We're going to talk about a super predator (and it's not a mesomammal)

When the summer comes to an end and we go out into the mountains, we usually find some animals that have been feeding voraciously since spring. They are formidable predators, feared by many animals. These superpredators do not have the admiration that arouse mesomammals among the public. However, they are animals, with formidable adaptations. The warmest scrub areas of southern provinces dominate, such as Albacete, being another example of our biodiversity. We are talking about the spiders of the genus Argyope.

These spiders build large cobwebs, often tending cobwebs anchored in thickets several meters apart, up to 5 or 6 meters apart. And for that, they pull a very thick thread from which they hang the cobweb. Many times walking through the field what we notice is how a thick thread is attached at chest level and then in a while we encounter these formidable spiders.

Another circumstance in which we can easily find the Argyope It is in the mornings at the end of summer, when the fog casts on the cobwebs and reveals the traps of these patient hunters.

The large cobwebs they build are formidable traps for all types of flying insects, from the smallest to the largest. The day we took the photos, all the cobwebs had several moths that the spiders were keeping a good handle on them.

In Albacete we can find three Agyope different, to differentiate them you can look at the abs he has drawn Guillermo García-Sahúco on his blog.

Males are ridiculously small compared to females. Basically, they are carriers of male gametes and nothing else. The females will feed and protect the offspring fiercely.

Although they are not the most popular and admired animals, we cannot deny their beauty.