Spider with a black and yellow abdomen. Wasp spider with yellow stripes on its back

The wasp spider, also known as Argiope bruennichi, is an animal with a bright color that resembles a bee or wasp. The most striking species live in countries with warm climate– America, Asia, Japan, India, China. Some species inhabit regions of Europe. The Argiope Brünnich spider is found in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Lives in wildlife, but thanks to its bright color, the animal is often kept as a pet.

Origin of the name

Spider with yellow stripes on the back is known all over the world. The Latin name Argiope bruennichi was given in honor of a zoologist from Denmark who described unique look. The name of the scientist is Morten Trane Brünnich. Other names appeared due to the unusual external image, similar to a wasp, a bee. In several countries the spider is called a zebra.

Description of appearance

Argiope Brunnich is a typical representative of arachnids with a convex abdomen and cephalothorax. The body parts are connected by a thin bridge. The cephalothorax includes the stomach, brain, and poison glands. The body, up to 2.5 cm in size, is covered with a dense shell. Together with the legs, the size of the female wasp spider is 4 cm.

4 pairs of legs are attached to the cephalothorax. The forelimbs play the role of jaws, holding the victim during the bite and during feeding. The legs are the main organ of touch and smell. There are 6 eyes on the head, but they are weak. The wasp spider detects the approach of a victim or enemy by the vibrations of the air and web.

Note!
The color of the female is bright and eye-catching - the spider is yellow-black, striped. Characteristic patterns are present on the abdomen and legs. The male differs from the females in size, body shape - more elongated, and also in color. Male argiope grows no more than 7 mm, color is yellow-brown.

Tiger spider cubs are yellow with black spots at the end of the abdomen and on the legs. During the period of growing up, they molt up to 5 times, gradually increase in size, and acquire a characteristic striped color. In males, the cover simply darkens. A photo of the wasp spider can be seen below. It also provides the opportunity to compare what a female and male individual looks like.

Photo and description of the web

Argiope with a yellow belly weaves a complex web, which consists of vertical and horizontal threads. A spider sits in the center, waiting for its victim. the predator is active at night. This takes no more than an hour. The web is placed between the plants at a height of no more than 30 cm from the surface of the earth.

Interesting!
The web shimmers in the sun, attracting the attention of grasshoppers, locusts, and other insects. Argiope's nets serve to scare away enemies. A large spider begins to shake its web. Vibrations increase the shine from sun rays, which confuses enemies.

Where does it live?

The bee-like wasp spider is found throughout the world. Ideal conditions is humid air, high temperature, long summer. The female lives for 1 year, the male dies much earlier. Argiopes live on almost all continents. For settlement, choose a sunny clearing in the forest, on the edge, meadows, fields. They are often installed in gardens and vegetable gardens.

The zebra spider sits motionless on its web in the very center, with its legs spread out in the shape of an “X”. If necessary, it explores new territories at night, moving through the air on its web thread.

Nutrition

The wasp-like yellow striped spider eats insects that are caught in its trapping net. The main diet is grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, and flies. The victim becomes entangled in the web within a few seconds. Argiop senses the vibrations of the threads and makes his way to the prey. It bites, injects poison, and paralyzes the insect. Then he injects saliva, which liquefies the victim’s insides, wraps it in a web, and leaves it for a while. Sucks out all the juices, leaving a chitinous cover.

Interesting!
A spider like a wasp is of no interest to birds, large insects, or others. Natural enemies he has practically none. Argiope scares away with its appearance - stripes on its back. For males, the main enemy is the female. She eats him immediately after fertilization.

Reproduction

The wasp-colored tiger spider produces only one generation of young per summer; in tropical countries there may be more. At one time, the yellow-bottomed female lays up to 600 eggs. Initially, it weaves a cocoon from a web and places eggs inside. Places the pouch near its trapping nets.

After 2 weeks, a large generation of spiders appears, which crawl into different sides. Before reaching sexual maturity, they have to go through 5 molts. Each time the young argiope increases in size and acquires a characteristic color.

Is the wasp spider poisonous or not?

The arthropod has poisonous glands in which it produces toxic substance. When it enters the victim's body, it causes muscle spasm and immobilization. The poisonous brunette is not distinguished by its aggressive disposition and does not attack unnecessarily. For humans, its presence nearby does not pose a danger. However, if the argiope feels a threat to his own life, the attack will follow.

Note!
What is dangerous about a spider bite with wasp coloring is a local reaction on the skin. Swelling, redness, and pain appear. Small children and people with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to attacks by Argiope. If you are prone to allergies, you may experience difficulty breathing. In most cases, symptoms disappear on their own and do not require special treatment.

Due to its unusual color, wasp spiders are kept at home as pets. They live in specially equipped aquariums and feed on insects. Feeding should be done every other day. up to 1.5 years.

Spiders are terrifying creatures, especially the exotic black-and-yellow ones. If home brown spider a common thing and a special fear of it appearance does not cause, but arthropods with yellow and black stripes on the abdomen can surprise and wonder if this is a poisonous representative of animals.

Not many people know what colorful spiders are, what they eat and whether they can cause harm, but this does not change the fact that anyone can encounter such a colorful species.

Spiders are not uncommon in our area and it is better to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of this arthropod in advance, for your own development and in order to understand how to react to an encounter with it.

Black-yellow striped spider or argiope - description

The genus Argiope consists of 80 species, which are credited with a characteristic black and yellow coloration and belong to the family of orb-weaving spiders. In Russia it will not be possible to meet all these species, but Argiope Brünnich often catches the eye of Russians.

The male of such a spider reaches 2.5–3 cm in length, if you count the limbs. Females have large parameters, so they always exceed the size of males by 4–5 times. Agriope's cephalothorax is covered with dense short hairs of a silvery hue.

The animal looks like a wasp in color and elongated abdomen, so from a distance it is quite possible to confuse them. Spiders have elongated legs with dark bandages.

Agryope is defined by the following characteristic features:

The color of the spider's abdomen has yellow, black and white stripes that alternate with each other. Such spiders are considered predators that use venom to paralyze their victims.
The web that such arthropods weave is classified as a radial web; representatives of the genus weave it at an angle so that the caught victim does not escape.
After mating, the female devours her partner.

Note! Having learned such facts about Agryope, her beautiful appearance fades into the background, it becomes clear that the spider is dangerous. Although he is no less afraid of humans.

Lifestyle

The wasp spider is considered a loner, since representatives of the genus Agriopa rarely form small groups. Spiders weave their nets at night on plant stems.

In the middle of such a network, the predator makes a special stabilimentum - a thickened zigzag thread. This sign serves as an “occupied territory” for relatives, and as a kind of bait for insects.

Where does he live?

You can meet such a bright spider in subtropical and steppe zones, since predators love warmth. Although recently it has had to learn to take root in other regions of Russia, so you can spot the bee spider in the capital.

The animal prefers to settle in dense bushes or grass copra, which are located in open and well-lit areas of parks or flower beds.

Note! In forests, he lives well on the edges, near the river bank, in a meadow or on the side of the road. You can meet a predator on summer cottage looking into raspberry bushes or blackberry thickets.

Since such arthropods are predators, their favorite delicacy is considered to be various insects such as grasshoppers, flies and dragonflies. By the way, if a shoulder spider gets caught in a real wasp’s web, it may even die, because wasp venom is fatal to it.

Reproduction

At the end of the molt, which marks the female’s readiness for intercourse, this action occurs, since the female’s chelicerae still remain soft.

Males, as a rule, wait a long time for mating, being close to the female and waiting the right moment. When mating is completed, the male becomes the female’s dinner, unless of course the partner runs away.

Tired of fighting pests?

Are there cockroaches, mice or other pests in your dacha or apartment? We need to fight them! They are carriers of serious diseases: salmonellosis, rabies.

Many summer residents are faced with pests that destroy crops and damage plants.

It has the following properties:

Gets rid of mosquitoes, cockroaches, rodents, ants, bedbugs
Safe for children and pets
Powered by mains, no recharging required
There is no addictive effect in pests
Large area of operation of the device

When do Argiopes bite?

Although the spider wasp is extremely poisonous, its harm to humans is minimal. People are scary for agriopes, since arthropods see humans as a danger. And human skin is too thick for such spiders and they have no way to bite through it. Most likely, upon meeting, the predator will run away or pretend that it died a long time ago.

But if you touch an animal with your bare hands, it will definitely bite, which will cause noticeable pain.

Is the bite poisonous?

The spider bite is poisonous! Therefore, the area affected by the predator will turn red and begin to itch, and poison that gets on the skin can cause a serious allergic reaction. So it’s better to stay away from the beautiful spider and under no circumstances interfere with his life in peace.

Note! If you had to meet such a predator in own garden or in the country, it is better to move him away, using a stick or other object, making sure that he does not have the opportunity to attack.

First aid for a bite

If a spider does bite you, there is no need to panic, but inaction can also cause harm.

The first thing you need to do is disinfect the bite site. Wipe the affected area with an alcohol-soaked cotton swab. If there is no alcohol, you can use a solution with soda or wash the desired area well with laundry soap.
You can make a compress and apply something cold to the bite site, ideally hold a piece of ice on the damaged area.
If possible, it is better to immediately give the victim an antihistamine to swallow.
The person bitten should drink plenty of water.

If the patient develops symptoms allergic reaction you need to call an ambulance immediately.

It is better to keep Argiope bruennichus in a special terrarium, measuring at least 20x30 centimeters and more than 20 centimeters in height. The lid of such housing should be mesh so that the predator has something to breathe.

The filling substrate can be ordinary soil or a special coconut filler for arachnids. To create a comfortable spider home, you can place dry grape branches inside the terrarium so that the spider can safely weave trap webs.

The wasp spider needs to be provided room temperature and modest humidity, as too much can even kill it. Feed the predator at least 2 times a day, preferably in the morning or at evening time. As food for your “pet,” it is better to choose special food from any pet store; it is better to avoid ordinary insects.

In the terrarium you need to place a small container with water; it can serve as a regular lid with plastic bottle. The top filler needs to be changed weekly, as the representative of arthropods loves cleanliness.

Let's celebrate! Agryope is a very beautiful and colorful representative of arthropods, which can be found in any bush or grass. You need to behave extremely carefully with a predator, without giving the arachnid any reason to bite - it is better to stay away from the arthropod, without interfering with it living peacefully and weaving a web.

The wasp spider belongs to the family of orb-weaving spiders. Its web is quite remarkable - the pattern consists of zigzag broken lines. Such a trapping net can, as a rule, be found in well-lit areas among bushes and herbaceous plants. This type most common in central and southern parts Europe.

Spider wasp - an insect with a yellow-black abdomen

Description

The wasp spider, or argiope bruennichi, is a fairly large insect. Representatives of this species have pronounced sexual dimorphism: females are significantly larger than males. Adult females have an average body size of 3 cm, but larger insects are sometimes found. Males are much smaller - their body length, as a rule, does not exceed 0.5 cm.

The wasp spider has a rather bright color on its abdomen - it is covered. There are six notches along the edges of the abdomen - in this area you can see a range of colors from orange to darker, almost brown. The head is black. The cephalothorax has short, ashy-colored hairs. The legs are long, black, girded with a pattern in the form of pale yellow rings.

Note! This color is unique to females. Males are much less expressive - their body is usually black or gray!

Lifestyle

Representatives of this species prefer to live in small groups of 20 individuals each. They settle in fields and meadows, in forest areas, as well as in other places with dense vegetation. At the same time, they choose open areas that are well translucent and warmed by the sun's rays.

To build a web, these insects choose a large spreading plant or build it between several bushes. It takes a spider about an hour to make one trapping net, and the construction process itself always occurs at dusk. The central part of the web consists of a stabilimentum - a pair of clearly visible threads located opposite each other, which diverge from the middle.

This is interesting! The web of argiope bruennichi has the ability to reflect ultraviolet rays and it attracts insects quite well!

The finished fishing net is very beautiful - it has small cells arranged in a zigzag pattern. And at its center there is always a wasp-like spider. The mistress sits on the underside of the web, spreading her long legs wide apart, and patiently waits for the next victim to fall into the trap.

Nutrition

The basis of the wasp spider's diet consists of insects, both orthoptera and others. Most often, the following networks fall into the placed networks:

grasshoppers;
flies;
mosquitoes;
butterflies;
fillies;

The victim caught in the web begins to twitch, which attracts a hunter located nearby. The spider immediately approaches, plunges its jaws into the body of the prey and paralyzes the caught insect with poison. As soon as the prey freezes, the hunter deftly wraps it in a web, bites off the restraining threads and hides it in a secluded place.

After some time, the poison, which contains digestive enzymes, softens the victim’s body, after which the spider begins to eat.

Reproduction

The female becomes sexually mature immediately after molting. She sheds her old chitinous cover and allows the male to fertilize her, after which she eats him.

Note! Scientists still cannot come to a consensus as to why she does this. Some believe that in this way she is trying to saturate her body with protein, which is necessary for normal gestation of eggs. Others believe that a natural reflex is triggered - the female eats the male due to incompatibility in size, that is, it acts on the principle of natural selection, when large individuals destroy small ones!

A female spider with a color like a wasp lays eggs about a month after mating. She weaves several cocoons from the web and places approximately 400 eggs in each. She hangs all the cocoons near her fishing net and soon dies.

Future offspring spend the entire winter in a dense, warm cocoon. With the arrival of warmth, the young emerge from the eggs and spend some time in close proximity to the cocoon. During this period, many spiderlings die and there is only one reason for this - overpopulation of the territory, due to which there is not enough food for everyone. Thus, some packs die due to hunger, others are eaten by their own brothers.

The survivors leave their homes around August. In windy weather, they scatter around the surrounding area using their web. In autumn, the young animals reach sexual maturity.

Danger

The venom of the wasp spider is deadly to insects, but practically harmless to humans. At the same time, argiope bruennichi does not purposefully attack people. This insect can only bite accidentally if it is disturbed by picking it up. The affected area may experience:

slight swelling;
redness;
burning;
pain.

But these symptoms often go away very quickly. If you are bothered by a wasp spider bite discomfort, then for speedy healing, apply something cold to the affected area. After such a compress, the pain subsides and the swelling goes away.

In general, the venom of the wasp spider is quite weak for humans. However, sometimes, in particular with weak immunity, the body’s negative reaction can be quite intense. In such cases, anti-inflammatory ointments usually help. The poison of argiope bruennichi can be dangerous for humans only if there is an allergy to insect bites. In this situation, you should definitely seek qualified medical help.

Wasp Spider, or Argiope Bruennichi (lat. Argiope bruennichi) is an arthropod that belongs to the class Arachnids, order Spiders, suborder Opisthothelae, infraorder Araneomorpha spiders, superfamily Araneoidea, family Orb-weaving spiders, subfamily Argiopinae, genus Argiope.

International scientific name: Argiope bruennichi (Scopoli, 1772).

The species name for the spider was given in honor of Morten Trane Brünnich, a zoologist from Denmark. Due to its warning coloration with black and yellow stripes, this representative of arachnids is often found under the name wasp spider, and in some countries it is called the tiger spider or zebra spider. Some people incorrectly call it the bee spider.

Spider wasp - description, structure, characteristics.

The body of the wasp spider, like that of others, consists of a cephalothorax and abdomen, which are connected by a thin stalk. The cephalothorax, which contains the brain, poison glands and stomach, is covered hard shell. The spider has no antennae. The 8 eyes of the wasp spider are located in the front of the cephalothorax.

Argiope Brünnich is a spider with pronounced sexual dimorphism: females and males of the species differ significantly in shape, size and body color. The body size of adult females is about 1.1-2.5 cm in length (with straightened legs up to 4 cm), while males barely grow to 5.5 mm (according to some sources up to 7 mm). The abdomen of a female wasp spider has a rounded-oblong shape; in males, the abdomen is elongated and narrow. The cephalothorax of females is wide and flat, light brown, with a darkened head region. The cephalothorax is covered with small, dense, white-silver hairs and therefore appears silver.

Female wasp spiders are very brightly colored and therefore clearly visible: the dorsal pattern of their abdomen is an intense yellow background with rows of black transverse stripes, very similar to the color of the abdomen or. On the fourth stripe from the cephalothorax, two small tubercles are clearly visible.

The male wasp spider is inconspicuous, does not look like a wasp at all and is painted in a light beige color, on which 2 longitudinal dark stripes are barely visible.

The wasp spider has 6 pairs of limbs: 4 pairs of walking legs, 1 pair of chelicerae (jaws) with movable claws, with which the striped spider grabs prey, and 1 pair of pedipalps, which perform the function of touch. In individuals of both sexes, the legs are long and thin, brownish in color. The limbs of females are decorated with alternating bright dark and light rings, very similar to stockings. In males, the rings on the limbs are faded and blurred. On the pedipalps of male wasp spiders, large bulbs are clearly visible - their reproductive organs.

The respiratory organs of the wasp spider are represented by a pair of lungs and trachea, opening with one spiracle in front of the arachnoid warts.

Where does the wasp spider (Argiope Brünnich) live?

The wasp spider is a fairly numerous species. It is widespread in countries North Africa, Small and Central Asia, in India, China, Korea, Japan and the USA. It is also a common arachnid in the Central and Southern Europe, in Kazakhstan, Crimea and the Caucasus. In Russia, the spider wasp was noticed in several regions: Chelyabinsk, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Tambov, Oryol, Lipetsk, Penza and Bryansk. Probably due to the increase average annual temperature air Argiope Brünnich also began to be noticed in the Tula, Ryazan regions and in the Moscow region. According to the latest data, the black and yellow wasp spider began to appear in Kaluga region, as well as in the Novgorod region on the territory belonging to the Rdeisky Nature Reserve.

The favorite habitats of the wasp spider are located in areas exposed to the sun: fields, lawns, along roadsides, forest clearings and forest edges. The black-and-yellow striped wasp spider places its hunting nets on various low vegetation, giving particular preference to xerophilous plants growing in particularly dry areas of the area.

A unique feature of all orb weavers, including the wasp spider, is their ability to move considerable distances thanks to their web threads, picked up by rising air currents. This manner of settlement has led to the fact that some southern populations often end up on northern territories.

Argiope Brünnich's web.

Like all orb weavers, the wasp spider is fluent in the art of weaving webs, and its spiral trapping nets are large wheel-shaped nets with two pronounced stabilimentums in the middle.

The stabilimentum is a thickened zigzag pattern on the web, which can have different shapes: linear, circular, cruciform.

A notable feature of the wasp spider’s web is that there are two such patterns at once, which diverge from the middle and are located opposite each other. Scientists have found that the main reason for this artistic weaving is the ability of the multilayer insert to reflect ultraviolet rays, thereby attracting insects.

The wasp spider weaves a complex web of multilayer threads thanks to the structure of the limbs characteristic of orb-weavers. Last pair The leg, equipped with three simple claws and serrated bristles, has a special spike-shaped appendage that allows it to weave intricate networks from individual threads.

The female, sitting in the center of the web (usually upside down), resembles the letter “X” because her widely spaced legs of the first and second, as well as the third and fourth pairs are placed very close to each other.

The wasp spider, like most representatives of the order, weaves its web at dusk, and the whole process lasts no more than an hour. Typically, the web stretches between plants no higher than 30 cm from the surface of the ground. In case of danger, a disturbed wasp spider throws its catching nets and tries to hide on the ground.

What does a wasp spider eat?

The strong trapping nets of the wasp spider most often catch representatives of the order Orthoptera: crickets, etc. Argiope Brünnich also preys on fillies. The feeding method of the Argiope spider is typical for most arachnids: as soon as the prey insect is in the nets, the spider quickly approaches and bites the victim, injecting poison into it. Then he entangles the future “dinner” with the threads of his web and waits until, under the influence of digestive enzymes, the caught prey becomes suitable for consumption. After this, it simply sucks up the liquid food, leaving only the chitinous shell of the insect.

(Latin name "Argiope lobata Pall") is a large genus of spiders belonging to the family of Orb-weaving spiders.

What does it look like

Argiope – quite large spider. The average body length of an adult female is 3 centimeters, but larger specimens are also found. Males are much smaller in size - on average, body length does not exceed five millimeters. The female Argiope is quite easy to recognize by her bright coloring. The head is black in color, the cephalothorax is covered with thick hairs ash color, abdomen is striped (bright yellow and black stripes alternate). The females' legs are very long and black with pale yellow rings. Due to the presence of stripes, female Argiopes have been called "zebra spiders". Males do not have such bright colors; their bodies are either black or gray.

Lifestyle

Argiope live in small colonies, the number of which does not exceed 20 individuals. Spiders prefer to settle in forests, fields and meadows where there is a lot of vegetation. They stretch their networks between several plants, attaching the main threads to the stems. Argiope's catching webs are distinguished by very small cells and incredibly beautiful patterns (like many other orb-weaving spiders). The spider spends all the time sitting in the center on its lower side. Argiope mainly hunts, and, but does not refuse other insects caught in the net. Spiders paralyze their prey in a matter of seconds with poison, wrap them in cobwebs, and then just as quickly eat them.

Where does he live?

Argiope spiders inhabit southern and central Europe. In total, scientists identify over 150 species (from the genus Argiope), which are found in almost all corners of the planet, excluding the polar zones. Only a few species can be found in the European part of Eurasia.

Danger!!!

Argiope spiders do not pose a great danger to humans, since their venom is quite weak. Only the female of this spider can bite a person, and only if you pick her up. The bite itself is quite painful, since the spider inserts its stinging organs very deeply under the skin. A few seconds after the bite, the area around the wound begins to redden and swell, and a feeling of numbness appears. After a few hours, the pain begins to subside, and the swelling goes away after two to three days. Argiope bites are a real danger only for people who are allergic to insect bites.