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Yellow & Black Garden Spider (Argiope Aurantia)

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Yellow & Black Garden Spider (Argiope Aurantia) (spider patch, around Parson’s pond, along boardwalk) Yellow & Black Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) Q: What well-known cartoon character looks like s/he is hanging out on the back of this spider? A: Marge Simpson (or one of those weird Gary Larson women) Yellow & Black Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) Q: Where would you find the male spider? A: The male is much smaller than the female and can often be found hanging out around the edge of the female’s web. One of the big jobs a male spider has is letting the female know that he is not food. Some males puck special tunes on the web, some males wait until the female has just molted – so her fangs are still soft. Some males throw some silk around the female and bind her up. Spider sex is a wild and wooly proposition! Yellow & Black Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) Q: What is that zig-zaggy thing down the middle of the web??? A: It’s called a stabilimentum. It was given this name because it was thought to provide stability. It doesn’t. It may act as camouflage. (It is always built by spiders that sit in the middle of their webs.) It may also reflect uv light and warn birds not to fly into the web. The uv light may actually attract insect prey. (We don’t really know – which is cool!) Yellow & Black Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) Q: What does the egg sac of this spider look like? And how many eggs does it hold? A: The egg sac is a beautiful pear-shaped structure. It is her magnum opus. She dies not too long after its construction. (She may actually produce from 1 to 3 sacs, most often 1.) Each sac contains 300-1400 eggs! Yellow & Black Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) Q: How does A. aurantia make her egg sac? A: She constructs her egg sac hanging downwards in her web. First she builds a scaffold, followed by a rectangular roof on which she spins a thick tuft of fluffy silk. Into this silk bed she spins a firmer sheet of silk and lays her eggs upwards against it. The she spins a fluffy covering and over this a padded finer covering of silk that hardens and turns a brownish color. (To summarize: 6 different sheets, tufts or covers, making three envelopes!). (spider patch, around Parson’s pond, along boardwalk) Silver-banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata) Q: These spiders often hang with their “belly” side visible (as opposed to their “back”). What is the circular looking structure in the middle part of their abdomen? A: Her spinnerets! These are the structures that produce silk. Many orb weavers produce up to 7 kinds of spider silk. Spinnerets are actually made up of hundreds to thousands of tiny silk-producing spigots. Silver-banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata) Q: Why do these spiders seem to suddenly appear in autumn? Where have they been the rest of the year? A: They’ve actually been around since the spring – only smaller and lower down in the vegetation. In fall, they (especially the females) grow larger, reproductively active, prepare to make their egg cases, and die. This is one strategy for getting through the hard times. Make a waterproof egg case. Stick the next generation in it (pass your genes on) and exit the scene. Silver-banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata) Q: How can you tell a silver-banded egg sac from a yellow & black garden spider egg sac? A: Silver-banded garden spiders make egg sacs with flat tops, whereas yellow & black garden spiders make egg sacs that are pear shaped. Í silver-banded yellow & black Î (spider patch, around Parson’s pond, in coyote bush in Garden Club Canyon) Pumpkin Spider (Araneus trifolium) Q: Look at the orb web of this spider. Is it hanging straight up & down with respect to the ground – or is it oriented at an angle? A: An angle. …. Why might this be? What if the spider had to drop suddenly to avoid a predator, or to capture an insect? She doesn’t want to get stuck in her own web – so she orients the web at an angle to ground. The angle also comes in handy when she cleans her web. Pumpkin Spider (Araneus trifolium) Q: Why is it important to look for the web of this spider and not the spider herself? A: She is often in a retreat off to the side of her web. You can always find the retreat by looking for a strand of silk the leaves the center of the web and goes off to what often looks like a clump of leaves. She hangs out in her retreat with one of her legs on this signal line. Tip: Use a mirror to show the kids the spider. Pumpkin Spider (Araneus trifolium) Q: What’s the deal with those white spots? A: They are actually nitrogenous waste that collects. When the spider molts, these white spots disappear. The pumpkin spiders in the same area can have a lot of pattern variation on their abdomen. Pumpkin Spider (Araneus trifolium) Q: As autumn progresses, why does it seem that we see more and more webs that looked like they’re not being maintained? A: The spider is putting more and more of her energy into egg production. When the cost of web repair is no longer worth the energy taken away from reproduction, the web is shut down. If you are REALLY LUCKY you will see a spider with a deflated abdomen preparing her egg sac (usually in lower vegetation). (spider patch, boardwalk, in trailside vegetation) Debris Spider (Cyclosa conica) Q: People often get confused between the debris spider and the condo (or labyrinth) spider. What’s the difference? A: The debris spider has a single orb web with a string of debris down the center (this is also a stabilimentum like the zigzag in the garden spider webs). The debris spider hangs out in the middle of this string of debris. The condo spider has a messy-looking web and a perfect orb web. It’s retreat is in the middle of the messy portion of the web made of leaves and bits of vegetation. Debris Spider (Cyclosa conica) Q: What does the debris spider use to make its “string of debris” or stabilimentum? A: The debris consists of plant material, as well as dry prey items. When she is ready to lay eggs they are added to the line of debris. Debris Spider (Cyclosa conica) Q: What does the debris spider actually look like? A: There are actually 4 species of debris spider (Cyclosa) in the bay area. BLP’s most common one is Cyclosa conica, named for the cone-like projection on the end of its abdomen. I teased one to the top of her web to get a photo. (Spider patch, edges of Parson’s Pond, ceanothus & coyote bush in Garden Club Canyon) Labyrinth (Condo) Spider (Metepiera sp.) Q: Where in all of this silk can one find the spider? A: Look in the messy portion of the web. There will be a tangle of leaves and junk. This is where the spider builds her retreat. The spider sits hidden in her retreat with a line to the orb hub to sense prey. The retreat is usually made of a leaf rolled conically, open end down. It is usually possible to view her with a mirror. Labyrinth (Condo) Spider (Metepiera sp.) Q: We can see the egg sacs of the garden spiders, what do the egg sacs of condo spiders look like? A: Condo spiders enclose their eggs in lenticular (shape of a double convex lens) sacs. The first egg sac is formed near the entrance of the retreat and the others are placed successively in a line below it and fastened to a strong cord of silk. There are usually 5-6 sacs with about 30 eggs in each. The cord supporting the egg sac is stretched between two branches and is strengthened with additional draglines. Egg sacs can survive winter storms and will be held securely in place after all traces of the web have disappeared. (Although some accounts say that the young spider hatchlings use the messy web portion as a nursery.) Labyrinth (Condo) Spider (Metepiera sp.) Q: Often we see many of these spiders in close proximity in the same bush. What is this about? A: We don’t really know! There’s some debate that condo spiders might be semi-colonial. Large Ceanothus bushes may sport as many as twenty labyrinth webs, each branch opening supporting one or more spiders. (If you drive to the preserve through the Olema Valley on a misty morning, you can see many, many webs. I stopped counting at 100 one morning – only because I was going to be late for an appointment.) This is a good question to ask the kids. See if they can come up with a hypothesis. Talk to them about the scientific process! (along trail banks and road cuts: up Griffin trail from Sheerin Bridge; on way to Garden Club Canyon) Trapdoor Spider (Bothriocyrtum californicum) Q: What is proper trapdoor spider etiquette? A: Use a very small twig to lift the door. Anything heavy has a higher chance of damaging the door. I recommend letting the children watch as YOU lift the door. Have them look for other trapdoors on the bank. When they think they’ve found one, have them point it out and YOU lift it. In areas that are used often, we usually try to designate one or two trapdoors that are used and save the rest of them from disturbance.
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