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quirkpod

first writing-spider of the season!

Lavoie Boho
17 years ago

Anyone else seen any yet? We saw our first one here last night, as this pic shows. It was a WHOPPER! {{gwi:582871}}

Comments (18)

  • alicia7b
    17 years ago

    Yes, I have started seeing them too. They really stand out with their size and color.

  • dirtrx
    17 years ago

    So spiders have seasons,hmmm. I didn't realise that. Do you find them near spider liles lol? My butterfly garden did really well and is now filled with beautiful butterflies. Are they now at web risk? I think I would cry if I say one of my babies all wrapped up.
    By the way gorgeous picture! Shannon/Dirtrx

  • trianglejohn
    17 years ago

    They have seasons in a loose sense of the word. They are here all the warm parts of the year but they get bigger as summer goes on, so we see them better after July. I noticed some smaller ones a month or so ago.

  • surrealgarden
    17 years ago

    I have a couple of very happy Writing Spiders in my flowerbed at the front door, surprisingly. I guess chopping down my shrubs and encouraging a less structured cottage-garden has made them comfortable!

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    17 years ago

    Lots of folks have posted about their large yellow garden spiders....aren't they spectacular? Argiope aurantia.

    Is that an egg sac she is tending or just another 'victim'? This is also the time of year when they are creating their large, silk covered egg sacs in preparation for winter. These large females won't live too awfully long after the eggs are secured....the males are probably long gone. ;-(

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    17 years ago

    Here's the egg sac of this particular species of Argiope. It can be darker or lighter in color, but all the ones that I've seen look just like this. These egg sacs are much larger than the body of the mother spider, and can contain anywhere from 200 to well over 1000 eggs!

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:582870}}

  • lindakimy
    17 years ago

    Holy cow! It's bigger than your CAT!!LOL

  • solaknc
    17 years ago

    Have seen them around for a couple weeks now here, SE of Raleigh. Thanks for the ID Pic of the egg case. Now if only I could find egg cases or cocoons or whatevers of Hornworm caterpillars :)

  • moonie_57 (8 NC)
    17 years ago

    *shudders*

  • roberta_nc
    17 years ago

    I haven't seen any yet but I do think they are very interesting, just as long as I don't walk into the web!

    Love your kitty!

  • dragonplant
    17 years ago

    I had one exactly like that living in my tomato plants in June. (And a cat exactly like that living on my sofa! Cute kitty!).

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    17 years ago

    solaknc, the tobacco hornworm (which is what you probably have) pupate in the soil. Dig around and you will probably find their dark, leathery chrysalis. Their eggs look like pretty pale pearls, usually on the underside of the leaves.

    Here is a link that might be useful: FTI

  • hbwright
    17 years ago

    I'm so jealous. We had a bunch of babies this spring/summer and we watched them grow for about a month and then they all dissappeared. I have no idea why I haven't seen a single adult female. I want to make sure I have babies for next year. Now I'll go out searching my garden and hope I can find one. My neighbors will usually tell me if they find one and I'll relocate it to my yard.

  • rootdiggernc
    17 years ago

    Have one of those here with its web strung between the Curcurma and a bronze fennel. Saw one up at my sis's in the mountains too. Beautiful!

  • greygardener
    17 years ago

    I agree, they ARE beautiful, and THEE only kind of spider I like. I'm afflicted by them. I have noticed that mine seem to be growing more slowly this year.

    Wonder if it has anything to do with the heat/humidity. I've had a very hard time getting the hostas and daylilies to set pods. Guess the spiders are affected too?

  • amyflora
    17 years ago

    I love these pretty girls. Have you all noticed that if you get too close, they will start to rock the web, to SCARE you off? My 6 year old told me he saw them rockin' and rollin' in the garden. Can you tell my husband is a drummer in a rock band???

  • jeffahayes
    17 years ago

    I got some great pics of yellow writing spiders in a couple different locations on my property the last couple of years... Hadn't seen any yet THIS year until a few days ago, when I brought my mom home from a doctor's appointment. I had forgotten and left something in the car, and went back to get it. As I was walking back to the house, I noticed some odd, wiggling, swinging motion over near the LP gas tank by the shrubs next to our patio. I took a closer look and it was a fledgling Carolina Chickadee, hanging upside-down at the bottom of what HAD BEEN a yellow writing spider's next before the chickadee's legs and wings got totally entangled, and it was obviously in serious distress, as all it could do was pretty much move enough to make the webbing swing it back and forth a little...

    I like yellow writing spiders, but NOT ENOUGH to let one wait for a chickadee to die of exhaustion and then suck it dry, so I reached out with my pocketknife and touched the strand of webbing above the chickadee, then pulled it towards me until it snapped and the chickadee plopped onto my brick-enclosed patio.

    Then it was sort of just skipping around and acting freaked out, with me checking it out... I wasn't sure if it still had webbing tangling its wings and/or feet, but it was a bit too fast for me to catch by hand, so I went to the back yard and grabbed a fish net to scoop it up and see if I needed to clean any webbing off and possibly take it to a rehabilitator... Well, when I reached down with the net, it DID freak out, and flew up into the branch of a nearby pine tree, so I figured it was "well enough," and went back inside.

    One time I sure was glad I forgot something in the car. I can tell ya that.

    Happy Gardening!
    Jeff

  • blazin_84_yahoo_com
    15 years ago

    yes we have one out side our door but its moved all around our house but last night i didnt see the big one and now in its web is a smaller one ? i dont know its kinda freaky ha ha dude wheres the big spider ? i can send a picture if you would like me to just e mail me