Janine Purcell

Without a Light

Upon an Arc of White.

If Ruff it was of Dame

Or Shroud of Gnome

Himself himself inform.

Of Immortality

His Strategy

Was Physiognomy.

— Emily Dickenson

The “writing spider” aka yellow garden orb-weaver (Argiope aurantia) is the beloved spider in the well-known children’s story “Charlotte’s Web.” The black and yellow arigope spider is very eye catching and one of the larger beneficial spiders in the United States. The female spider (3/4 to 1 1/8 inches), is much larger than her male partner (1/4 to 3/8 inches). The genus Argiope is from the Latin “argentum” meaning silver, the Ancient Greek is “silver face.” The spider has fine silver hair all over its body.

The species name “aurantia” is from the Latin “orange” meaning “between yellow and scarlet.” Female black and yellow argiope spiders (A. aurantia) have legs that are black with red or yellow bands on the segments nearest the point of attachment to the body. Each pair of legs contains numerous black spines. Each leg has 3 claws per foot, which is one more than most spiders as they will use the third claw to handle the threads while spinning. Both spiders have a cephalothorax (small front body section) covered with short, slivery hairs. The shiny, egg- shaped abdomen has yellow or orange coloring on a black background. These spiders typically live until the first hard frost after hatching.

Argiopes are insect predators which include aphids, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, mosquitoes, moths, among other insects so if you happen to find a ‘writing spider’ web, be grateful she has selected your garden to spin her magic web and chow down on the pesky insects roaming around.

The black and yellow argiope spider will typically construct and repair their webs after dark, as in Emily Dickenson’s poem “A spider sewed at night, without a light upon an arc of white.” The webs are usually complex and can be up to 2 ft. in diameter. The perfect spot for the female argiope is sunny with minimal wind, once she settles in to build her web she stays in that location unless frequently disturbed.

She starts by grasping wherever she chooses to anchor her web- in my case it was a tall yellow canna-she lifts her abdomen and emits several strands of silk from her spinnerets that fuse into one sturdy strand. The free end of the strand drifts until it touches something to attach itself. Just as a house builder would do, she constructs scaffolding, bridges, etc. to complete her circle or “orb” web.

She has a sticky silk in her armament which she skillfully places around the circle hub, the sticky silk is what actually catches the prey. The spider will typically build zigzagging stabilimenta to their web hence the name “writing spider.” The female spider hangs, head down, in the center of her web, waiting for an insect to hit the web.

A. aurantia have poor vision but are sensitive to air currents and vibrations. Once she feels the vibration of the web from the insect who is unfortunate enough to get caught in her web and then she attacks. As with all spiders A. aurantia has a venomous bite which paralyzes its prey and digests the body contents for the spider to ingest the meal.

Adult males roam for potential mates, once found they will build a small web with white zigzag band across the middle or outlying area of the females web. They then court by plucking and vibrating her web. After mating, the female usually produces 1-3 brown, papery egg sacs which contain 300 — 1400 eggs. She attaches her cocoon near her resting position to avoid predation. The multi-layered wall of the cocoon provides barriers against burrowing larvae of insect predators. The vast majority are eventually damaged by birds.

As in the story “Charlotte’s Web” the eggs hatch in the late summer or autumn, but the hatchling spiders become dormant and not leave the egg sac until the following spring. The spiderlings generally resemble small adults.