In honor of Halloween, I’ve decided to write about creepy crawlies. Orb weaver’s webs are popular design that have been used for Halloween spider web decorations. There is a black-and-yellow garden spider (or yellow garden orb-weaver, golden orb-weaver) that made its home in the bush on the sidewalk leading to SEU. Since I couldn’t take a picture of head of spider, it is covered in short and silver hair. This spider is female because of it’s size; male is only half of the female’s size. Also, only female spiders that create web, male spiders usually don’t create webs and they always wander in search for female spider to mate with.
The web has zig-zag pattern on the web and I was not sure what that is for. It is called stabilimenta and the purpose of it is not determined yet. It had been assumed that it is for keeping birds from flying through the web, increase stability of the web, or capturing the prey (by camouflaging the bright spider). Other suspected that male spiders would make their own zig-zag pattern near or on outer part of the female spider’s web and court the female spider by making vibration with their zig-zag lines.
This spider is active during day and they will capture prey and eat during the day. The prey ranges from grasshoppers, moths, wasps, and mosquitoes. Larger orb weavers (not this species, but in same Argiope genus) had been observed eating small frogs or hummingbirds if they got caught in web. Orb weaver spiders also eat parts its own web and replace with new silk everyday, it is suspected that eating web because it probably have small insects.
My iNaturalist can be found here.
I took a video on other day of the spider eating its prey.