Danger in the flowers

[jeffnles1]

An Arrowhead Orb Weaver hiding out in the flowers of (I believe) Great Blue Lobelia. This was taken about 10am so it was not asleep. I think it was hiding in the flower waiting for some insect to come along.

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[Woody Meristem]

Yup, that sure looks like a great lobelia. The arrowhead orb weaver and its relatives are spinners of webs, usually in the forest understory. In late summer, if it hasn't rained very much, their webs are a real pain to those of us who spend a lot of time in the forest.

 

[jeffnles1]

Yup, that sure looks like a great lobelia. The arrowhead orb weaver and its relatives are spinners of webs, usually in the forest understory. In late summer, if it hasn't rained very much, their webs are a real pain to those of us who spend a lot of time in the forest.

Yes, I've walked into a bunch of them over the years. When my wife and I go out, I'm relegated to "spidy stick" guy, especially when we're the first people to walk down a trail in early morning. Not sure why this one was hiding in the flower. I thought it was a crab spider at first since that is how they usually hunt. Orb weavers, as you said, usually spin webs (across trails I intend to hike).

 

[Larry S.]

Wow! Let’s hear it for the Orb Weavers! They can move quick too. Yup, hiding out in the flowers… You’ll probably be able to catch him on the web also…

 

[jeffnles1]

Wow! Let’s hear it for the Orb Weavers! They can move quick too. Yup, hiding out in the flowers… You’ll probably be able to catch him on the web also…

I've walked into a lot of the webs. Usually, it's crab spiders I see hiding in flowers. I thought this was a crab until I took a closer look. Quite an interesting looking little spider.