Friday 13 August 2010

Little and Large

Morden Bog is a nature reserve just up the road from where I live and we often go for a walk (well, I walk, my OH goes for a run) on the reserve.   I knew the Wasp Spider was at Morden Bog but I have never seen one until yesterday, thanks to one of my contacts on Flickr, I found them.  I found six females and there was three males.   She is big and he is small, the female is impressive but the poor male, he is tiny and puny in comparison, and if he does not get it right, she will eat him either after or during mating. 

The females did vary in size, this female was the biggest, a real beauty I think, I wonder how many male suitors she has eaten:-)
Wasp Spider

Wasp Spider

In this picture, you can just see the tiny male spider, you have to feel sorry for him, nature can be a bit unkind sometimes, but his desire to mate with this huge female outweighs his fear of being eaten by her. 
Wasp Spider

Wasp Spider