2309_0315 Banded Garden Spider with Grasshopper Prey

            Arachnid eats insect! Unlike yesterday's grasshopper, this one wasn't so lucky. This is the underside or ventral view of a female Banded Garden Spider, spinning silk to enshroud the hapless hopper she has already killed. Her spinneret - the silk producing organ - is that circular brown shape on her upper abdomen ("upper" because her preferred position is upside down). 

Backgrounds are very important in macro photography, and here my result is sub-optimal: too much detail. Yet I felt I needed f/16 to have enough depth of field to get both the live and dead subject in focus. And I was unable to maneuver into a better position. In retrospect, I wish I had tried some wider f-stops as well, but I was nearing the end of a long, hot day, and probably addled. 

Tomorrow, a portrait of this species, without cocooned prey, but with a better background.

Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Taken in: Canada / Saskatchewan / Rosefield (show map)

Taken on: September 10, 2023

Tags:

Banded Garden Spider

Argiope trifasciata

arachnid

grasshopper

insect

prey

dead

cocooned

wrapped

web

spiderweb

silk

macro

close up

wild

prairie

Grasslands National Park

Saskatchewan

Canada

copyrighted

James R. Page

2023 « less

Sets appears in: • Best 2023 • Insects & Arachnids more » • Predator-Prey Relationships « less

Camera: Nikon D850, f/16.0, 1/500 sec, 180mm, ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D850
Lens:	105.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/16.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length:	180mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	-1/3 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 22.5 (Macintosh)
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