Garden Orbweaver Spiders
Garden spiders are those large spiders suspended in the middle of a large, vertical, orb-shaped web. The web is usually decorated with a bold, zigzag band of silk called a stabilimentum. Spider silk is manufactured within glands inside the spider’s abdomen and the silk is extruded in liquid form through conical appendages called spinnerets. The spider has the ability to produce silk of various diameters as needed in the construction of the web. The web is usually eaten and rebuilt every day, with the exceptions of the periods around molting and egg-laying.
At times the spider will rapidly shake and vibrate in its web as a defensive strategy to scare predators off. The shaking blurs the spider and makes it appear bigger than it really is.
An annual species, males die not too long after mating and females usually die off towards the end of the fall, or early winter.
Females typically lay 3 or 4 egg sacs, roughly 7-15 days apart. Each sac can contain 400 to 1,200 yellowish eggs. Spiderlings hatch within the egg sac in late autumn and overwinter inside the protective, insulated sac, emerging the following spring.
The Park is home to at least 2 species of of the 4 species of Garden Orbweavers found in Florida.
At times the spider will rapidly shake and vibrate in its web as a defensive strategy to scare predators off. The shaking blurs the spider and makes it appear bigger than it really is.
An annual species, males die not too long after mating and females usually die off towards the end of the fall, or early winter.
Females typically lay 3 or 4 egg sacs, roughly 7-15 days apart. Each sac can contain 400 to 1,200 yellowish eggs. Spiderlings hatch within the egg sac in late autumn and overwinter inside the protective, insulated sac, emerging the following spring.
The Park is home to at least 2 species of of the 4 species of Garden Orbweavers found in Florida.
The following information on Garden Spider is taken from an article by RH Harwood.
Pray impact alerts these spiders to the presence of an object in the web. If it’s a sustained struggle the spider knows that it is an active prey. The spider will rapidly rotate on the web to face the exact direction of the prey. It then plucks the web and the vibrations provide additional information about prey location. The spider then advances toward the prey.
If it is a large insect such as a grasshopper the spider will first wrap the prey using a couple of different techniques.
It could use a throwing technique where it uses its hind legs to draw silk from the spinneret and form it into a multi-strand wide sheet which it throws over the victim. As the wrapping continues the spider changes positions and additional silk sheets are attached from different directions blanketing the prey.
It could use a rotational technique where the spider rotates the prey with the front legs while the rear legs alternately draw silk and attach it to the prey. Sometimes the spider will attach the silk with the hind legs and then walk around the prey using the front legs to pull the silk.
And, of course, the spider can use combinations of these techniques.
After wrapping a large insect the spider will administer series of short bites and then a single sustained by bite.
If the prey is a butterfly or moth, then the spider will bite first then wrap. On very small prey (less than 10mm) the spider will us its chelicerae (jaw-like fang projections) to bite and crush the prey.
The prey is then transported to the center of the web - the hub. If it is large prey the spider will attach a carry line to the wrapped insect and hoist it that way. If it is smaller the spider will use its chelicerae to transport the prey.
At the hub the prey is manipulated and examined. As the spider can’t injest solid food it will inject enzymes to liquify the prey. The spider sucks up the liquefied tissue and the empty exoskeleton is then dropped from the web.
Pray impact alerts these spiders to the presence of an object in the web. If it’s a sustained struggle the spider knows that it is an active prey. The spider will rapidly rotate on the web to face the exact direction of the prey. It then plucks the web and the vibrations provide additional information about prey location. The spider then advances toward the prey.
If it is a large insect such as a grasshopper the spider will first wrap the prey using a couple of different techniques.
It could use a throwing technique where it uses its hind legs to draw silk from the spinneret and form it into a multi-strand wide sheet which it throws over the victim. As the wrapping continues the spider changes positions and additional silk sheets are attached from different directions blanketing the prey.
It could use a rotational technique where the spider rotates the prey with the front legs while the rear legs alternately draw silk and attach it to the prey. Sometimes the spider will attach the silk with the hind legs and then walk around the prey using the front legs to pull the silk.
And, of course, the spider can use combinations of these techniques.
After wrapping a large insect the spider will administer series of short bites and then a single sustained by bite.
If the prey is a butterfly or moth, then the spider will bite first then wrap. On very small prey (less than 10mm) the spider will us its chelicerae (jaw-like fang projections) to bite and crush the prey.
The prey is then transported to the center of the web - the hub. If it is large prey the spider will attach a carry line to the wrapped insect and hoist it that way. If it is smaller the spider will use its chelicerae to transport the prey.
At the hub the prey is manipulated and examined. As the spider can’t injest solid food it will inject enzymes to liquify the prey. The spider sucks up the liquefied tissue and the empty exoskeleton is then dropped from the web.