When a Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) traps a prey in its web, it often moves so quickly to wrap it up completely that it is difficult to identify the prey. That was not the case with the damselfly that I spotted yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as it was being encased in a silken shroud.
The damselfly looks to be a bluet damselfly and if pressed, I’d guess that it might be a Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) or possibly a Big Bluet (Enallagma durum). The spider seems to be experiencing the same kind of problem that I encounter when I am trying to wrap an awkwardly-shaped present at Christmas time—it is hard to be neat and tidy, the process uses up lots of wrapping material, and the package always end up irregularly shaped and easy to identify.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Incredible photo, Michael–
Great photo. You’ve handled the lighting perfectly in order to capture the detail of the spider and the glow of the spider web.
Thanks, Laura. I took a number of shots and this was the only one that gave a clear view of the damselfly. As for the lighting, I was very fortunate that scene was not in the shadows–mostly the light was coming toward me, so that the web material surrounding the damselfly was lit from behind.
[…] up its captured prey in web material. In case you have never witnessed the process, here’s a link to a 2017 posting that shows a spider wrapping up a freshly caught […]