Here is a Trashline Orb Weaver (Cyclosa, Araneidae) spider with its prey on our upstairs deck a few days ago. It's a male, as evidenced by his swollen palps. These spiders always have that odd hump on their abdomen. I'm not sure what its prey is -- maybe a winged (alate) Termite (order Isoptera)? I already have my two photos for the Web Wednesday group, but Happy Web Webnesday anyway! (San Marcos Pass, 2 February 2025)

Tags:   spider web male palps Trashline Orb Weaver Cyclosa Araneidae winged alate Termite? Termitoidae Blattoidea Blattodea Isoptera deck San Marcos Pass Santa Barbara County California

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This is another web of a Orb-Weaver Spider (Araneidae) strung between old seed whorls of native Black Sage (Salvia mellifera, Lamiaceae) in the woods a couple of days ago. Happy Web Webnesday! (San Marcos Pass, 1 February 2025)

Tags:   web Orb-Weaver Spider Araneidae Black Sage Salvia mellifera Lamiaceae San Marcos Pass Santa Barbara County California

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Spiders aren't the only ones! This is webbing on a leaf of Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia, Fagaceae) in the woods a couple of days ago. The frass (poop) shows that it's the work of a caterpillar rather than a spider. Happy Web Webnesday! (San Marcos Pass, 31 January 2025)

Tags:   webbing frass skeletonize caterpillar Lepidoptera Coast Live Oak Quercus agrifolia Fagaceae San Marcos Pass Santa Barbara County California

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These are galls of the Live Oak Apple Gall Wasp (Callirhytis quercuspomiformis aka Amphibolips quercuspomiformis) in the family Cynipidae of the order Hymenoptera growing on a native Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia, Fagaceae) tree in the woods today. These galls are similar but different from the galls of the California Gall Wasp (Andricus quercuscalifornicus) in the right of this photo. Coast Live Oak is a "black oak" and some other oaks are "white oaks". They have different galls, which is sometimes useful for telling our different oaks apart. (San Marcos Pass, 4 February 2025)

Tags:   gall Live Oak Apple Gall Wasp Callirhytis quercuspomiformis Amphibolips quercuspomiformis Cynipidae Cynipoidea Parasitica Hymenoptera Coast Live Oak Quercus agrifolia Fagaceae San Marcos Pass Santa Barbara County California

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These are tunnels of leaf-miner caterpillars meandering through pair of leaves of Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia, Fagaceae) in the woods today. You can follow the path of the caterpillars' life from a small start to a big finish, growing as it moves along. (San Marcos Pass, 4 February 2025)

Tags:   leaf-miner caterpillar Lepidoptera Coast Live Oak Quercus agrifolia Fagaceae San Marcos Pass Santa Barbara County California

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