Saint Andrew's Cross Spider

Description:

Argiope aemula (Walckenaer, 1841). This spider was the first of two of this species which I spotted this morning, just approximately 10 yards apart. The second spider will be dealt with in my next spotting. I was making my way through dense grasses and foliage, looking for butterflies when I came across this spider on its web. Argiope aemula is not quite as common, in our area, as Argiope luzonensis. So I was happy to have an opportunity to take some pictures. The first thing I noticed was that it had created a stabilimentum on its web and because I have recently learned a little about these stabilimenta, it got my attention. This one is called a "Two-arm Discontinuous Cruciate Stabilimentum".(please see Notes below). As I was getting into a good position to take some photos, an insect crashed into the lower part of the web. With amazing speed, the spider rushed down and wrapped up the prey, before I could make out what it was. So, I got a photo of that. Then, before I could decide what angle my next picture would be taken from, another insect landed near the top of the web and was dealt with in the same way. So I got another photo of a wrapped-up, unidentified creature. I could see that this spider was not going to be hungry today. Please note the two "arms" of the stabilimentum so that if you look at my next spotting, you will see the difference.

Habitat:

This spider was spotted in a rice field which was left uncultivated this season to allow the land to rest. When we do this, an amazing variety of grasses and foliage springs up very quickly and creates what I like to call a tropical meadow.

Notes:

The nomenclature which I am using, for the Stabilimentum shown in this spotting, comes from a scientific paper written by a leading group of Philippine academics. https://www.researchgate.net/publication.........