Faded into the Mists of Time

Sheet Weaver.


Sheet Weaver (Photo courtesy of Michael Von Gebel)

I got to see one of these for the first time while on a cemetery outing near Cisne, IL.  The Sheet Weaver was on top of a tombstone I was working on.
This Sheet Weaver is sometimes called the “red grass spider,” because of its bright color, this spider is quite large for a linyphiid about 1/4 inch, and is easily spotted. It can be recognized by the black tubercle (bump) at the end of its abdomen . It builds webs in grass, usually a few centimeters off the ground. The web is a sheet about 10 centimeters across, but with a large tangle above the sheet to knock down any passing flies into the sheet below. Florinda is most common in late summer, especially August.
 

This guy showed up this summer outside my home in Missouri. Quite friendly actually he posed for the shots, I thanked him and he went about his business.  I haven't ever seen a Scarlet Snake before.  Quite beautiful.

The Northern Scarlet Snake is a subspecies of harmless colubrid snake that is found in the southern and eastern United States. The northern scarlet snake grows to 14-20 inches in total length. It is typically a gray or white base color with 17-24 red blotches bordered by black that go down the back.

They can sometimes be mistaken for the scarlet kingsnake, or the Eastern milk snake in the areas where their ranges overlap. The northern scarlet snake is a secretive, burrowing species, preferring habitats of soft soils, often in open forest areas or developed agricultural land. They spend most of their time hidden, emerging to feed on small rodents and lizards, but they have a particular taste for reptile eggs, swallowing them whole or puncturing them and consuming the contents