I've always found the geometry of a spider's web fascinating and was delighted to stumble upon this one today. For a moment i thought it was a really big spider, but quickly realised - it is a spider holding a dead cockroach/moth/butterfly! I was quite taken by the markings on its body and the four symmetrical solid markings on its web - looks like a trapeze artist doesn't it? Turns out these are called 'web decorations' or stabilimenta. I'm not quite sure what the function of the stabilimenta is; if you are an arachnologist please do comment!
2 comments:
the spider in your blog is the Striped Cross / Striped Fourleg (Argiope aemula) -- not as common as the Common Cross (A. anasuja); I've seen the former only once in my house in Tambaram.
Preston
Thanks for the link Arati!
This one has even more impressive stabilimenta than the one I saw:
http://madraswanderer.blogspot.com/2009/08/tree-guards-bagworms-and-argiopes.html
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