|
|
Banded Orb-weaving Spider - Argiope trifasciata
FAMILY ARANEIDAE
This page contains pictures and information about Banded Orb-weaving Spiders that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Leg to leg female 50mm, male 10mm
- Banded Orb-weaving Spiders sometimes may be confused with St Andrew's Cross Spiders. They look similar although the pattern on their abdomen are quite different. Banded Orb-weaving Spider females have yellow, white and brown colours bands across their abdomen. However, their males are look the same, much smaller than the female.
- Banded Orb-weaving Spiders are not as common as St Andrew's Cross Spiders, we can only found one or two of them in our backyard each year. Banded Orb-weaving Spiders build vertical orb web and active both day and night. They make stabilimentum on their web too, but may not make it like a cross.
- From late summer to early winter, females build egg sacs near their web and are suspended among the leaves.
Grasshopper flied into Spider web
- One hot summer day, we were trying to take some pictures of a grasshopper, the grasshopper jumped and flied away. However, it flied into the web of a Banded Orb-weaving Spider. The web was built wide across the grass land, half a meter above ground. We did not see the web neither until the grasshopper got caught in the web.
- The spider came near the grasshopper immediately and poured large amount of silks onto the grasshopper. After the grasshopper was entangled by those silks, its movement was limited, then the spider hold the grasshopper with eight legs, rotated the grasshopper like a wheel with the spider itself hanging from the wheel, while putting more silks onto the grasshopper.
- The spider quickly warped around the grasshopper and the grasshopper just no way to escape. The process happened in a few seconds and we took the above pictures.
- Then the spider came best and sit back at the centre of the web.
