Spooky spiders

Posted 10/30/24

I was working in the barn a couple of weeks back when all of a sudden, I heard a loud scream. I raced two stalls down where a couple of folks were working, expecting to see an injured person. On …

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Spooky spiders

RR photos by Scott Rando

This daring jumping spider (Phidippus audax) and other species of jumping spiders do not use webs to trap prey. Instead, this species stalks its prey slowly, then speedily jumps at its prey when close enough. Then it envenomates the prey with its fangs. Jumping spiders will also jump to clear small gaps during travel. It may spin a “rappel line” with its spinnerets in case it misses its prey. The iridescent chelicerae are very evident, and it has excellent binocular vision with its array of compound eyes.

RR photos by Scott Rando

A yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) was indeed in a garden during the taking of this photograph, though they can be anywhere there are plants to anchor its web. Garden spiders are orb-weaving spiders (they spin circular webs) and are fairly large. The strange crisscross pattern in the web below the spider is called a stabilimentum; its purpose is unknown, but some biologists theorize it is there to warn birds from flying through the web and destroying the spider’s handiwork. This spider has a prey item, perhaps a fly, wrapped in silk.

RR photos by Scott Rando

I was able to avoid this marbled orb weaver (Araneus marmoreus); its web stretched across a trail that I was traveling a couple weeks back. This orb-weaving spider prefers a moist forest habitat, such as that found near a stream. This is likely a male, as the female has a much larger abdomen. The markings on both sexes are yellow abdomens with dark markings; the cephalothorax (head and midsection) is dark red to purple in some cases. This image shows the ventral, or lower, side of the spider.

Posted Wednesday, October 30, 2024 11:55 am

I was working in the barn a couple of weeks back when all of a sudden, I heard a loud scream. I raced two stalls down where a couple of folks were working, expecting to see an injured person. On arriving, I heard one of the people say, “There was a spider.” All was OK with no one hurt, and the spider made its escape; the size and species of this fearsome critter remains unknown.

Arachnophobia, or the fear of spiders, is fairly common among people. Some of the causes, according to experts, include an evolutionary response; another could be a learned fear response—parents or siblings are afraid of spiders, so the person had learned the same fear, for example. There are a few spiders, such as the black widow or the brown recluse, that can cause a harmful bite. Most species of spiders in our region are harmless to humans, though they might look fearsome.

Spiders are in the order Araneae. Unlike insects, spiders have eight legs and lack antennae. There is a misunderstanding that only a few spiders are venomous. Nearly all spiders are venomous; they inject their insect prey with venom to incapacitate and digest them; most spiders have chelicerae (mouth pieces) with fangs incapable of penetrating human skin. They hunt by either spinning a web to trap insects in intricate nets composed of spider silk, or by stalking prey. It seems I literally run into lots of webs in the woods (many of them from orb weavers) while walking narrow trails. I try to bypass the webs if I see them in time and let the spiders be.

The arrival of Halloween brings forth some strange sights indeed. Glowing jack-o’-lanterns, crazy-looking black cats and witches on broomsticks are among a few items seen during this season. When it comes to spiders, you will see a few of them too. They might come knocking on your door during trick-or-treat time.

When it comes to the real ones, stand back and look at some of the varied web designs used to catch pesky flies, and take a look at the spiders themselves; some spiders are very colorful. That web in the garden might belong to an attractive-looking yellow-and-black arachnid: behold the spooky spiders.