Again the weather is forcing us to take notice. No hurricanes or other dramatic storms hit the Northland, but still we see some surprises. After May, June, July, and August all recorded cooler than normal temperatures, the first part of September has been warmer than normal. The month began even warmer than the August.
This mild reprieve has granted an extended life for nearby nature. Raspberries that enjoyed a thriving, but late, season now stretch their berries well into September. Gardens and field produce that nearly frosted in August continue growing. Elsewhere, we see the grasshoppers, locusts, katydids and crickets are still active in roadsides and fields.
Here too are plenty of the darners and the small meadow hawk dragonflies. And if there are insects, there will be the critters that feed on them.
Spiders have been with us throughout the summer. Among the grasses, flowers and shrubs they hunted their six-legged prey with or without building snares that we call webs. Though spiders without webs outnumber those with webs, it is the webbed ones that we are more likely to perceive at this time. Large circular orb webs hang amid the plants while the web makers hide nearby.
With their population peaking in late summer, they choose every available site for a snare, even sometimes fences or road and stop signs. In the early morning fog and dew, the resident webs appear abundant as we commute. But most numerous at this time is another kind of web -- the funnel web. Coated with the morning droplets, these webs in the grasses of roadsides, yards, and parks may at first look like napkins or doilies dropped out here. When we get closer, we see that they have a hole towards the middle with the owner sitting here. With head and feet at the entrance of this opening, the spider sits alert waiting for prey to stumble onto its trap. Unlike the big circular orb webs, none of these web threads are sticky, so the spider needs to quickly bolt from the hiding place to grasp and subdue the insect prey.
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The spiders are about one-half inch long, not counting the legs and more than one inch when the legs are included. Usually the brown colors hold a few longitudinal stripes. Unlike most other spiders, they appear to have two tails extending from the abdomen. Such "tails" are actually the longest of the spinneret appendages. Used for web or silk-making done, all spiders have them, usually three pairs. The young began growth and development back in the early summer and continued growing all summer. Each spiderling chose a site for itself and formed its webs -- maybe only a few inches in diameter. At times our yards may have held hundreds of miniature webs. With the success of the hunt, they and their webs grew and now in the late summer, we see adults in webs that may be ten to twelve inches across. Cool weather will slow their prey, and the spiders will be forced to move elsewhere for cold-weather hunting. Often they'll move into the window sills or corners of buildings to build their funnels.
Larry Weber is author of the "Backyard Almanac" and "Butterflies of the Northwoods." He lives in Carlton County and teaches natural science at Duluth's Marshall School.
