July 8th OOTD: Yellow Garden Spider!



Today’s Observation of the day is our first species of arachnid (Arachnida) highlighted as OOTD. This observation is of a Yellow Garden Spider (Arigope aurantia) and shows off the intimidating yet beautiful markings on the spider’s abdomen. A member of the orb-weaver family, Araneidae, the Yellow Garden Spider has an extra claw per foot, giving them three, which it uses to help handle threads while spinning its web1.





Yellow Garden Spiders keep to themselves unless disturbed or harassed, but their bite’s venom is non-allergic and harmless to humans—roughly equivalent to the intensity of a bumblebee sting1. When threatened, A. aurantia will grab hold of its web and vibrate, creating the illusion that it is larger than it is. Check out this short video of a Yellow Garden Spider shaking its web!


Come to Merck Forest and Farmland Center on Saturday, July 24th and/or Sunday, July 25th to find spiders, other arachnids, and hundreds of other species of wild plants and animals!



Links
Merck Forest Website Event Page
Merck Forest Registration Page
iNaturalist Project Page
Facebook Event Page



Photograph: © Madison Alderman


1George Hammond, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web
Posted on July 8, 2021 02:23 PM by maxmiley maxmiley

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