 |
| Cross spider hanging upside down in my tomato bed. |
Its common name, Cross spider, comes from the cross-shaped markings on its abdomen. You may have heard about a NASA experiment that was designed to see how zero gravity would affect the ability of spiders to spin orb-shaped webs. That experiment used two Cross spiders, named Anita and Arabella (sorry, no Charlotte). Cross spiders have also been used to study the effects of psychotropic drugs on orb-spinning. See the blog entry here from Bug Eric.
Only females spin webs. The one in my garden will live only one year. Sometime in late September, she will probably leave the web and hide somewhere protected, where she will lay her eggs for next year's generation.
 |
| Sorry the photo is not better-focused, but here you can see her abdomen markings. |
This spider's bite is completely harmless to humans and only a little bit painful (not that I have any experience.) See the Wikipedia article here. The one in my pictures was startled when I came close enough with my camera to get pictures of her abdomen markings. She ran across the web and tried to hide under a tomato leaf, where her web was anchored.
 | |
| She has actually tried to hide from me before, when I go out to gather tomatoes. I think she's getting a little too big for that leaf. |
The Wiki article says that they eat their webs every night and reconstruct them, but she was been lying here in the same spot in my tomato bed for several days.
 |
| Abandoned web. Perhaps the occupant has already gone on to the big orb in the sky, and left behind her future progeny in a tiny egg sac somewhere in my garden. |
I have these guys all around my yard and garden. They look frightening but are good garden spiders! Great post about them!
ReplyDeleteHoly Cow!!! What a huge spider!. That is the one thing I dislike about Fall...everything is covered with spider webs.
ReplyDeleteThank you for identifying the bush clover for me! I Googled it, and that is indeed what it is. Sounds like a very easy specimen to care for.
Last week when I went to pick the blackberries along the drive, I could hardly find an area without a web and even stuck my arm through a few...finally I gave up and told them "you win".
ReplyDeleteThese spiders are so much a part of the memories of my childhood summers. I learned young, not to be afraid of them and have never been bit by one either. xo
Beautiful photos. I have several of them in my yard, but was never patient enough to look them up. Thank you for the information. They are one of my favorite spiders. Anything that gets that big deserves respect.
ReplyDeleteWe have one that puts a web up every night across the walkway to the front door. Every morning it is gone. We have to be very careful walking out the front door after dark. Great photos!!
ReplyDelete