This could be the original odd couple . Back on July 1st I tweeted about this strange living relationship between this garden spider and this nest of wasps. These two species had been living seemingly peacefully for almost two weeks at the point of my first tweet.

 

Several days later they were still apparently friendly

A few days ago I checked the location again and to my disappointment I did not see the spider. Yellow Jacket Wasps are powerful warriors and formidable predators. While as adults they tend to consume primarily carbohydrates with sugar rich foods like fruits and tree sap. However they do also collect meats which they feed to their young larva. Spiders in turn do sometimes prey on wasps if the spider is large enough and the wasp is adequately subdued in the spiders web.

This morning I decided to have another look, and low and behold , they are sill living side by side (see top image). The spider looks quite healthy and seems to have put on size since the first photos. It makes me wonder if the disappearance of the spider was perhaps due to it molting.



Both spiders and wasps are considered very beneficial to humans as both remove a large amount of pest insects and so are important for agriculture. Bees have gotten a lot of good press in recent years about how important they are in pollination and while this is great, many other species also deserve a more positive spotlight.

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