Argiope bruennechii

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Comment by Jack Field on September 5, 2012 at 18:07

Take this disgusting photo down. There are arachnaphobics in this town!

Comment by Leon Marquis on September 4, 2012 at 2:07

thank you Michael, i've learnt so much! i like spiders, i never kill them, when i found any spider in my home, i just clean it out by anything possible. i believe the Veränderliche Krabbenspinne is a great hunter!

Comment by Michael Thomas Marx on September 2, 2012 at 19:33

Hello Richard,

it is mainly poisonous for its prey :). But biting by this species feel like a needle in your finger. But it could be very dangerous if you are sensitive for the poison (it's the same like bees, wasps, ants or mosquitos).

Comment by Richard Roman on September 2, 2012 at 12:43

Great photo!

Comment by Richard ridealgh on September 2, 2012 at 12:40

Scary looking thing, is it poisonous?

Comment by Michael Thomas Marx on September 2, 2012 at 12:27

Hello Leon,

You are right. The common name is wasp spider because of the black yellow surface pattern of the opisthosome. The "letters" in the web is called stabiliment. The function of this web structure is not known at the moment. Some scientists (like me) prefer the explanition of a protective function against predators. The pattern of the web imitate the pattern of the opisthosome. So a predator (like a bird) is offered a bigger surface "of the spider" which increase the possibility of mistakes by the predation act. By the way older wasp spiders are a little bit confused :). They produce more and more mistakes in spinning the stabiliment.

The white death spider (scientific name: Misumena vatia) is also very interesting, because this species is able to change the colour of the skin from white to yellow and vice versa. It depends on the colour of the flower they are hunting. And it include the possibility of colour-viewing in this little arthropod with only 8 (!!!) simple eyes (Ommatidia). In my opinion the english common name is a little bit menacingly for such a small creature. I prefer the german common name: Veränderliche Krabbenspinne (changeable/alterable crab spider) :).

Have a nice day,

Michael

Comment by Leon Marquis on September 2, 2012 at 1:02

i think this is a wasp spider, it's a common spider here, it likes to make some "letters" on its web. btw, i saw a white death spider in Changchun Park the other day!