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Giant Lichen Orbweaver

Araneus bicentenarius

Description:

Pale green abdomen with complex patterns of dark grey and lighter green. There were two pronounced bumps like frogs' eyes on the abdomen near the waist. The abdomen was smooth, not hairy. Legs striped orange, black, and greenish-yellow. With legs partially extended as in the third photograph, the spider was approximately 2 inches long. Thanks to Heather Reddig for identifying the species!

Habitat:

This spider was living in an orb web under the eaves of a house out in the country with marshy fields and shade trees. Location approximate only.

Notes:

This spider was dining at one edge of the web (shown in the second photograph) when I first saw her, but darted to the center of the web when my presence disturbed her, trailing new matted webbing behind her. (shown in third photograph.) She seemed to become impatient with my prolonged attention after many photographs at close range and my attempts to use a ruler for scale. She lifted her forelegs and swung them back to the web in a pounce-like show of aggression.

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Harmony D.
Spotted by
Harmony D.

Splendora, Texas, USA

Spotted on Jun 7, 2016
Submitted on Jun 7, 2016

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