Friday, June 24, 2011

a quickie...june sun shower



a brief sun shower.





 



a welcome afternoon rain.
at least now i don't have to drag the hose around and water everything later!

(i don't know what kind of little spider that is...on the yellow lantana...
VERY cool web! looks like he used a sewing machine...zig-zag!
i'll look him up later...
plants are hibiscus, oak leaf hydrangea leaf, marigold, false or summer poinsettia.
the butterfly's a gulf fritillary 
and the lizard is the florida Anole, on the front porch.)

(6/24) SPIDER UPDATE
THANKS to texwisgirl  - The Run*A*Round Ranch Report 
for IDing that spider! she calls them Zipper spiders...you can see why! 
it's a Banded or Yellow Argiope...in the Orb Weaver family...
which we have many of around here!  hey thanks for saving me the google! :)

(6/26)  ONE MORE SPIDER UPDATE from Shawn of StokesAnimalLibrary.
he  says that when you see the zig-zag on the Argiope's web...
it means that a male came to mate with her. 
he put that zig-zag pattern into her web. 
hmmmm...must be his way of 'marking' her as 'taken'...
or 'just another notch on his bedpost' !!??

(6/27)  JUST ONE MORE SPIDER UPDATE (famous last words...)
from Cindy at Bug Safari ...
 According to BugGuideThese orbweavers often place a conspicuous zigzagging 
white silk banner in their webs called the "stabilimentum" which can be used 
to identify the species. Juveniles of many species spin a spiralling stabilimentum 
from the center of the web. The function of the stabilimentum is not fully understood. 
Hypotheses are: that it stabilizes the web, 
or makes it more apparent to birds which will thus not fly into and wreck it, 
or it reflects light to attract insect prey, 
or perhaps most likely helps to camouflage the spider in the web.

~gotta run~work~bye~

:] laura


21 comments:

  1. Lots of colors here! Love the photos. We've had perfect weather here, thus far.

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  2. looks like a garden spider - yellow argiope. i call 'em zipper spiders because of their web!

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  3. Oh!!! You have summer poinsettia plant! I was introduced to that about 10 years ago and just loved it! I would love to be able to grow it here.
    Very cool web and spider and I love (!!) your porch!
    Have a great weekend!

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  4. Love the spider and the butterfly shots. Finally seeing more insects myself. Of course, I just got back from a trip home to Iowa. Unfortunately, we were too early for the wildflowers in the meadow behind my Dad's house to be blooming. That's when the really cool insects show up.

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  5. wow, he does look like he zigzagged the web right up!

    I'm curious... how did you get google reader working for you again?

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  6. wow, he does look like he zigzagged the web right up!

    I'm curious... how did you get google reader working for you again?

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  7. thanks ALL, for stopping by & getting your feet wet in this QUICK sun shower!

    erika - to answer your question...you asked how i got google reader to work for me again...
    you mean, the problem i was having with 'publishing' my posts...not getting picked up by ANY of the feeds??

    well...to tell you the truth...i'm not sure! i did so many different things...some by suggestion through google forum /discussion groups...BUT whatever it was, it seems to have fixed! no problems at all with my last 4 posts.

    now, i hope i didn't just JINX myself!

    happy day! :]

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  8. Love the look of rain drops on flowers and foliage and not having to water is a nice bonus! That sure is a cool spider web.

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  9. You have a charming home, Laura! It fits right in! It was lovely to see all the raindrops glistening on your flowers and the little creatures coming out to play after the rain :)

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  10. Ahh moisture. What a nice place to come to after a week in the desert!
    That spider web made me dizzy looking at it, I can't imagine making it!!

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  11. great colours and i love the spider photo .....xx

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  12. thanks for stopping by kateri, desiree, stacey tumbleweed and artymess!
    for anyone who happens to get these 'comment' updates...i've got MORE spider info from Shawn of StokesAnimalLibrary...he says that when you see the zig-zag on the Argiope's web...it means that a male came to mate with her.
    the male put that zig-zag pattern into her web.

    hmmmm...must be his way of 'marking' her as 'taken'...
    or 'just another notch on his bedpost' !!??

    ((i added this interesting tidbit to end of post...))

    thanks to all who came by...and even left a note... :]laura

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  13. Gorgeous wildlife photos!

    Di

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  14. I'm dragging up the rear Laura...love yur cool, refreshing photos. Ah, the rain drops. And, yes, the zipper web. I've seen those spiders before and the webs, but didn't know what they were either. The poinsettia plant is very cool. If that's your house, it's really neat!!! Sounds like you're staying busy. See Ya!

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  15. I'm not sure which is cooler the spider or the web..great artwork by Mr/Mrs Spider and your with shooting it! All your photos are just summertime enchantment! Very stunning! Thanks for stopping my posts too, and for all your nice comments! Have a great week...!

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  16. the zipper spider zips up the females web before he leaves . . . oh my .... that is funny
    the arachnid's chastity belt

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  17. I love the spidey. It's definitely a one of the argiopes. When I was a kid, the grownups used to call them "writin' spiders" and said that if you ever saw your name in one of their webs, it meant that your time was up. Pretty scary thing to tell a little kid.

    Love the photos.

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  18. What a lovely bunch of colorful rain-washed plants and bugs :)

    I gotta say, though, that I'm not sure that explanation about the spider web is more than an old wives' tale. According to BugGuide: These orbweavers often place a conspicuous zigzagging white silk banner in their webs called the "stabilimentum" which can be used to identify the species. Juveniles of many species spin a spiralling stabilimentum from the center of the web. The function of the stabilimentum is not fully understood. Hypotheses are: that it stabilizes the web, or makes it more apparent to birds which will thus not fly into and wreck it, or it reflects light to attract insect prey, or perhaps most likely helps to camouflage the spider in the web.

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  19. Snappy Di, Susan, Karen S, Kel and bunnits! thanks for walking through after the rain...
    YEP! that's our little home...
    the zipper chastity! ouch!
    i hope i never seen my name in that web. well, i'm not gonna even look...

    have a great day! :]

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  20. thanks Cindy! yep! you're right...and i'll add your explanation as another PS to my post! but Shawn's wive's tale is a tale of an explanation! ha! thanks for stopping by!!

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  21. I have never learned so much about a spider in such a short time! And she is such a beauty as well.

    I have got to tell you, I just love your home! And for some reason I read that now you don't have to drag your home around... whic really made no sense, but I had thisimage of moving a house where it rained in order to get it cleaned on the outside.

    Isn't the mind a marvelous thing?

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thanks for stopping by! it's always nice to hear from fellow wanderers!