Wasp Spider, or Argiope Brünnich ( Argiope bruennichi) is an arthropod that belongs to the class Arachnidae, order Spiders, suborder Opisthothelae, infraorder Araneomorpha spiders, superfamily Araneoidea, family Orb-weaving spiders, subfamily Argiopinae, genus Argiope.
International scientific name: Argiope bruennichi(Scopoli, 1772).
The species name for the spider was given in honor of Morten Trane Brünnich, a zoologist from Denmark. Due to its warning coloration with black and yellow stripes, this representative of arachnids is often found under the name wasp spider, and in some countries it is called the tiger spider or zebra spider. Some people incorrectly call it the bee spider.
On the fourth stripe from the cephalothorax, two small tubercles are clearly visible.
The male wasp spider is inconspicuous, does not look like a wasp at all and is painted in a light beige color, on which 2 longitudinal dark stripes are barely visible.
The wasp spider has 6 pairs of limbs: 4 pairs of walking legs, 1 pair of chelicerae (jaws) with movable claws, with which the striped spider grabs prey, and 1 pair of pedipalps, which perform the function of touch.
In individuals of both sexes, the legs are long and thin, brownish in color. The limbs of females are decorated with alternating bright dark and light rings, very similar to stockings. In males, the rings on the limbs are faded and blurred. On the pedipalps of male wasp spiders, large bulbs are clearly visible - their reproductive organs.
The respiratory organs of the wasp spider are represented by a pair of lungs and trachea, opening with one spiracle in front of the arachnoid warts.
Where does the wasp spider (Argiope Brünnich) live?
The wasp spider is a fairly numerous species. It is widespread in the countries of North Africa, Lesser and Central Asia, in India, China, Korea, Japan and the USA. It is also a common arachnid in the Central and Southern Europe, in Kazakhstan, Crimea and the Caucasus. In Russia, the spider wasp was noticed in several regions: Chelyabinsk, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Tambov, Oryol, Lipetsk, Penza and Bryansk. Probably due to the increase in average annual air temperature, Argiope Brünnich also began to be noticed in Tula, Ryazan regions and in the Moscow region. According to the latest data, the black and yellow wasp spider began to appear in the Kaluga region, as well as in the Novgorod region on the territory belonging to the Rdeisky Nature Reserve.
The favorite habitats of the wasp spider are located in areas exposed to the sun: fields, lawns, along roadsides, forest clearings and forest edges. The black-and-yellow striped wasp spider places its hunting nets on various low vegetation, giving particular preference to xerophilous plants growing in particularly dry areas of the area.
A unique feature of all orb weavers, including the wasp spider, is their ability to move considerable distances thanks to their web threads, picked up by rising air currents. This manner of settlement has led to the fact that some southern populations often end up in northern territories.
Argiope Brünnich's web
Like all orb weavers, the wasp spider is fluent in the art of weaving webs, and its spiral trapping nets are large wheel-shaped nets with two pronounced stabilimentum in the middle.
The stabilimentum is a thickened zigzag pattern on the web that may have different shapes: linear, circular, cruciform.
A notable feature of the wasp spider’s web is that there are two such patterns at once, which diverge from the middle and are located opposite each other. Scientists have found that the main reason for this artistic weaving is the ability of the multilayer insert to reflect ultraviolet rays, thereby attracting insects.
The wasp spider weaves a complex web of multilayer threads thanks to the structure of the limbs characteristic of orb-weavers. The last pair of legs, equipped with three simple claws and serrated setae, has a special spike-shaped appendage that allows it to weave intricate webs from individual threads.
The female, sitting in the center of the web (usually upside down), resembles the letter “X” because her widely spaced legs of the first and second, as well as the third and fourth pairs are placed very close to each other.
The wasp spider, like most representatives of the order, weaves its web at dusk, and the whole process lasts no more than an hour. Typically, the web stretches between plants no higher than 30 cm from the surface of the ground. In case of danger, a disturbed wasp spider throws its catching nets and tries to hide on the ground.
What does a wasp spider eat?
The strong trapping nets of the wasp spider most often catch representatives of the order Orthoptera: crickets, etc. Argiope Brünnich also preys on fillies. The feeding method of the Argiope spider is typical for most arachnids: as soon as the prey insect is in the nets, the spider quickly approaches and bites the victim, injecting poison into it. Then he entangles the future “dinner” with the threads of his web and waits until, under the influence of digestive enzymes, the caught prey becomes suitable for consumption. After this, it simply sucks up the liquid food, leaving only the chitinous shell of the insect.
Although this creature is cute, it inspires inner anxiety. Some kind of unreasonable fear. It is especially creepy to watch how a spider with yellow stripes, also called a wasp, deals with defenseless grasshoppers and flies. He sets out a trapping net, sits half asleep, and waits. But as soon as the careless insect comes into view, it immediately transforms - it quickly pounces, paralyzes the victim with poison and deftly packs its “lunch” into a cocoon of cobwebs. Is it dangerous for humans?
Dossier on the wasp spider
The first question that arises when you see an unusual arthropod is what is the name of the spider with bright yellow stripes. It is the color that causes confusion - it is called both “wasp” and “zebra”, even “tiger”. Biologists have dubbed the striped spider.
Place in the spider family
The genus Argiope belongs to the family of orb-weaving spiders, with over 80 species. In our area, the most common species is Argiope Brünnich, a species named after a Danish nature explorer. Biological characteristics includes several recognizable features.
- Yellow-black-white color consisting of alternating stripes.
- Obvious sexual dimorphism - “girls” are 4–5 times larger than males.
- Predatory habits, the use of poison to paralyze victims.
- A trapping radial web typical of orb weavers, exposed vertically or slightly at an angle.
- Females eating males after mating.
What does it look like?
Female spiders are quite large - reaching 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 thick short hairs of a silvery hue. The abdomen is slightly elongated and resembles a wasp in shape and coloring. The yellow-white background is lined with thin transverse lines of black - hence the impression of wide yellow stripes on the back. The paws are long, with dark bandages.
Males are small and inconspicuous, no more than 5–7 mm in size. The dorsal pattern consists of light yellow and dark stripes.
Where is it found?
The usual habitat of spiders with yellow stripes is the subtropical and steppe zone. It is due to the love of arachnids for warmth. But global climate change led to the fact that the spider wasp moved north and successfully adapted in the Moscow region, the Volga region, and the central regions of Russia.
Argiope settles mainly in dense, damp thickets of bushes and grass. But at the same time he prefers open, sunny places. In the wild - on the edges of forests, river banks, meadows, roadsides. In a garden or summer cottage, the wasp spider can be found in raspberry fields, blackberry thickets, and in hedges of densely leafy climbing plants.
Note! The yellow-striped spider places its webs low (30–40 cm above the soil surface), stretching the threads of the web between plants, and does not like to be disturbed. Therefore, it will settle in the garden only in places where the hands of the owners do not reach, where the arthropod will not be disturbed by weeding, pruning, and loosening.
Lifestyle
Wasp spiders live alone or in small groups, maximum size colonies – up to 20 arthropods. They belong to the category of predatory spiders; their favorite diet is grasshoppers, dragonflies, and flies. Sometimes bees and wasps get caught in the snare, but then the battle flares up to the point of life and death. The unlucky hunter dies from bee (wasp) venom.
At dusk, a spider with yellow stripes on its back weaves trapping nets. He spreads a radial net, deftly connecting plant stems with spiral threads. A special “decor” is woven in the center or at the bottom of the web - stabilimentum - a thickened zigzag thread. Scientists interpret the purpose of this “pattern” differently - for camouflage, attracting prey, as a sign to relatives that the territory is occupied.
Interesting! The wasp spider is one of the fastest weavers. It creates a circular network with a radius of up to half a meter in 40–60 minutes.
After the work, the argiope sits on the stabilimentum and patiently waits for prey. The spider sprays poison into the victim, which paralyzes and turns the insides into a liquid mass. It is this “broth” that the predator sucks out, leaving only the chitinous shell of the insect. To maintain vital activity, the spider needs one successful hunt per week.
Life cycle features
Lifespan big spiders with yellow stripes – 1 year. Puberty occurs in the second half of summer, July - August is the time for mating and laying eggs.
The fertilized female kills and eats the male, and a few days later begins to spin 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, and protects it. Argiope dies before the juveniles emerge.
Young (juvenile) spiders hatch in the fall. In cold climates, they remain protected by a cocoon until spring, then disperse and quickly mature.
Interesting! Did you know that “Indian summer” is the period of settlement of juvenile spiders. The baby crawls out of the cocoon, climbs onto a hill and throws out a web. An arthropod caught in the wind rushes towards independent life. It is so small that we only see a weightless shadow 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 attack first; 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 wasp spider bare hand, an unpleasant and rather painful bite is guaranteed. The redness and itching of the stung area goes away quite quickly. For allergy sufferers, the reaction can be more violent and unpredictable - from severe swelling of the bite site to increased temperature and swelling of the respiratory tract.
Therefore, it is better to stay away from the beautiful and insidious arthropod. It has no place at all in the garden or flower garden. But if you meet him in the forest, let him live!
Video about the wasp spider:
The wasp spider, also known as Argiope bruennichi, is an animal with a bright color that resembles a bee or wasp. The most striking species live in countries with warm climates - America, Asia, Japan, India, China. Some species inhabit regions of Europe. The Argiope Brünnich spider is found in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. It lives in the wild, but due to its bright color, the animal is often kept as a pet.
origin of name
The spider with yellow stripes on its back is known all over the world. Latin name Argiope bruennichi was named after the Danish zoologist who described the unique species. The name of the scientist is Morten Trane Brünnich. Other names appeared due to the unusual external image, similar to a wasp, a bee. In several countries the spider is called a zebra.
Description of appearance
Argiope Brunnich is a typical representative of arachnids with a convex abdomen and cephalothorax. The body parts are connected by a thin bridge. The cephalothorax includes the stomach, brain, and venom glands. The body, up to 2.5 cm in size, is covered with a dense shell. Together with the legs, the size of the female wasp spider is 4 cm.
4 pairs of legs are attached to the cephalothorax. The forelimbs play the role of jaws, holding the victim during the bite and during feeding. The legs are the main organ of touch and smell. There are 6 eyes on the head, but they are weak. The wasp spider detects the approach of a victim or enemy by the vibrations of the air and web.
On a note!
The color of the female is bright and eye-catching - the spider is yellow-black, striped. Characteristic patterns are present on the abdomen and legs. The male differs from the females in size, body shape - more elongated, and also in color. Male argiope grows no more than 7 mm, color is yellow-brown.
Tiger spider cubs are yellow with black spots at the end of the abdomen and on the legs. During the period of growing up, they molt up to 5 times, gradually increase in size, and acquire a characteristic striped color. In males, the cover simply darkens. A photo of the wasp spider can be seen below. It also provides the opportunity to compare what a female and male individual looks like.
Photo and description of the web
Argiope with a yellow belly weaves a complex web, which consists of vertical and horizontal threads. A spider sits in the center, waiting for its victim. the predator is active at night. This takes no more than an hour. The web is placed between the plants at a height of no more than 30 cm from the surface of the earth.
Interesting!
The web shimmers in the sun, attracting the attention of grasshoppers, locusts, and other insects. Argiope's nets serve to scare away enemies. Big spider the web begins to shake. Vibrations increase the shine from sun rays, which confuses enemies.
Where does it live?
The bee-like wasp spider is found throughout the world. Ideal conditions is wet air, heat, long summer. The female lives for 1 year, the male dies much earlier. Argiopes live on almost all continents. For settlement, choose a sunny clearing in the forest, on the edge, meadows, fields. They are often installed in gardens and vegetable gardens.
The zebra spider sits motionless on its web in the very center, with its legs spread out in the shape of an “X”. If necessary, it explores new territories at night, moving through the air on its web thread.
Nutrition
The wasp-like yellow striped spider eats insects that are caught in its trapping net. The main diet is grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, and flies. The victim becomes entangled in the web within a few seconds. Argiop senses the vibrations of the threads and makes his way to the prey. It bites, injects poison, and paralyzes the insect. Then he injects saliva, which liquefies the victim’s insides, wraps it in a web, and leaves it for a while. Sucks out all the juices, leaving a chitinous cover.
Interesting!
A spider like a wasp is of no interest to birds, large insects, or others. Natural enemies he has practically none. Argiop scares away with his appearance- stripes on the back. For males, the main enemy is the female. She eats him immediately after fertilization.
Reproduction
The wasp-colored tiger spider produces only one generation of young per summer; in tropical countries there may be more. At one time, the yellow-bottomed female lays up to 600 eggs. Initially, it weaves a cocoon from a web and places eggs inside. Places the pouch near its trapping nets.
After 2 weeks, a large generation of spiders appears, which crawl into different sides. Before reaching sexual maturity, they have to go through 5 molts. Each time the young argiope increases in size and acquires a characteristic color.
Is the wasp spider poisonous or not?
The arthropod has poisonous glands that produce a toxic substance. When it enters the victim's body, it causes muscle spasm and immobilization. Poisonous brunette is no different aggressive disposition, does not attack unnecessarily. For humans, its presence nearby does not pose a danger. However, if Argiop feels threatened own life, the attack will follow.
On a note!
What is dangerous about a spider bite with wasp coloring is a local reaction on the skin. Swelling, redness, and pain appear. Small children and people with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to attacks by Argiope. If you are prone to allergies, you may experience difficulty breathing. In most cases, symptoms disappear on their own and do not require special treatment.
Due to its unusual color, wasp spiders are kept at home as pets. They live in specially equipped aquariums and feed on insects. Feeding should be done every other day. up to 1.5 years.
The black fathead is sometimes called the ladybug spider. It really resembles this bright insect: against the red or orange background of its abdomen, four black spots with a white edge stand out.
However, only the male looks so impressive. The female black fathead, although larger, is less brightly colored. It is usually velvety black, sometimes with yellow elements on the front.
ONE OF A KIND
Spiders of the eresid family live mainly in the tropics. The black fathead, also known as black eresus, is the only European species. Its range covers vast territories from the Iberian Peninsula to Novosibirsk. The spider can be found in the central part, in the Crimea, the Caucasus, in the southern part of the Urals and in Central Asia, but it is very rare everywhere.
The cephalothorax of eresids in both males and females is black and velvety. The head part is raised high above the chest and looks square from above. Eight eyes are arranged in three rows, with one pair, spaced back and to the sides, being significantly larger than the others. The body is covered with a dense layer of short feathery hairs, which is why the spider looks velvety. The legs are powerful, also black, with white rings in the male.
MODERATELY DANGEROUS
Some people confuse Eresus with the deadly South American black widow, which it also bears some resemblance to. Fortunately, the fathead's venom is not fatal to humans, although it can kill the small mammal in seconds. However, a spider bite can cause very severe pain, followed by numbness and swelling. For some, pain and stiffness in movements in the bitten part of the body go away only after a week.
The mechanism of action of eresus venom has not yet been fully studied. It is known to have the properties of a muscle relaxant - it relaxes muscles. The venoms of many spiders are already used in pharmacology. Perhaps someday fatheads will also serve medicine.
HORN Dweller
Black eresus settles in sunny, dry places, in forests, in steppe zone, on the outskirts of heathland, on dry pastures, alpine meadows and even in deserts and salt marshes. The favorite food of these spiders is beetles, but the black fathead does not disdain flies, butterflies and mosquitoes if they are caught in the web.
Fatheads hunt using a web trap. The lower part of this cunning structure is a hole with a diameter of about 1 cm, sometimes quite deep, up to 10 cm. The spider lives in it. As a rule, he digs it out in the ground or under large stones, but often instead masters the passages of rodents. The eresus weaves a web around the hole so that it looks like a tube. Not far from it, on the ground or low grass, the fathead constructs a trapping net in the form of a canopy. There are no adhesive threads in it, but it is made of a special ultra-thin, messy web that is easy to get tangled in. The network of the thickhead is so strong that it can hold even large beetles - darkling beetles and dung beetles. It is connected to the web tube by several signal threads, the vibrations of which inform the spider that a victim has fallen into the trap. It quickly jumps out, grabs its prey and paralyzes it with poison. Eresus throws out the remaining food from the hole or puts it in a special hole.
SECRETS OF REPRODUCTION
Most of the life of fatheads is spent in their underground shelters. Only young spiders, who have yet to find a place to live, lead a wandering lifestyle, as well as males wandering in search of mature females. They set off on their journey in the spring, having changed their black coloration to their bright outfit after wintering. After a long search, the male finally finds a suitable partner and begins courtship at the entrance to the hole. It is very unique and resembles a fancy dance that can take several hours. The spider circles around its lady, sometimes feeling her with its front legs. Finally, he secretes a whitish liquid, from which the female falls into catalepsy for about 40 minutes, which allows the spider to mate with her safely. After this, the male remains to live in the hole with his chosen one.
After about a month, the female makes a web cocoon measuring 9 x 3 mm and lays eggs there. She shows touching care for the children: she looks for the most comfortable place for the cocoon, and takes it out to bask in the sun. After 10-20 days, the spiderlings emerge from the eggs. Before reaching sexual maturity, females go through 10 molts, and males - 5. After the first one, young spiders begin to feed on the mother’s hemolymph: this is necessary for successful development. By the end of summer, after three moults, they begin to crawl out of their native burrow to find a place for the winter. And the lives of their parents are coming to an end.
Among the eresidae there are social spiders that live in large groups with a common nest.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF
Class: arachnids.
Squad: spiders.
Family: Eresidae.
Genus: Eresus.
Species: black eresus, black fathead, spider - ladybug, eresida collari.
Latin name: Eresus niger, Eresus cinnaberinus, Eresus kollari.
Size: male length - 9-11 mm, female - up to 20 mm.
Color: black, males have a red-orange abdomen with four black dots.
Life expectancy: male - about a year, female - about 2 years.
Unusual insect
Often in summer cottages, where there is dense vegetation, you can come across a widely spread round net on which a black-and-yellow striped spider sits and does not hide. This is a female Argiope.
Striped creature
Very often this spider is called a wasp because of its peculiar color, similar to that of a wasp or a bee. And among the people there is another name for it - tiger spider. However, such bright spiders, striking the eye with their striped bodies, are females. Males of this species are more inconspicuous than females. Moreover, they are rarely found on open area, because they are eaten by females.
The color is bright only in females
Argiope spider
These insects belong to the orb-web spider family. They live in southern and central Europe. Science knows more than 150 species that inhabit all corners of the planet, except the polar zones. This creature received its Latin name as a legacy from the heroine of the ancient Greek myth, the nymph Argiope.
Description of appearance
Argiope is a very large arachnid. The body of an adult female can reach up to 3 cm or more in length.
The male's body length barely reaches 5 millimeters, and his back is dark brown.
The wasp spider (photo) allows you to see the peculiar coloring of the body of this creature.
The head of the female is black, and the abdomen has alternating black and yellow stripes. The cephalothorax is covered with thick, ashen-colored hairs.
The female's legs are quite long and ringed with contrasting stripes, as if they were wearing stockings. The spider's legs are arranged non-standardly - two pairs have a clear orientation forward, and two more pairs - back. Unlike most arachnids, whose legs are located perpendicular to the surface, the wasp spider visually lacks such lateral supports.
They live in meadows and on roadsides
Life of Argiope spiders
These spiders settle in a small colony of no more than 20 individuals. For settlement, they prefer meadows, roadsides, forest edges, and dry river beds.
The female lays a clutch of 400 eggs. In the fall, in hidden places you can find grayish cocoons in which the future offspring of the spider will overwinter. And in the spring in April-May it will leave these shelters.
Occupation of a predator
Like all arachnids, the tiger spider also tends to prepare net traps, placing them between the lower branches of bushes. But in the weaving of argiope there are secrets inherent to it.
Skilled spinner
On the abdomen you can see an arachnoid wart - a kind of protrusion. The webs of this spider are circular with a zigzag pattern in the center called the stabilimentum. In addition, the networks have very small cells.
Despite the fact that the striped spider itself is relatively small sizes, its nets are quite strong, capable of holding prey 2-3 times larger than the hunter.
It takes about an hour to spin the nets. And the spider begins to weave them at sunset, in the coming twilight.
Hunting rules
Small flies and grasshoppers become prey
The creation of a trap web does not end there. The owner sits in the center, in that of its segments where the zigzag pattern is localized. Waiting for the victim, he sits with a previously prepared skein of created threads.
As soon as the victim has fallen into the net, the spider entangles it with these threads and bites it, injecting poison into the body, from which it dies. Overnight, the prey begins to be digested, not yet in the jaws of the predator. Very quickly it is then eaten by the hunter.
The spider's prey can be grasshoppers, flies, and mosquitoes. However, he does not refuse other insects.
Fatal mating
Period mating games the striped spider begins during molting, when the old chitinous shell is shed, and the new one has not yet grown. After successful mating, the female eats her partner. There are rare cases when a nimble hero-lover manages to mate with a second female. But it looks like he won’t be able to live to see the third.
Cannibalism among the weaker sex is caused by a lack of protein, which is necessary for the development of offspring.
However, the female does not live much longer than her named husband. After constructing cocoons and laying eggs, the spider dies. In other words, the newly hatched offspring are completely independent.
Is the wasp spider dangerous?
Every second of us has seen Argiope spiders; this is not a curiosity. And therefore, everyone is concerned about the question of whether the bite of this arachnid is poisonous or not.
In principle, all arachnids are poisonous.
The question will sound more correct if its essence is as follows: are all representatives of this class able to pierce the skin so that the poison can penetrate at least to the capillaries?
Therefore, even without laboratory findings, we can say with confidence - yes, argiope is poisonous. It is with poison that he pacifies his prey. For insects, the components included in the poison are lethal. What about the person?
Its bite is as dangerous as the bite of any other insect, such as a wasp or a bee.
What to do if bitten by a wasp spider:
- treat the bite site with hydrogen peroxide;
- then apply any ointment to the wound, the effect of which is aimed at relieving the inflammatory process;
- take an antihistamine.
By the way, the venom of this spider consists of polyamine toxins, which in the future may be used as therapeutic agents.
The morals of a spider
Argiope spiders adapt well to life inside terrariums. There they inhabit hidden corners, constructing lairs with signal threads, storage facilities with reserves from excess prey.
Grasshoppers, flies or fillies will serve as their food base. They eat once every two days.
Life cycle, as in conditions wildlife, lasts one year. Therefore, in the terrarium, as if on command, miniature cocoons appear in the fall. With the onset of the first cold weather, the females wither, completing their life cycle. And in the spring, hundreds of wasp spiders hatch. However, they are ready for independent life only after a year, having spent the winter in their shelter.