Arrowhead Spider, verrucosa arenata
Araneidae or Orb Weaver Family
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Fairly
large spider; females are about an inch long. The abdomen is
triangular, and in the female has a white to yellow arrowhead shape on
the upper surface. The remaining body parts can be red, black or
brown. The head is relatively small compared to the abdomen. The
male is smaller (about half an inch), and lacks the colored
arrowhead. The female sits in her web head up, with her
legs drawn in. Most orb weaver spiders sit in their webs
head-down. Widespread in North America. Males are rarely seen, except when hanging out in a female's web, trying to get her interested. Even the females are not often seen, because they hang in their webs at night and usually give up, remove the web, and retreat into hiding before dawn. This little lady was still hoping to catch some food at 10:30 in the morning. Easy to identify by the colored arrowhead and the heads-up posture. The Arrow-Shaped Micrathena (Micrathena sagittata) also has a triangular abdomen, but pointing the other way, towards the head. They also have spines at each end of the abdomen, and sit head-down in the web. |
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