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Orb WeaversAloe Vera Nesting Spider
Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 5:13 PM
Hi Bugman, I stumbled across a good sized spider in my Aloe Vera plant. It is amber colored with darker ribbing on the legs, and cream and tan spikes on the back. I also have amber colored fangs. It seemed fairly docile, but I didn’t get too close.
Thanks!
To Ben, Ashley, and Elijah
Coastal San Diego
Argiope argentata
Hi Ben, Ashley and Elija,
Your spider is a Silver Garden Spider, Argiope argentata. This species is found in California, the Gulf states and the Southeast US, and south into Mexico and Central America. The spiders in the genus Argiope are quite docile in that they spin an orb web and remain in the web. The web is spun anew daily and the webs often contain a stabilimentum. The stabilimentum is a zigzag pattern woven into the web, and according to BugGuide: “The function of the stabilimentum is not fully understood. Hypotheses are; that it stabilizes the web, or makes it more apparent to birds which will thus not fly into and wreck it, or it reflects light to attract insect prey, or perhaps most likely helps to camouflage the spider in the web. ”
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