What is an argiope spider?

Due to its color, the argiope spider bears such names as:

• spider wasp;
• zebra spider;
• tiger spider.

However, its biological name is “Argiope Brunnich”, which the spider received in honor of the Dane under the name Morten Trane Brunnich, who lived in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and was at one time a very famous scientist in the field of zoology and mineralogy.

First, let's look at what argiope looks like in the photo.

Biological characteristics

In the official biological language, argiope belongs to the family of orbiting spiders. This family is characterized by the manufacture of a large circular hunting net with a pronounced spiral-like stabilization in the center. This part of the web is clearly visible in ultraviolet rays, which are distinguishable by many insects, and therefore stabilization is so attractive to different insects and bugs.

Reference! Stabilization - web threads forming a zigzag pattern.

Appearance

According to the description, the argiope spider is indeed similar to a wasp or zebra. On the body of the arthropod, an alternation of black and yellow stripes is clearly expressed, however, this is inherent only to females. Males of this species are small and nondescript.

In spiders of Brunnich's argiope, pronounced dimorphism is observed. The female has a body size of 15-30 millimeters long, while the male argiope barely reaches half a centimeter.

Spread

Basically this striped black and yellow spider It inhabits the middle and southern regions of Europe and Russia. But recently, thanks to climate warming, argiop began to be found in the northern regions. There is evidence that our spider was seen in the Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod regions, and even to the north.

Lifestyle

An ordinary colony of argiop settles in forests or meadows. where there are massive years of potential victims. The size of one settlement is usually about two dozen spiders.

A yellow striped spider weaves its web in the twilight evening time. He spends no more than one hour on the manufacture of his trap. After the web is woven, its owner is placed in the center of the network and, having taken the form of the letter "X", expects a victim.

It should be noted that the hunting network of argiopes is very beautiful, it is distinguished by the presence of a pronounced circular shape and small cells through which even the smallest mosquito can not break through.

Food

The argiope zebra spider feeds on those insects that come across in its network. Basically, they are numerous orthopterans, although often various flies or mosquitoes appear on the web. Spiders inject poison into them and weave them with cobwebs, then they suck out the juices from the victim's body, which began to dissolve.

Breeding

The female reaches the age of sexual reproduction after the last molt of her development. During mating, the female entwines the male with cobwebs, and if he does not manage to get out, his fate is unenviable - he will certainly be eaten.

And the female after that will weave a large cocoon, in which she will place her many eggs, which she carefully protects with her loving mother.

In early autumn, spiders crawl out of the cocoon, and, being attached to cobwebs, are carried by the wind around the area, thus creating new colonies of spiders.

Attention! Flying cobwebs during the Indian summer, among other things, is a way of spreading spiders in the open.

In other cases, the female can lay eggs, and there can be up to hundreds of them in one cocoon, in the late autumn, and young spiders hatch and settle already with the arrival of spring. The female herself does not winter, but after laying, she dies.

Are argiopes biting?

There is a category of people who definitely need to put their hand somewhere: in an anthill, in a bee hive or a hornet's nest. Such curious heroes do not ask questions about whether certain representatives of the fauna bite, they can feel everything in their own skin.

For the rest, we inform you that if you put your hand into the web, intentionally or accidentally, the spider will immediately respond and bite. An argiope bite is quite painful and comparable to a bee or hornet. The fact is that the aspen spider has rather strong jaws, and it is able to deepen them quite strongly under the skin. In addition, do not forget about its poison.

Many people ask whether the Brunnich argiope is poisonous or not. Of course poisonous, because with its poison it kills its victims. Another thing is that in most cases for humans this poison is practically not dangerous.

The consequences of a spider’s careless check on the reaction rate can be different. Most adults have a slight swelling of the skin around the bitten place, which disappears after an hour or two and does not even itch. In some cases, redness and swelling can subside only after a day, and the bite site is very itchy.

Another thing if spider bit a child or a person with an increased allergic reaction to spider venom or the fact of a bite. In this case, there may be more pronounced dangerous symptoms:

• severe swelling of the bite;
• increase in body temperature to 40-41 degrees;
• nausea;
• dizziness.

In this case, of course, you need to immediately interrupt the walk and immediately contact the nearest medical facility or emergency substation, where the person will be provided with competent emergency medical care.

Attention! The body's response to a bite can be unpredictable. Do not be negligent in relation to your health.

Introducing a video on how an argiope spider sucks its victim. In the center of the web, stabilization is clearly visible: