If you have arachnophobia*, stop reading now!
We have a new arrival on the deckside wildlife entertainment scene this week:
Ms Yellow Corn Spider.
Including her legs, she is about 3 inches of colorful spider and she has taken up residence in the flower garden off the deck.
To reassure you, corn spiders seldom bite humans and when they do, the bite is only comparable to a bee sting.
They are orb web builders and also called "zipper spiders". I think you can see why.
The webs are up to two feet in diameter.
This is her egg sac, placed in a web under the roof of the deck. There are about 1,000 eggs in there which will hatch in the fall. The tiny babies will overwinter inside the sac and emerge next spring.
This morning she had caught a fly in her web and wrapped it in a silk bundle with only the head sticking out. It looked a bit like a fly burrito, which she then ate.
What looks like her head in my photo is the fly burrito.
Every night she eats her web and in the morning builds a new one, according to what I have read. Our spider must be a lazy housekeeper because this is the second day she is using this same web.
I keep thinking, if only my little grandsons were here.
They would be so intrigued and bustling around with magnifying glasses,
and we'd be checking on Mrs CS every five minutes!
* Arachnophobia, fear of spiders, is the most common phobia in the Western world. Famous arachnaphobes include Halle Berry, Andre Agassi, J.K Rowling, Jessica Simpson, Rupert Grint, Justin Timberlake and Johnny Depp.
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Beautiful spiders, not a critter I'd want to hang out with, but they have their job to do. We once found a scorpion caught in a spider web in our house when we lived in Augusta.
ReplyDeleteShe is a beauty and the zipper like threads are way cool. I bet those webs show up real well on humid days. Today we won't make 70 degrees, cool wind from the north but the sun is shining and it will rain this afternoon:)
ReplyDeleteCreepy little critters.
ReplyDeleteWe love these spiders and feed them now and then. They are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteCynthia, I can admit yopur spider is ugly. I don't afraid them but I hate them . In Poland we have smaller ones
ReplyDeleteNot my favourite of creatures, but very interesting facts. They say you learn something new everyday.
ReplyDeleteSpiders are interesting. I am afraid of them, but still can't kill one.
ReplyDeleteOhh, I would so not be wanting all those eggs to hatch at my place.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't last 2 seconds with me - wham, bam!
ReplyDeleteJohnny Depp eh??? Pity there were not a heap of spiders
in his private plane coming across here instead of two pooches,
he might have jumped out for a long dive into the Pacific.
No worries about the spiders - we fumigate all aircraft landing here
for unwanted bugs!
Colin
Very interesting zipper webbing.
ReplyDeleteSpiders are awesome to watch. A bee sting can be painful for some.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! Three i ches? That is plenty big for a spider that's hanging around the house. You are very brwve to leave the eggs sac. Interesting post. Great photo of the zipper. Isn't that awesome.!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of a zipper spider but the web is self explanatory. Not sure I would want 1000 of them running around though.
ReplyDeleteYuck! I do not like spiders at all, the one creature that I freak out about. I can handle the little ones, like redbacks but hate the tarantula size ones!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting spider. I am sure your grandsons would love watching your new resident. it's a shame we have to leave family we love so much behind to move forward with our own lives. Send them lots of pictures. :-)
ReplyDelete