Subject: Argiope bruennichi?
Geographic location of the bug: São Brás, Algarve, Portugal
Date: 09/01/2018
Time: 07:46 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Hello,
We spotted this spider on the wall outside the door of a villa we were staying in, in the Algarve in Portugal – a very remote location surrounded by nothing but olive groves and hills, accessible only by a dirt road. It appeared quite suddenly in the morning, as we were leaving, and we hadn’t noticed it before anywhere inside or outside during our week-long stay. We’ve never seen a spider like this in Portugal before (usually just lots of lizards and the odd snake!), especially not with an almost crab-like body and a nest/egg sac? A little Googling suggests it might be a wasp spider, but do you know for sure?
Thank you for your time and for any help you can give!
All the best,
Amelia
Dear Amelia,
In our opinion, you have the genus correct but not the species for your Orbweaver. We believe, based on this Age Fotostock image that your spider is Argiope lobata. Images on iNaturalist and ArachnoPhoto support that ID.