More Adventures with Arthropods

Dirt Dauber carried a paralyzed wolf spider

Morning Glories

 This weekend, while spending time at Owl's Knob I spotting a dirt dauber carrying a paralyzed spider. I wrote recently about how dirt daubers sting spiders, paralyzing them, then store them inside their nest along with an egg. I snapped a picture of this rare instance before the dirt dauber became startled and flew off, leaving the paralyzed spider on a leaf. I touched it to find that's it's legs were soft, not rigid like they are when the creature is dead. The spider's legs were bound up close to it's body, but after touching it, the spider twitched. It was an interesting find.

Walking stick on a
Red Oak Leaf

I tried to show my son how fascinating the paralyzed spider was, but he didn't see anything special about it. Later on however we came across a praying mantis which he was very curious about. We also found a huge walking stick in a red leaf. I also found it to be a bit strange that the morning glories outside my green house were blooming.
It is interesting that it seems like more life is around me all the time. But I don't think that there is any more to see this past year than there ever has been before. I believe it is my perspective that has changed. Now that I write about nature on this blog and work at the Ozark Natural Science Center, I notice more all the time. Just imagine what you could see if you made an effort to notice more too.