Raindrops on Spiderwebs

Raindrops on spiderwebs on the lawn,

If you live in a rural area, you've probably seen these raindrop-covered webs on your lawn in the summer. In fact, when the weather is warm, you don't even need rain, as dewdrops cling to the silky webs.  The photo above was taken after a rainstorm and gives a close-up view of what the raindrops look like to the spider. 

The spiderwebs you see on the lawn probably look a lot like the picture above. That's what it looked like on my lawn before I got down to get a few close-up shots.

Do those webs have spiders?

This spider is hanging out at the opening to the tunnel in his web.

If you are anything like me, you just might have grown up thinking the webs magically appeared in the night, but there weren't any real spiders in them. That's what my mother told me and I believed her. I'm not sure if she believed that or if it was her way of preventing me from worrying about spiders in the grass.

Earlier this year, I read that grass spiders make these little webs. The web is lacy and has a funnel where the itsy-bitsy spider hides out until his prey comes along. You can see the spider above inside the mouth of the tunnel. But, that is no ordinary grass spider.

I had a little difficulty researching it, but finally came to the conclusion that it is probably a variety of the Hacklemesh Weaver (Amaurobius ferox). Although I can't find an image that matches the one above, the description of the web fits and the description of the spider is very similar. If you know of another classification that fits this little spider, please let me know.

How big are those spiders?

These are ordinary blades of grass from the lawn.

He looks huge in the picture, but bear in mind that several of the tiny raindrops can fit on a blade of grass. To put the size of the spider into perspective, take a look at the blades of grass in this photo. They are ordinary blades of grass found on the lawn (not the large blades found along the road or in unmowed areas). The spider was barely noticeably to the naked eye.

I hope you enjoyed the photos and info about these little spiders and the webs they make. Don't forget to share my blog with your friends!

                                                                Until Next Time . . . HAPPY GARDENING!