Web Watching

Larry Weber has the perfect name for a lifelong spider and web watcher. He was a science teacher for more than 40 years and received the Minnesota Secondary Science Teacher of the Year and the National Biology Teacher Association’s Middle School Life Science Teacher of the Year awards. He has a weekly radio phenology program, a phenology column for a local newspaper and is one of the founders of the Minnesota Phenology Network. Larry taught University for Seniors for several years and also teaches many Minnesota Master Naturalist courses. He is also the author of Butterflies of the North Woods, Spiders of the North Woods, Fascinating Fungi of the North Woods, Backyard Almanac, Webwood: Seasons of Life in the North Woods, and Minnesota Phenology. Larry lives on an old farmstead in Carlton County, Minnesota, where daily walks keep him in tune with the phenology of our northern flora and fauna.

1 A Guide to Web Watching


2 Spider Classification


3 Insect & Spider Comparison


4 Spider External Anatomy


8 Spider Internal Anatomy


9 Spinnerets & Silk


10 Silk Glands


12 Spider Silk


13 Types of Webs


17 Other Uses for Silk


17 Web Construction


24 Web Destruction


25 Web Watching Tips



SPECIES ACCOUNTS



28 COB WEBS


--30 Theridiidae


--36 Pholcidae


--38 Dictynidae


40 SHEET WEBS


--42 Linyphiidae


--48 Hahnidae


50 FUNNEL WEBS


--52 Agelenidae


--56 Amaurobiidae


58 ORB WEBS


--60 Araneidae


--106 Tetragnathidae


--116 Uloboridae



PHOTO GALLERIES



120 Insects Caught in Webs


122 Dewy Webs


124 Frosty Webs


125 Snowy Web


126 Dusty Webs


127 Seeds in Webs


130 Other Silk Constructions


132 Man-made Web Substrates



133 Titles of Interest


134 Photo Credits


135 Index