{"id":26656,"date":"2015-07-13T04:22:51","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T10:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=26656"},"modified":"2026-03-18T07:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:00:14","slug":"antelope-island-is-becoming-spiderific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/07\/13\/antelope-island-is-becoming-spiderific\/","title":{"rendered":"Antelope Island is becoming Spiderific!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DarkDark Female Western Spotted Orbweaver – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Antelope Island State Park’s Spider Festival<\/span><\/a> is just a few weeks away and the spiders and their webs are already making an appearance. Yesterday I couldn’t resist taking a few images of the spiders in their webs yesterday.<\/p>\n

I think these are all Western Spotted Orbweavers (Neoscona oaxacensis<\/em>) but some appear to be different subspecies. I think this one is Neoscona oaxacensis dorsum <\/em>but I am not 100% certain on that. Any help with ID would be appreciated.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Western Spotted Orbweaver on Antelope Island – Nikon D810, f13, 1\/500, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I know some people get creeped out by spiders but as long as they aren’t crawling on me I am not bothered by them and find them to be interesting subjects. I even think of them as beautiful.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Western Spotted Orbweaver in her web – Nikon D810, f13, 1\/500, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The north end of the island is a great place to see the spiders up close even without leaving your vehicle. You can pull over to the side of the road where there are bushes and easily see the spiders and their webs.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Western Spotted Orbweaver on a stick – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The spiders trap insects in their webs and that is fine with me because they keep the numbers of mosquitoes down! I don’t like biting bugs and anything that gets rid of them naturally is great.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Western Spotted Orbweaver weaving a web – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/1600, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On August 8th the 3rd Annual Antelope Island Spider Festival will take place, the activities start at 11 am and run through 6 pm. There will be walks and talks and fun for everyone.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Western Spotted Orbweaver on Antelope Island – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The park staff will talk about which spiders are harmless and which to look out for. And if spiders aren’t your thing there are always other animals, flowers, birds, and views to see.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Western Spotted Orbweaver photos and here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Antelope Island State Park’s Spider Festival is just a few weeks away and the spiders and their webs are already making an appearance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,1022,26,1174],"tags":[2378,10243,5987,3901,2381,4293,102,4032],"class_list":["post-26656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","category-western-spotted-orbweaver","tag-neoscona-oaxacensis","tag-orbweaver","tag-orbweavers","tag-spider","tag-spiders","tag-western-spotted-orbweaver","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-4651.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-6VW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10036,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/31\/creepy-crawly-spiders-for-halloween\/","url_meta":{"origin":26656,"position":0},"title":"Creepy Crawly Spiders for Halloween","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"First, I want to admit something. I don't think spiders are creepy or crawly. They do crawl at times but I think they are beautiful creatures.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mabel Orchard Orbweaver and web, Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mabel-Orchard-Orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-1370.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mabel-Orchard-Orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-1370.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mabel-Orchard-Orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-1370.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mabel-Orchard-Orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-1370.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47976,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/05\/time-for-antelope-islands-spiderfest\/","url_meta":{"origin":26656,"position":1},"title":"Time for Antelope Island’s SpiderFest!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is the day for SpiderFest on Antelope Island State Park, a celebration of the interesting spiders that live on the island.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Western Spotted Orbweaver in her web, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-8556.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-8556.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-8556.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-8556.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53031,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/10\/spiders-of-antelope-island-they-arent-so-creepy\/","url_meta":{"origin":26656,"position":2},"title":"Spiders Of Antelope Island – They Aren’t So Creepy","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year in August Antelope Island has a SpiderFest where there are walks and talks about the spiders of that live on the island, I love photographing them and they really aren't so creepy as they seem to be.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Western Spotted Orbweaver and friend, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Western-spotted-orbweaver-female-mia-mcpherson-6667.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Western-spotted-orbweaver-female-mia-mcpherson-6667.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Western-spotted-orbweaver-female-mia-mcpherson-6667.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Western-spotted-orbweaver-female-mia-mcpherson-6667.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":92025,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/11\/antelope-island-spider-fest-2021\/","url_meta":{"origin":26656,"position":3},"title":"Antelope Island Spider Fest 2021","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Antelope Island Spider Fest starts on August 2, 2021 and continues through August 7, 2021 this year.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Western Spotted Orbweaver in her web next to the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-and-web-mia-mcpherson-8398.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-and-web-mia-mcpherson-8398.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-and-web-mia-mcpherson-8398.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-and-web-mia-mcpherson-8398.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":72070,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/22\/focusing-on-the-spiders-of-antelope-island-state-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":26656,"position":4},"title":"Focusing On The Spiders Of Antelope Island State Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent some time yesterday morning focusing on photographing the spiders of Antelope Island State Park on the island and the causeway to it because this is a great time of the year to see them.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Spotted Orbweavers hanging in their webs, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-july-mia-mcpherson-8394.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-july-mia-mcpherson-8394.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-july-mia-mcpherson-8394.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-july-mia-mcpherson-8394.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47751,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/20\/mule-deer-doe-with-a-western-spotted-orbweaver-webs-on-her-face\/","url_meta":{"origin":26656,"position":5},"title":"Mule Deer Doe with a Western Spotted Orbweaver & Webs on Her Face","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't resist photographing birds or wildlife up close so I swung my lens around and focused on the face of the Mule Deer and laughed out loud because she was covered in spiderwebs.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mule Deer doe with spiderwebs and a spider on her face, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mule-deer-spider-webs-mia-mcpherson-5904.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mule-deer-spider-webs-mia-mcpherson-5904.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mule-deer-spider-webs-mia-mcpherson-5904.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mule-deer-spider-webs-mia-mcpherson-5904.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}