

Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia); 6/16/2013

Garden spiders are typically orb web weavers with the addition of fancy smancy signature web art (zig zags). I have not seen such gorgeous signature web art in years and this one was absolutely fabulous.

This little garden spider built its web in the oddest place – the upper corner of our back porch. I could not see the details of the spider itself with my naked eye due to its tiny size. I set my camera with macro lens on a tripod because the sun was setting and the wind was blowing. I knew I would need stability and my hands are not so stable these days for slower shutter speeds.

Below is a crop to see the spider to see its details :

Speaking of garden spiders, I saw one out back in the field in the morning of June 4th while wandering keeping my eyes on the cats (they are allowed out under supervision).

Front; 6/4/2013

This is what it looked like when I spied it in the tall grass and weeds. By the way, this is what I typically see -- the signature web art is not as fancy as the one I took of last night (first pictures above). It is more simple with only a single zig zag below the center.

{Cropped to see details of spider}

Back; 6/4/2013

I went around to the backside because I felt safer (ha!) to get closer and take more pictures.