Melting snow in a spider web

Spring officially began March 20th. The following morning, light snow was falling in Southeast Missouri. Temperatures hovered near freezing and snow that collected only on grass and weeds was melting quickly.

As I searched the forest floor for a photo opportunity, I noticed several small spider webs had collected snowflakes in them. The snow was melting in the webs and subsequently clinging to the web strands as water droplets. I photographed several before I found this one with a small wildflower called a Spring Beauty leaning into the web.

The spider that created this web is called an orb weaver. There are thousands of different kinds of orb weavers across the continent of North America of varying sizes and colors.

Although the spider that built this web hoped for warmer weather and intended to catch an insect, it instead caught snowflakes. The spider had retreated to the cover of leaf litter on the ground and I was rewarded with the beauty of this springtime curiosity.

Through the Woods is a weekly nature photo column by Aaron Horrell. Find this column at semissourian.com to order a reprint of the photo. Find more work by Aaron at The Painted Wren Gallery.