Signature Spider...

 

About the Signature Spider

Scientific Name:
Argiope anasuja

Also Known As:

• Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Writing Spider (North America)
• Wasp Spider (Germany and the rest of Europe)
• St. Andrews Cross Spider (Australia)
• Kogane-Gumo (Japan and East Asia)

 This spider weaves four zigzag stripes in its web, and holds its legs together in pairs. It holds its legs in pairs to disguise itself as a four legged creature and to not appear to look like a spider. There are 75 different species of this spider but they all look the same. Their colours in between their stripes may vary, but they all have the black and yellow stripes.

They build their web only about a metre off the ground to catch low-flying insects such as bees and wasps that travel from flower to flower. Their web is almost invisible, except for the zigzag strips. These strips are known as the stabilmentum. The spiders form these strips to warn bigger animals of the web’s location, so they won’t destroy it by walking through it.

When they have the web built, they line up their legs with the white strips of zigzagging silk. The centre of the web is hollow and this is where the spider sits. They group their legs together to appear as a four-legged creature. When their legs are together, the hair on their legs intertwine and act as a sun reflector along with the bright white X in its web. They do this because they know bright colours attract insects such as bees and wasps. Their legs reflect the sun and with their brightly coloured body they fool their prey into thinking they are a flower.

Like most spiders, the male is much smaller than the female. After mating, the female kills the male. The male spider spins a web alongside the females web, known as the companion web. The female lays her eggs onto this companion web and wraps them up into a sac. This sac can hold from 400 to 1,400 eggs inside. The eggs hatch in autumn, but they remain locked inside until spring. The young spiders in the sac are cannibals, and they eat each other to stay alive  until they are strong enough to break through the sac walls.

Signature spiders are able to eat an insect twice their size, and this is all they eat. Their venom is harmless to humans, but these spiders may bite you if you disturb them. Their venom is used worldwide in therapeutic medical agents and some beauty products.


Source: http://scienceray.com/biology/zoology/the-signature-spider/