Tiger spider with lunch

Description:

Description: The common name of this beautiful spider is Wasp Spider. This spider is, like all orb-weavers, not poisonous for us. The adult female has a shining silvery cephalothorax (head) and a yellowish abdomen with black and white bars across it. The adult female is much larger than the male. The male measures between 4 and 6 mm while the female has a full grown size between 14 - 17 mm. When the female is loaded with eggs she can become enormous in size. Argiopes can be easily identified by the zigzag of white silk in their webs. Like all orb-weavers, they have ringed legs. The function of the zigzag of white silk in their web is not clear. There are several ideas what the purpose may be. It may be used to attract insects because it is radiating UV-light and that attract insects. Another explanation is that it is to frighten predators. The spider shakes the web vigorously when something large is approaching and that result in a blurry white spot. Another explanation can be that the spider makes the web clear to see and that should avoid large animals to destroy the web. Read more about them + pix at: www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/Spiders/Araneidae/Argiope/ArgiopeB... Date: 7 August 2007, 20:48. Source: Tiger spider with lunch. Author: Christian Guthier from Oxford, UK.