Cat-faced spider

Description:

A fairly large female had made her home along the side of our house. At first she was sleeping, and allowed me to take a few photos. Then, after a mosquito fell victim to her web, she began to use one of her left tarsi (the outermost segment of her leg) to sense vibrations on her web (see first photo -- I put it first because it was my favourite). The hairs on her abdomen and legs were quite prominent, and aid in mechanoreception (perceiving vibrations). If you're wondering how a spider feeds, they use external digestion methods, where they digest the food externally (by secreting enzymatic fluids, etc.) and then basically "drinking" in the fluid through the mandibles (jaws) between their chelicerae (2 "fangs"). Most Arthropods feed this way, and remind me of vampires.

Habitat:

A common orb-weaver spider in the USA and Canada.

Notes:

Araneus gemmoides have low-toxicity venom, and are considered to be no harm to humans. I'm not sure why they call it the "cat-faced spider", but if you look at a few pictures of the top of her abdomen, it is sort of reminiscent of 'The Cheshire Cat' from "Alice and Wonderland"!