Oval St. Andrew's Cross Spider wrapping Prey

Description:

Yesterday, I made made my daily visit to this gravid female Argiope aemula, to check if she had produced an egg sac. She was still very rotund and it was obvious that no egg sac had yet been produced. I had only been looking at her for a minute or so when, suddenly, something flew past me, from behind and crashed into the spiders web. I was not able to see what kind of insect it was, because the spider left the hub of her web at incredible speed and immediately started wrapping the prey in silk, to immobilise it. So, I pointed my camera and started taking some photos of the event. I was very lucky that the spider did not wrep the insect excessively and in the 3rd., 4th. and 5th. pictures, the prey can be seen, reasonably well, through the silk The identification of this insect was rather easy because this took place in a rice field and the most common insect in a rice field is a Rice Bug (Leptocorisa acuta). In some of the photos, the silk can be seen being sprayed out of the spider's spinnerets (easy to see in the 2nd. photo. I used to think that spider silk was "played out" like a fine thread, but it is actually sprayed out like paint from an aerosol can. The silk comes out from the spider in liquid form, but it does not dry like paint. It solidifies immeditely when it is stressed by tension. The spider, obviously pulls it tight and the struggles of the prey also help to solidify the silk. Spiders use different kinds of silk, depending on the task. There is one kind of silk (not sticky) for the radial arms which form the supporting framework of the web, then a sticky silk for the spiral web (to trap prey) then there is the silk for wrapping prey (this type is also used in the construction of web decorations) and the list goes on. Wikipedia's article on spider silk states that Argiope argentata uses five different kinds of silk. I am not yet sure, but I think that A. aemula (the subject of this spotting) also uses five kinds of silk. If you are interested in spiders, Wiki's article is a "must read" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_sil...

Habitat:

This female Argiope aemula and her prey, a Rice Bug (Leptocorisa acuta) were spotted in a rice field.

Notes:

I don't think my spotting of an Argiope spider would be complete if I did not mention the web decoration. The last picture shows the spider, back at the hub. I should say, more accurately, that she is back near to the hub, part of which is missing. I think the damage to that part of the web was probably caused by a struggle with a different prey insect, prior to my arrival. So, the web decoration is in damaged condition. What remains (that can be seen) is the wreckage of a Three-armed Discontinuous Cruciate Stabilimentum. In the area of the web where a possible fourth arm might have been, there is a gaping hole, possibly caused by a heavier insect (like a beetle) which may have crashed through and escaped.