Bola Spider

danielj

November 18th, 2006 at 1:00 am

Categories

Bola (bolas) spider
What a wonderful site you have! I do not have an insect I wish to identify, but I do have a spider that I think you will appreciate having on your site. It is a bola (or bolas) spider (please correct me if I am wrong). I’ve never seen one in my 52 years, and I spent 12 hours over several nights getting the following shots. It was very hard to catch her while her droplet of attractant was hanging. Any disturbance and she would reel it back up for a half hour. Lighting was from two separate 8-LED flashlights mounted on both sides of the camera.

bola steve 1 Bola Spider bola steve 2 Bola Spider

I was also fortunate enough to find her daytime resting spot (she looked just like a bird dropping). To top it off, weeks later she made an egg sack! (I didn’t know what image size you desire, hope these aren’t too poor quality, or too large a download).
Steve Davis
Wadesville, Indiana

bola resting steve Bola Spider bola egg steve Bola Spider

Hi Steve,
Your are far too humble. Your photos are wonderful. Your night action photos are quite spectacular. According to Audubon: “This spider does not spin a web, but produces a dangling silken line with a globule at the end that resembles the South American bola. Supposedly the 2 protuberances on the spider attract male moths. The spider waits for the moth to approach, then throws its bola at the moth, usually snaring its wings. The spider drops down on a line spun from its spinnerets and eats the entrapped moth.”

Bolas spider. (11/21/2006)
Daniel:
That bolas spider story and images are just too cool!!! I have never seen one either. I didn’t know they ranged that far north, actually. I was under the impression they were chiefly tropical arachnids. They are not little tiny things, either! My understanding is that the spider actually manufactures a secretion that mimics the pheromones of certain moth species, thus attracting the male moths. Whether this substance is on the spider itself, or applied to the globular ball, I don’t know. Truly fascinating, though. The submitter should get some kind of award for his patience and observation skills!
Eric
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Lisa.

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Comments 3

Gydney wrote:
I live in Torrance area of southern California, and just found a Bola(s) in my backyard. Thought it was a tiny frog at first, ’till I turned it over and saw the legs! I have never seen one around here before, in 60 years. My old reference book says east coast only. But looks like they’ve moved slowly across the continent. There is a great video on youtube from the science series that David Attenborough did on the BBC, showing one throwing its bola and catching a moth. Amazing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfoGdt_4bYk&NR=1
Posted 09 Jul 2009 at 4:42 pm ¶
bendhall wrote:
Hey Daniel, You took some great pictures. Thanks for the article post. I am putting together a short video about the Bola Spider. Would it be possible for me to use the pictures you took in my video? Please email and let me know. Thank you Daniel!
Benjamin =)
Posted 01 Sep 2010 at 10:51 am ¶
bugman wrote:
Dear bendhall,
DAniel did not take the photographs. Rather the photographs were submitted to What’s That Bug? and the rights to the images remain with the photographer.
Posted 01 Sep 2010 at 10:53 pm ¶