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Orb Weaver Spider

family Araneidae

Description:

enerally, orb-weaving spiders are three-clawed builders of flat webs with sticky spiral capture silk. The web has always been thought of as an engineering marvel. In building it, the spider starts with a line, floated on the wind to another surface. The spider secures the line and then drops another line from the center, making a "Y". The rest of the scaffolding follows with a number of radii of non-sticky silk being constructed before a final spiral of sticky capture silk. The third claw is used to walk on the non-sticky part of the web. Characteristically, the prey insect that blunders into the sticky lines is stunned by a quick bite and then wrapped in silk. If the prey is a venomous insect, such as a wasp, wrapping may precede biting.

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PaulClark
Spotted by
PaulClark

Bossier City, Louisiana, USA

Spotted on Aug 17, 2012
Submitted on Sep 27, 2012

Spotted for Mission

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