Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Large
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Eurasia
Movement: Climbing
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Warning Colors
Status: Common

About

The wasp spider is named for the female's vivid yellow-and-black striped abdomen, which mimics the warning colours of stinging insects. Females weave a distinctive zigzag ribbon of silk — called a stabilimentum — down the centre of their orb web, thought to lure insect prey by reflecting ultraviolet light.

Life cycle

1.
egg sac
A silk-wrapped egg sac shelters a clutch of eggs until the young are ready to emerge.
2.
juvenile
A spiderling emerges from the egg sac already in miniature adult form and starts catching prey almost immediately.
3.
subadult
A near-adult arachnid molts through several instars, growing larger and developing mature markings.
4.
adult
Fully grown after its final molt.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Argiope
Species: Argiope bruennichi