Sometimes I see life on the farm, not by what it is, but by what is has left behind. On fall and spring days I look to the fields when the sun is low in the sky. Occasionally I'll catch a site that's difficult for the camera to distinguish - a lace of gossamers over the fields. They are spider silk left by hatchling spiders that have ballooned onto the wind. The spiderlings hatch from silky cocoons (egg cases) by the hundreds. Competition is fearsome and spiderling actually try to eat each other. To avoid this fate, the spiderlings disperse using an interesting strategy. They climb to a high point, tilt their abdomens upward, release silk lines and, since they are so light, simply float off on the wind. On some days you can see these silk gossamers practically covering a field.
Sometimes I see life on the farm, not by what it is, but by what is has left behind. On fall and spring days I look to the fields when the sun is low in the sky. Occasionally I'll catch a site that's difficult for the camera to distinguish - a lace of gossamers over the fields. They are spider silk left by hatchling spiders that have ballooned onto the wind. The spiderlings hatch from silky cocoons (egg cases) by the hundreds. Competition is fearsome and spiderling actually try to eat each other. To avoid this fate, the spiderlings disperse using an interesting strategy. They climb to a high point, tilt their abdomens upward, release silk lines and, since they are so light, simply float off on the wind. On some days you can see these silk gossamers practically covering a field.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home