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[…] avoid any attention, as a strategy for survival! In our previous articles we had talked about the signature spiders and the red whiskered bulbuls feiging death as a survival technique. Nature and the life it holds, […]
RockSea
Roxy Mathew Koll is a Climate Scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. He also dons the role of an amateur naturalist, writer, web designer, photographer, and publisher—based on demand.
Sarah
Juby Aleyas Koll, also know as Sarah, is the author and publisher of the book and website Sarah’s Hand Embroidery Tutorials. She has been researching and tutoring hand embroidery for over a decade, making it accessible to everyone around the globe.
Climate Research Lab
today i spotted two St Andrews Cross Spiders in my veranda i was searching to see if it was poisonous, but thanks to this and many other sites i know they r not to humans, i was intrigued by the beautiful pattern it had created on its web,a beautiful ‘X’.
I wish I had seen this before I went hunting for clues to identify the argiope that I saw!
(http://madraswanderer.blogspot.com/2009/08/tree-guards-bagworms-and-argiopes.html)
Came her via the butterfly diaryist!
That last picture and explanation is amazing, as also the spiderlings!
Dear Flowergirl, am happy that you commented on our webspace that I got a chance to go through yours. Love your nature filled pages. It is amazing how we go on to explore similar aspects of life and wonder about them at same time. You posted your article on 20th and I talked abt the same spiders on 24th hehe. So at last you found out their names and they have indeed 8 legs! Yes the world outside have a lot more tricks and tactics and wonders to keep us amazed. Will keep crawling through your pages 🙂
just last week i saw a few of these on the well at naattile veedu, and was wondering what it was.. thanks for the story. and thanks for being our source of info on the small creatures that live around us.
Yes they are quite common in Kerala. Jaya, happy that these articles are sparking interest, and being informative 🙂
I guess it is only these small creatures that we have around in our daily life, at our hand’s reach – to amuse ourselves and our children on the myriad ways of life.
thanks andy, scorpio and elaine, for the comments 🙂
Interesting information and pictures of St. Andrew’s Cross spider. Did you estimate the number of spiderlings from the picture?
birdy, the number given is the estimation from the picture.
whoa!! too many spiders in that nest!! great macros!!
show me Spiderman.. I want to see Spiderman!! 🙂
Just loved this one! Great images! good natural history!
Yes ashiwn, I guess it is necessary for naturalists to move on from just identification of the species towards a better understanding of the ethology (behavioral science)!
Wow they are so colorful! Nice series.
Hey roxy, do these spiders bite?
Are they poisoneous…?
I guess, from what I read, that they are non-agressive and rarely bite. Even if they bite, it won’t be harmful than a mild pain.
Spiders will always be watched at a distance and with much fear 🙂
but was touched by the mother’s antic to save her kids.. never knew about it.. so much one does not know about nature…thanks for educating an ignorant nature lover 🙂
hey kittens, we were also surprised by its tricks. Yes, nature has a lot to teach us!!
I often marvel what a different view we get of some creatures when we focus our zoom lens on them! Thorough enjoyed the pictures.
Yes, as long as we don’t stop by and watch, we are much oblivious of the life happening around us!
I absolutely love to take photos of spiders and webs. Check out this post:
transientlives.blogspot.com/2008/11/ode-to-spider.html
I have been watching a couple of egg sacs for a year now and they haven’t hatched … great to see these hatchlings and the acting of the mother.
Bindu, thanks a lot for posting this link. I “feel” your spider story and could sense, to some extent, how you must have felt watching your spider, and how one day she left your world. It is the first time I am hearing such a long observational and intimate account on a spider. Keep watching!
We have the same spider families 🙂