Six-spotted orb weaver - The great thing about diversity.

Six-spotted orb weavers. Left:  2020, Clearwater BC.  Right:  2026, Wabamun AB

I must see a thousand-plus spiders over the period of a year.  Many of them are familiar.  The long-legged cellar spider (they give me the creeps), jumping spiders (at least 3 species at my home), wolf spiders, and those funnel weavers (barn-funnel spiders) are commonly witnessed.  I can usually spot most of them any time I go into my garage and look around.  I have even found a few black widows (click here), but none in my house, thankfully.

But, it's nice to know that they aren't the only ones.  This morning I saw a European-cross spider, and as you can see above, I photographed a six-spotted spider recently on a trip to Alberta.  I also saw and photographed a spider I had never seen before last week while in Didsbury (Alberta Jewel spider - click here).

The interesting thing about the six-spotted spider is that it is the second one I have seen/photographed.  Their colours were a bit different, as you can see in the above photos, but they were the same species without a doubt.  You can see my original post on the six-spotted orb weaver here.

Although some introduced spiders have displaced the native ones, there is still a huge diversity present.  The reason is simple.  There is no single species of spider that can be successfully competitive in all niches of the environment.  Cellar spiders are not generally found outside the home.  Wolf spiders hunt on the ground.  Jumpers, well, jump and don't rely on webs for most things.  Funnel spiders stay put, black widows like dark, damp areas, and the six-spotted orb weavers can be found outside, on leafy plants, making their home there.

The great thing about diversity is that many different organisms inhabit a wide range of environments, you don't get the same species over and over again.  Sure, there is loss, even extinction, but, as Ian Malcolm said, "Life finds a way."  

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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