Diary of a Port Biologist: Sticky Situation

Friday the 13th came early for our trusty intern Patrick and me.

We headed out into the field last Friday to monitor one of the Port's habitat sites. The sun was shining, birds were singing, we were in good spirits as the weekend was upon us.

Then, as we walked further into the site, it grew darker from the tree cover and the shrubs became denser. As I was forging a path, I felt that dreaded wispy thread on my skin. Blech. I walked right into a spider web.

After I freed my face from the web we looked around and noticed spiders. Lots of spiders. Specifically cross orb weaver spiders. They were EVERYWHERE.

If you are an arachnophobe, don't worry! We aren't experiencing an influx of spiders. These spiders are just more visible now because they have grown up over the summer and have reached their mature size (1/4-1 inch not including legs).

Females are larger than males and can be seen this time of year in their round or "orb shaped" webs waiting for males to find them. Females typically build the webs which can be as big as three feet in diameter!