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Comments & ID Thoughts
Greetings. I do not have photo of the spider bu this is its handiwork. This photo captures an annual event at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge in Dallas, Oregon. Each November this web that covers hundreds of acres of marshland appears. Can anyone please point me to the probable spider that does this? Thanks!
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Sep 23, 2020
- Photographed: Nov 6, 2019
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Dallas, Oregon, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: Ground layer (leaf litter, dirt, grass, etc),Open field, pasture, prairie, grassland
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes:
Given the sheer extent of these webs, I think they must be home to a large colony. Only one type of spider, the Communal Spider (genus Anelosimus) forms colonies large enough to do something like this. However, these webs might not actually be spider webs; I think it’s just as likely they are from webworms. Webworms can form huge colonies, and their webs are much thicker and more visible than most spider webs, since they don’t use them to trap prey but rather to protect themselves.
Thanks so much! It is interesting that the refuge management is aware of this annual event but does not know what causes it. I will check out webworms. Cheers!