Itsy-bitsy spiders!

The most colourful spider I photograped in my garden is
the one pictured above. This photo was taken in March.
But now, with the rains, there's a spider underneath many
a leaf, bud and bloom! And also in their (world wide) webs!!

As a child, I did have a mild case of arachnophobia. But
gardening and later, blogging, has changed my perception of
all creatures around me. If butterflies are welcome, so are
the spiders! In fact it's rainin' spiders now!







The artist is a receptacle for the emotions that come from all
over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of
paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web. ~ Picasso







There are many stories associated with spiders. Here's an
online version.

The ancient Greek poet Ovid spun the tale of a young woman
named Arachne, who boasted that she could weave as well as
the goddess Athena. After a weaving contest between mortal
and goddess, Athena began beating Arachne, who tried to
hang herself in fright. Athena turned the arrogant weaver
into a spider, and Arachne and her descendants have since
then been weavers that hang from threads.





Yellow spider on a golden trumpet leaf.





Pale-looking one on a rain lily.




A tiny orange spider on a basil leaf.




Another yellow on the Nolina plant.





A tiny one on the Ornamental Pineapple.


My good old reference book about nature facts says that spiders
prefer liquid nourishment. A spider paralyzes its prey by inject-
ing venom through a pair of fangs (chelicerae) on its head. Then
it regurgitates stomach juices into the wound, introducing
digestive enzymes into its victim's body. All the prey's internal
organs break down into a liquid mush, which the spider sucks up
through its small mouth opening.












It's a spider-eat-spider world!