Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2011 15:17:53 -0400
From: nabooko
Subject: My friend Ralph, the Argiope aurantia
Not too long ago, a friend asked me if I had seen any signature spiders this year. He said that he had not seen any near his home. He discribed the spider he had in mind. It brought memories flooding back to me- My childhood days- where everything was a marvel and a mystery and a new discovery.
I had always called these beautiful spiders “Jungle” spiders – Because they are black and yellow and tan. They can be very small or very large- weave huge webs- always in a place that you are sure to hit when you walk by. The webs are very sticky and really mess up your eye glasses.
The ‘signature’ nickname for Argiope aurantia comes from the fact that the spider adds a litle white ziz zag “writing” near the center of the web. The red arrow in one of my pics show the “signature”
I discovered this huge spider and his web near nightfall- It was hard to photograph- but lucky I took thes pics- both the web and the sprider were gone next morning.
I named my new spider friend Ralph-
N.A. Booko
click on the weblink below to see Ralph the signature spider.
www.mindspring.com/~expectations/spider2.jpg