Last night I was fortunate to witness a mating ritual between two consenting spiders.

As you certainly realize, most male spiders risk their lives every time they want to engage in a bout of fornication. (Much like with humans. Hardy har har.) Male spiders, almost always much smaller than their female rutting partners, stand a good chance of becoming post-coitus dinner.

The species of spider you are looking at in these photos is Kukulcania arizonensis. However, we'll just call them net web spiders. The male is brown with a half inch body. The female is that big ol' velvety black spider. She has a body about one inch long.

Different species of male spiders do different things when approaching females. What they all share in common is that a male must approach a female very tentatively and gently so the female doesn't mistake him for just any typical snack.

In the case of these net web spiders, here is what I saw:

The male stood above the female's web and gently touched the silk threads that radiated out along the wall. The female felt the vibrations and started to climb up out of her tunnel home. When just her head and front legs were visible, the male carefully touched her with his legs. No sudden movements. The female sensed that she was being courted and just sat there quietly. I suspect that there might be some pheromones involved here.

On the tips of spider legs are tiny claws. The male hooked his claws into her front claws and started to tug at her legs. Again, let me emphasize, he was holding the tips of her two front feet with only his claws. You can clearly see this in the second photo. It took him about a minute or so to tug her out of her tunnel and up onto the wall. She seemed to be completely passive during this process, letting the guy do all the work.

But the second she was up on the wall, she lunged at him and he ran quickly away. She climbed back down into her hole. I waited awhile but the luckless suitor didn't come back around.

(Be sure to enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Also, if you like spiders as much as I do, you will see that the male net web spider looks very similar to the fiddle-back spider. Verrrry interesting!

Oh, and I'm not going to write haikus anymore. Just nature photos and some info. Hope that's okay with the handful of you who read this blog.)

We are all strangers
To ourselves and each other,
But we reach out still.

***

Photos from a two-day visit to Arcosanti. It was Dr. Soleri's 90th birthday party and many far-flung alumni made an effort to attend. Wine flowed, gossip exchanged, backs were slapped, laughter erupted, and the wind blew in the summer clouds.

Spin beneath me earth.
Spin above me tiny stars.
Spin away my dreams.

***

Another night-blooming cactus to show you. This flower is as large as two cupped hands. I know that's not much of a measurement but I think you get the idea.

This flower, by the way, looks similar to many cactus flowers with its feathery petals and numerous stamens. And the pistils, too, are often claw-shaped.

The flower is first.
In turn the fruit then the seed.
There is a pattern.

***

With cloudy "cooler" weather, I hike. Digger bees. Cactus wrens. Lizards galore. Dry grass. The only flowers in the desert right now are from the chain-fruit cholla, saguaro, or, above, the barrel cactus.

That's Picket Post Mountain peeking out from behind the saguaros.

(I made the photos extra large so be sure to click on them.)

I find the small things
To be richest in beauty.
Always look closer.

***

These flowers belong to the red bird of paradise plant. I have three of them growing in my yard and LOVE them. First of all, they don't need much water. Second of all, they grow quickly. Third of all, they flower for months on end. Oh, and I should mention that the flowers are psychedelic in color.

Honey bees don't seem to care for the flowers, but smaller solitary bees pollinate them as do butterflies. Even more unusual, this is one of the few flowers I know that attracts wasps. But, instead of poking its head into the flower to get nectar, a wasp will crawl to the flower's stem and take a quick bite (or lick?). I can't see what they are after, but I'm guessing that the plant exudes something sweet at that stem juncture. It's rather odd when you think about it. And think about you should.

You can have your flag
And artificial borders.
What is a country?

***

1) Saguaro flowers have been blooming for a couple of weeks. There will be fruit next month.
2) A nest with three cactus wren fledglings. They remained very still as I took the photo.
3) This is the third scorpion I've found in the house this spring. I let it go over the fence.

Imagination:
It's what brings us together
And tears us apart.

***

These photos are of a night-blooming cactus that I have growing in my backyard. The cactus is about 4' tall and as big around as my thumb. As you can see, the flower is huge in comparison to the spindly plant that produced it. It took the sun about one hour to cause the bloom to wilt.