Living Dangerously

This diminutive arachnid has been hanging around the kitchen sink for days.

Taking the notion of life on the edge to new heights.....

Hanging-Out on the Porch

I was having coffee on the porch the other day with Blonde Dog when this this 1.5 cm, very plump and decorative spider dropped-in. 

Grabbing my handheld device to Google it - my guess was that it might be a member of the genus Araneus - one of Wisconsin’s multiple orb-weaving spiders. 

I checked with the Bug Guy at the UW Department of Entomology and he confirmed that it is indeed an orb-weaver.  He had this to say: 

Based on the colouration of the abdomen, I suspect it's the "cross orb weaver" (Araneus diadematus) or a close relative. 

With a check of my field guide and the interweb I learned this is commonly known as the European garden spider. It is called the diadem spider, cross spider and crowned orb weaver. It is sometimes called the pumpkin spider. 

This species constructs an intricate geometric web coated with stickum. They spend most of their time on the hub monitoring it for vibrations felt through their legs. After they kill their prey they wrap it in silk thread sometimes consuming it later at their leisure. 

These are common arachnids and there is no special conservation status for this species.  

Pro Tip - If you cut yourself and you haven’t a bandage available you can staunch the bleeding by stuffing the web into your wound. 

All of that aside, it’s nice to have such a cool visitor hanging-around.

 

Along Came a Spider

Monarch butterflies are toxic to critters that eat them as a consequence of feeding-upon their host plant – milkweed. 

During the larval stage of growth as the monarch caterpillar feeds poisonous Cardiac Glycosides found in the milkweed foliage are stored.  This toxin is harmful to vertebrate predators – those predators that have a backbone or spinal column.  It is quite a remarkable defense mechanism.  However, these glycosides have no effect on invertebrate predators. 

Which would explain why a spider has disabled this monarch and is tying it-up with webbing in anticipation of dining-upon it. 

click on image for a closer look

 

There you have it – this is where the strong survive and the weak are killed and eaten.

Gutsy Arachnid Takes a Trip

When I left the Big City the other day to travel to The Platz for some deer hunting I noticed a diminutive, joint-legged invertebrate on the hood of the GMC.  I didn’t think much of it at the time as I was busy loading dogs, cooler and box into the SUV.  Besides, who should be surprised about spiders living in a heated, underground parking garage?  With near constant temperatures, plenty of space to weave a web, no winds or rain, a food supply of other bugs – it’s a good life – much better than that of a wilder cave-dwelling spider.  This was a thoroughly urban spider.  A hipster in the spider world.  And I digress.    

It hadn’t occurred to me at the time if Mr. Spider would stay or flee the motor vehicle.  It was a forgone conclusion that a choice to stay would be at his own peril.  A small critter like this could be whooshed by the slipstream from the hood of the vehicle at freeway speeds and squashed.  Like a bug.  Such mundane bug-world matters of life and death do not ordinarily occupy space between my ears or consume the precious bandwidth remaining in my brain.  Until 133 miles later when I found this… 

click on the spider to enlarge

Yup!  One and the same.  I had stopped for gas at the Red Rocket and as I was cleaning the front glass there was the arachnid - sunning himself on the right front fender.  Not paying me any mind he continued sunning himself.  And I continued about cleaning the glass - wondering all the while how this little guy hung on for dear life at 70+ miles per hour.  And why?  Was this a high-tech spider migration?  That theory made little sense as any self-respecting spider would prefer to travel south.  Pulling the receipt from the pump I casually walked around the truck to give him another look and as I approached he scooted over to the space between the front quarter panel and the hood over the engine compartment and disappeared.  Mystery solved.   

This was the elusive underground garage-dwelling spider that chooses to live in a four-wheeled General Motors Corporation condo.  Smart critter to hide from the menace of high-speed travel beneath the hood.  

Although you’d think he’d choose something quieter…

Spiderman

click on image to enlarge

This is the giant jumping spider.  If you get too close it will leap onto your face, crawl up your nose and eat your brain.  Just kidding.  I made that up to see if you're paying attention.  

Meet Argiope aurantia – commonly known at the yellow garden spider.  It’s rather distinctive with the yellow stripes and thus easily identified.  Common to gardens, farms, fields and forest edges we found this one hanging-around by the corner of the garage.  

A member of the orb-weaver family of spiders the web is eaten and rewoven each day except for periods of time occupied by molting or egg-laying.   Prey includes insects that jump or fly into the web including large meals like grasshoppers.  This spider is capable of taking small lizards if available. 

This is an annual species with the male dying following mating and the female dying with the approach off winter.  Nevertheless, the female will lay a number of egg sacs – each containing as many as 1200 eggs.  The eggs hatch and the tiny spiderlings overwinter within the protective confines of the sac to emerge the following spring.