Cute and insidious. Yellow stripes spider

This creature, although cute, but inspires internal anxiety. Some kind of causeless fear. It is especially scary to watch a spider with yellow stripes, it is also called a wasp, cracking down on defenseless grasshoppers and flies. He will set up a trapping net, sits half asleep, and waits. But as soon as a carefree insect enters the field of vision, it immediately transforms - briskly pounces, paralyzes the victim with poison and cleverly packs the “lunch” in a cocoon from the web. Is it dangerous spider wasp for a man?

Dossier on the Wasp Spider

The first question that arises when an unusual arthropod is called is called a spider with bright yellow stripes. It is the color that introduces confusion - it is called both the "wasp" and the "zebra", even the "tiger". Biologists dubbed the striped spider Argiope.

Place in the spider family

The genus Argiope belongs to the family of orbiting spiders, has over 80 species. In our area, Argiope Brunnich is most often found, a species named after the Danish nature researcher. Biological characteristics include several recognizable traits.

• Yellow-black-and-white color, consisting of alternating stripes.
• Explicit sexual dimorphism - “girls” are 4-5 times larger than males in size.
• Predatory habits, the use of poison to paralyze victims.
• A typical orbiting warbler radial web set up vertically or slightly sloping.
• Eating males by females after mating.

What does it look like?

Female spiders are rather large - they reach a length of 2.5–3 cm, and taking into account the length of the limbs, even 4 cm. Their cephalothorax is “fluffy”, covered with dense short hairs of a silver hue. The abdomen is slightly elongated, resembling a wasp in shape and coloring. The yellow-white background is outlined with thin transverse lines of black - hence the impression of wide yellow stripes on the back. Paws are long, with dark dressings.

Males are small and nondescript, no larger than 5–7 mm in size. The dorsal pattern consists of light yellow and dark stripes.

Where is it found?

The habitual habitat of spiders with yellow stripes is the subtropical and steppe zone. It is due to the love of arachnids to heat. But global climatic changes led to the fact that the spider-wasp moved north, successfully adapted to the Moscow Region, the Volga region, and the central regions of Russia.
Argiope lives mainly in dense, moist thickets of shrubs and grass. But at the same time he prefers open, sunny places. In the wild - at the edges of forests, river banks, meadows, roadsides. On the backyard, cottage area, the wasp spider can be found in raspberries, thickets of blackberries, in a hedge of densely leafy climbing plants.

Note! The spider with yellow stripes sets the nets low (30–40 cm above the soil surface), pulling spider webs between plants, does not like to be bothered. Therefore, it settles in the garden only in places where the hands of the owners do not reach, where the arthropod is not disturbed by weeding the weeds, pruning, loosening.

Lifestyle

Wasp spiders live alone or in small groups, the maximum colony size is up to 20 arthropods. They belong to the category of predatory spiders, a favorite diet - grasshoppers, dragonflies, flies. Sometimes bees and wasps get into the snare, but then the battle flares up not for life, but for death.An unlucky hunter dies from bee (aspen) poison.

At dusk, a spider with yellow stripes on its back weaves hunting nets. He throws a radial network, deftly connecting the stems of plants with spiral threads. In the center or at the bottom of the web, a special “decor” is woven - stabilization - a thickened zigzag thread. Scientists differently interpret the purpose of this “pattern” - for disguising, attracting prey, as a sign to relatives that the territory is occupied.

Interesting! The wasp spider is one of the fastest weavers. He creates a circular network with a radius of up to half a meter in 40-60 minutes.

After the labors, the argiope sits down on stabilization and patiently waits for the prey. As a sacrifice, the spider sprinkles poison, which paralyzes and turns the insides into a liquid mass. It is this “broth” that the predator sucks out, leaving only the chitinous shell from the insect. To maintain vital activity, the spider needs one successful hunt per week.

Life cycle features

The life span of large spiders with yellow stripes is 1 year. Puberty occurs in the second half of summer, July - August - the time for mating and laying eggs.

A fertilized female kills and eats the male, and after a few days begins to weave a cocoon to lay eggs. The larger the argiope, the more offspring it produces - the clutches of some specimens reach 400 eggs.

The spider is a caring mother. She weaves a reliable fluffy cocoon, hangs it in a secluded place, guards. Argiope dies before the juveniles appear.

Young (juvenile) spiders hatch in the fall. In a cold climate, they remain protected by a cocoon until spring, then they settle and quickly mature.

Interesting! But did you know that “Indian summer” is a period of resettlement of juvenile spiders. The baby creeps out their cocoon, climbs up the hill and throws a web. The arthropod seized by the wind rushes towards independent life. It is so small that we see only a weightless tenet circling in the air.

“Relationship” with a person

Although the spider with yellow stripes on its back is classified as poisonous, it does not pose a great danger to humans. Firstly, he is afraid of people and will never be the first to attack; rather, he will run away or fall to the ground and pretend to be dead. Secondly, argiope is not able to bite through human skin to inject poison.

But if you take a spider-wasp with your bare hand, an unpleasant and rather painful bite is provided. The redness and itching of the stung place passes quite quickly. In allergy sufferers, the reaction can be more violent and unpredictable - from severe swelling of the bite to an increase in temperature and swelling of the respiratory tract.

Therefore, it is better to stay away from the beautiful and treacherous arthropod. In the garden, flower garden he does not belong at all. But if you meet in the forest - let him live!

Wasp Spider Video: