Bugging You From San Juan Island

I feel like my posts have been a bit random. There are so many things I want to share and yet, I find myself getting distracted by something, saying “I’ll come back,” but then something else comes along. Isn’t that called LIFE?

Well, I don’t want you to miss seeing this very cool spider I found (April 11, 2026). I had not seen one of these in a while – over a year. This one was in a perfect place for me to get a few photos and I was happy with how they turned out.

Meet the Trash Line Orb Weaver in the family Araneidae. The species is Cyclosa conica. I believe it’s a “he.” The debris along the web mimics bird droppings. When you look closer, you can usually see remnants of prey left in the line. This looks to have a Painted Lady Bug (Mulsantina picta) saved for a meal.

I believe the yellow bits on the line are pollen. It’s coating everything out here these days. In case you didn’t know, some spiders will actually consume pollen (and even supplement with nectar) when other food sources may be limited or they are too small to catch other invertebrates.

I’ve linked an earlier blog post I wrote up about this spider back in 2023 here https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/tag/cyclosa-conica/ and you can read a bit about spiders consuming pollen when you check out this blog post https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/2022/04/29/ill-have-some-salad-said-the-spider/

If you are interested in a deeper dive about Cyclosa spiders or spiders and pollen, check out the reference section below.

Thanks for reading!

References

Brast, Cynthia. 2021. THE TEENY TINY “TRASHLINE ORB WEAVER” – YES, THAT’S REALLY THE NAME! Bugging You From San Juan Island. https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/tag/cyclosa-conica/

Brast, Cynthia. 2022. I’ll Have Some Salad Said the Spider. Bugging You From San Juan Island. https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/2022/04/29/ill-have-some-salad-said-the-spider/

Bugguide.net. 2021. Genus Cyclosa – Trashline Orb Weavers. https://bugguide.net/node/view/1989

Eaton, E. 2012. Spider Sunday: Trashline Orb Weavers. Bug Eric Blogspot. http://bugeric.blogspot.com/2012/06/spider-sunday-trashline-orb-weavers.html

Eggs B, Sanders D (2013) Herbivory in Spiders: The Importance of Pollen for Orb-Weavers. PLoS ONE 8(11): e82637. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0082637

Nahas, L., Gonzaga, M.O. and Del-Claro, K. (2017), Wandering and web spiders feeding on the nectar from extrafloral nectaries in neotropical savanna. J Zool, 301: 125-132. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12400

Peterson, J.A. Obrycki, J. J. Harwood, J.D. 2016. Spiders from multiple functional guilds are exposed to Bt-endotoxins in transgenic corn fields via prey and pollen consumption. Biocontrol Science and Technology 26:9 (2016), pp 1230–1248. doi 10.1080/09583157.2016.1193591 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/entomologyfacpub/466/#:~:text=formica%2C%20and%20Cyclosa%20turbinata%20(Araneidae,factored%20into%20future%20risk%20assessment.

Trashline Orb Weavers. Missouri Department of Conservation. https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/trashline-orbweavers