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| ...environment. It feeds on the nectar of Eupatorium or ivy blossoms and on the juices of fallen fruits. Red admiral caterpillars are black and yellow. They feed exclusively on large nettles and are solitary, living on leaves joined together with their silk. The red admiral is a migrant species and flies to Northern Europe in May. It returns to Southern Europe in October for the winter. The red admiral produces 2 new generations per year. | | |
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| It is reported that ants domesticate or enslave other ants from different colonies. Ants which form permanent nests most frequently live beneath the ground. Other forms of dwelling are hill nests, wood nests or silk nests. | | |
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| ...r of sexually mature males appear in the vicinity of the orb-web of the female , where they wait for the female’s readiness to mate. If an insect gets caught in the female’s web, the males race towards it and the fastest spider wraps the prey in silk and offers it as a "bridal gift" to the female. While the female spider eats the gift , the successful male starts a courtship ritual during which it drums and plucks at the threads of the web to get the full attention of the fema... | | |
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| ...r hatching, the larvae feed initially on the surrounding plant substrates. In a later stage of their development they prey on small insects, just as the adultsdo. After the last larval stage, the larvae pupate. The pupae are spun in a cocoon of silk and have long breathing tubes. | | |
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| ...racteristic of these spiders, is the "comb" or “brush” on the feet (tarsi) of their 4th pair of legs, which is made from hairs (setae). The hairs are bent and have fine "teeth" along the edge. They help the spider to wrap its silk around the prey. Hence the name "comb-footed spiders". | | |
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| ... an important sense organ. On the abdomen of the female spiders (Araneae) the genital openings (epigynes) can be found at the bottom. On the underside of the spider’s abdomen is the anus surrounded by 4 to 8 warts. These warts belong to the spider’s silk-spinning organ (spinneret). | | |
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| ...olium in space is limited by deep waves with narrow dark edges which can be golden , bronze or brownish in colour. The underside of the opisthosoma is dark brown and shiny silver with two narrow bands running lengthwise, which stop at the spider’s silk-spinning organ (spinneret). | | |
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| ...s until December). In the morning, after sunrise, they build a transparent tissue, on the upper surface of leaves with upward curving edges, which resembles a tent and serves as a shelter. In order to build a web to catch insects, separate fibres of silk are excreted from the spinnerets into many extremely fine fibres, giving the web a wooly structure. | | |
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| ...y light brown) there are those which are very colourful. Nigma walckenaeri are green. Many species are slightly hairy. What is special to meshweb weavers is that they do not produce sticky threads to catch prey. Instead, they produce a fine, crinkly silk which is spun into irregularly shaped webs on plants. | | |
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 | | European garden spider - side face - on its silk | | >> Picture |
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