2025 August 30 afternoon

2025 August 30 afternoon

Aziza Cooper writes: On August 29, this moth was on a car at Salsbury Way.

Neoalcis californiaria (Lep.: Geometridae) Aziza Cooper

Ian Cooper writes: Here are six more pictures from my August 27 photo shoot in View Royal.

I’ve been seeing quite a few Callobius pictus spiders around as well as many Araneus diadematus spiders, including observing some male and female mating ‘engagement’ behaviour. For example, noticing a male and female Araneus diadematus on the same plant and watching them slowly edge close to each other and eventually begin to play ‘footsies’ while still keeping some distance. Also seeing the same two spiders remaining in close proximity on the same plant over a couple of days, as if they had become a live-in couple sharing the same web (to be clear, not an ‘orb’ construction). I suppose someone who has studied these spiders’ behaviour closely would know about such mating dynamics, but to me it was both fascinating and bit of a revelation to see the two relating to each other and also remaining close over time.