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Argiope
aurantia by Jerry Cates
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Thinking our spider may have decided to move to another location, I checked for a new web nearby. Again, this search was in vain. Methinks this arachnid is no more. These searches were repeated at various times on July 31st and August 1st, and were fruitless. If no more, our spider may have met its fate at the beak of the mockingbird who patrols this area, or at the mouth of one of the three species of lizard I've seen here. Possibly, the decision not to invest as much silk in the stabilimentum this last time was a fatal one, as its thin structure would not have camouflaged her form as well as the earlier ones. In any case, such is life in the jungle. This spider probably knew, from the perspective of a consummate predator, that some day the predator might become another organism's prey. From a visitor on December 22, 2003: "I have had a number of argiopes, all beautiful and gentle like this one. All of mine lived to complete her life cycle catching bugs and making egg sacs. When the egg sacs go up, I knew each Charlotte's (I named them all Charlotte 1 through n) days were numbered. Only one had a mysterious disappearance. I looked around and found her covered with ants. I hope she died of old age or something before falling into the hands of the ants. Most people think I am nuts to like argiopes. Some I have transplanted to places where I can observe them, monitor their web building and bug catching and watch them complete their life cycles. You may think I am nuts too, but I am in awe of these gentle, beautiful creatures. I think that the great God who made them and knows when each sparrow falls knows when each Charlotte has fulfilled the great purposes for which each was born and knows when they fell to. Merry Christmas and God bless you." KGN, Houston |
The photo on the left
is of the stabilimentum of our spider's web as of late afternoon on July 31,
2001. If you compare it with the stabilimentum constructed on July 30th
(shown below), you will notice that they are identical. And if you have been
following this series from the beginning you will immediately sense that
something is wrong. True. Our spider has disappeared.
Late in the afternoon on the 30th I checked the web, expecting to find the spider there. The stabilimentum was bare. In the past, when it saw me coming, the spider would scamper down to a hiding spot in the vegetation below, but even there the spider was not hard to find. It would never disappear completely from sight, but would curl up in a crumpled mass, playing dead. This time, however, the spider was not as the base of the web, either. Notice that the stabilimentum has not been damaged, but that a leaf has become imbedded in the web below it. This leaf was also in the web on the 30th.
Females of our spider's species live but a season under the best of circumstances. Consequently, this one had only about 10-12 weeks of life left anyway. Sometime in late September or early October, it would have constructed a silken cocoon for a clutch of eggs. After filling the cocoon with that treasure, it would have sealed it up and attached it to a firm object. Not long thereafter it would have ceased web building. After all, its object in life--to propagate the species--had been achieved. Its appetite for food would be lost, and the spider would grow progressively weaker until, finally, death would come. We were able to share in this spider's life for six days. It was, at least for me, a worthwhile experience. Hopefully, it was for you as well. Before leaving this web page, please scroll down to the important notice posted below. We need your help and we hope in an investigational study we are conducting. Go back to July 26, 2001 * July 27, 2001 * July 28, 2001 * July 29, 2001 * July 30, 2001 |
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Important Notice We are investigating the risk of secondary infections that may occur as a result of bites from this and other, otherwise harmless spiders whose venom is known to pose little or no danger to humans. In the process, we are collecting information on experiences persons have had with such spider bites. Please contact us about your personal experiences, if you have been bitten by this or any other spider, including jumping spiders and wolf spiders (the bites of which typically produce a transitory inflammation, but resolve within a few days without medical attention), whether recently or in the past thirty years, anywhere in the world. For example, the bite of a species of garden spider, the golden orb spider of Australia [Nephila edulis] typically is unremarkable, but on occasion produces medically significant secondary infections; the frequency and nature of bites experienced from that species of spider is also a part of this study. The object of this study is to collect data that might relate to a mysterious series of spider-related infections, involving a special pathogen, that took place in the United States and in Australia between 1977 and 2006. Although only fifteen such infections were reported to medical establishments, seven appear to be associated with spider bites. Some authorities suggest that the number of actual infections of this type that occurred in the U.S. and Australia during the past thirty years is much larger, but that they have been underreported. Underreporting of specific kinds of infections can occur, either because the persons infected chose not to seek medical assistance, or the medical establishments misdiagnosed the infections as being caused by other infectious agents. We are seeking to establish an estimate of the number of human spider bites that occur each year by these and similar spiders, whether the bite resulted in injury to the human or not. Next, we hope to establish the number of instances where the bite (1) became inflamed and/or infected, then resolved without medical intervention, or (2) infected, ulcerated, or led to a generalized sickness, and required medical intervention. ---------------------------------------------- Back to: Texas Spiders Back to: Bugsinthenews |
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