Joann Merritt's Essays

Spiders News And Natives
June, 2002

“Though you may not be enamored with spiders” wrote Andra Chamberlin in the May issue of News & Natives. Although this holds true for me, spiders are an interesting facet of nature’s complex scene.

Expecting West Texas hospitality a Texas-sized female Banded Argiope with a 1” long body made herself right at home. She spun a web on the siding of our house adjacent to a bedroom window, and “signed” her finished product by weaving a heavy zig-zag mark in it. This accounts for the common name Signature Spider. Soon the much smaller male spun his web nearby where he waited patiently and was eventually accepted into her summer home. Mrs. A evidently didn’t agree with Frances Williams’ premise that we marry our husbands for better or worse but not for lunch because I found her mate’s body “dead in the web” leading me to believe she had him for lunch! She soon produced three egg sacs and I did not open my nearby bedroom window until all the hundreds of tiny spiders had hatched and ballooned away into the blue yonder.

One fall a large garden spider placed her snare in the low branches of a plum tree just above a bed of asters where she successfully imprisoned several Red Admirals who had been blissfully flitting from flower to flower.

A green Lynx spider was well camouflaged in the lacy leaves of Mistflower where it was lying in wait to capture one of the Queens nectaring there - until I transported him to another part of our two acres! The abundant yellow and white Crab spiders are to me what bristle grass is to Andra - dreaded and obnoxious. Neither they nor Jumping spiders spin a web which would somewhat endear them to me even though they eat so many butterflies.

Intricately constructed webs are especially showy when seen laden with dew and such was the case when Don and I observed the creations of Diguetids (die-gweet-ids). They spin a vertical tube which is positioned over the center of an irregular flat web and this tubular retreat is soon covered with egg sacs and the remains of prey. Diguetids are relatives of Spitting Spiders who actually squirt sticky threads at their prey and one species cleverly designs a “bowl and doily” shaped web that I hope someday to see.

As Sybil Eberhart arrived at the Rehab parking lot to report for nursing duty she was greeted and at once enchanted by long strands of spider silk dangling from the power lines. In the predawn darkness the bright security lights reflected on these gossamer strands and according to Sybil “gave the appearance of Christmas tree tinsel gently billowing in the breeze”.

Young spiders, as well as some adult males, disperse by spinning long strands of silk as a vehicle on which to ride the wind to a new destination. This process which allows spiders to travel long distances, albeit at the discretion and mercy of the wind, is known as ballooning. Thus carried aloft and buffeted by our gusty West Texas winds perhaps Sybil’s spiders were in need of some rehabilitation.

In the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico Vera & Norman Zachry along with Don and me watched in awe one morning as great numbers of these silken strands clumped together and drifted from the sky in such abundance that they made a white scattered covering on the ground and in the trees reminiscent of a light snowfall.

If you have questions or comments about spiders or their webs call Allen Wemple. He is a great source of information.