Silver Argiope (Argiope argentata) spider with its prey
This is a fairly large Silver Argiope (Argiope argentata, Araneidae) spider wrapping its prey on its web. Its prey seems to be a Green Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae, Heteroptera, Hemiptera - maybe genus Chinavia or Thyanta, see this photo. I wonder how the spider caught it? You can see patches of the spider's stabilimentum - those thick white zig-zag webs on the diagonal. The common name of this spider comes from the white/silver part on the spider's top side, but a better characteristic for identification is their remarkable "horns" around the abdomen which gives them a cartoon look. Look close - this one seems to have a safety line! Arachtober 9. (San Marcos Pass, 9 October 2017)
I was lucky to find this spider today. I would normally have spiders located before Arachtober, but we were in Portland, Oregon this year. It's pretty remarkable how you can be standing right in front of a spider web and not see it until ... *wham* there it is! The spiders I had located before we left (like this one) are gone now. This is a new one.
Silver Argiope (Argiope argentata) spider with its prey
This is a fairly large Silver Argiope (Argiope argentata, Araneidae) spider wrapping its prey on its web. Its prey seems to be a Green Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae, Heteroptera, Hemiptera - maybe genus Chinavia or Thyanta, see this photo. I wonder how the spider caught it? You can see patches of the spider's stabilimentum - those thick white zig-zag webs on the diagonal. The common name of this spider comes from the white/silver part on the spider's top side, but a better characteristic for identification is their remarkable "horns" around the abdomen which gives them a cartoon look. Look close - this one seems to have a safety line! Arachtober 9. (San Marcos Pass, 9 October 2017)
I was lucky to find this spider today. I would normally have spiders located before Arachtober, but we were in Portland, Oregon this year. It's pretty remarkable how you can be standing right in front of a spider web and not see it until ... *wham* there it is! The spiders I had located before we left (like this one) are gone now. This is a new one.