Saturday, August 26, 2006

Barn Spider (Araneus cavaticus)

Barn Spider. Photo by Bruce Spencer.Female barn spiders have dark brown cephalothorax and legs with a pale yellowish line along their abdomen. They love to spin their webs in barns, cave openings, and overhanging cliffs. This one has set up a web under our back deck. She spins her web as evening falls and then waits for what the night brings her. In the morning she tears down her web and retreats to a safe corner. She will do this for weeks with her abdomen growing a little each day. Then she'll lay her egg mass in some nearby corner. When Meggy was in grade school, one of these spiders took over our back porch. We stopped going in and out the back door at night and watch her for weeks. She was nicknamed Charlotte, of course. Barn Spiders are a widespread species.

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