Description and photo of a tiger spider

The tiger spider has the official name Argiop Bruennich, popularly found spider waspzebra. It has an unusual color that looks like a wasp. The natural habitat are steppes, deserts. Ubiquitous spider in Russia found in the southern lane. Settles in meadows, forest edges, clearings with good lighting. Due to the unusual scaring color, it has almost no enemies in nature.

What does a tiger spider look like?

The appearance of males, females is different. The body sizes of females reach 1.5 cm, male - 5 mm.

Photo and description of the female:

• The cephalothorax is silvery, the legs are light with clearly visible stripes.
• The abdomen is oblong, yellow in color with black stripes. Thanks to this color, the spider was called the tiger, wasp, zebra.
• The legs are long, thin. On the pads are the organs of touch, smell.
• On the head there are 8 eyes, 2 complex, the rest simple. The spider sees the lateral vision of the shadow, the flicker of color. With the front eyes, it determines what exactly is in front of it - a plant, a twig, a potential victim.

Photo of male tiger spider:

• the cephalothorax is silvery;
• the abdomen is elongated, oblong, the coloring is plain, but longitudinal stripes are clearly visible;
• legs are long, beige in color with light stripes;
• on the pedipalps male genitals are pronounced - bulbs.

The color of the cubs is initially beige. After several links, it acquires a characteristic color gamut for females and males.

Interesting!

Despite the great number of eyes, a comprehensive review, the sight of tiger spiders is weak. They see shadows, flickering of light at a distance of no more than 20 cm. They respond well to movement, air vibrations.

Where dwells, features of life

In the natural environment, this species of arachnids gravitates to the steppes, deserts. Distributed throughout the world, found on the territory of Russia in the southern zone. It lives in forests, meadows, clearings, forest edges with good lighting. He leads a nocturnal lifestyle, during the day sits motionless on the web or in a secluded place, waits for the victim.

On a note!

A spider with a tiger color weaving a web is weaving at night. All web creation process takes about 1 hour. The end result is an openwork canvas that shines beautifully under the rays of the sun, attracts victims.

Nutrition

The main diet consists of insects - beetles, flies, bees, wasps, mosquitoes, butterflies, caterpillars, grasshoppers. The spider waits for the victim, sitting in the center of the web, taking a pose similar to the letter "X". Or he hides in a secluded place, holding out a signal string to himself. Determines the presence of a victim by fluctuations in the web.

Initially, a predator bites prey, injects saliva, poison. The toxic substance paralyzes the muscles, immobilizes, saliva liquefies the insides to the state of the broth. The spider entangles the victim with a web, leaves for 5 minutes, watches from the side. As soon as the convulsions cease, it creeps to eat. Drinks all the insides, leaves only a chitinous shell.

Breeding

Mating begins immediately after puberty. The female secrets a special secret during weaving, which attracts the male. After fertilization, the boyfriend should quickly disappear imperceptibly, since a hungry lady can eat it.

After a few weeks, the spider forms a cocoon from the web, lays eggs in an amount of 50 to 100 pieces. Fastens near the web or in a secluded place. Protects cubs throughout the developmental period. This process takes about 2 weeks. After the birth of the spiders, they are still with their mother for some time, then resettlement begins.

Interesting!

In early September, the young generation of tiger spiders begin web migration in the neighborhood. They attach a spider web to a plant, hang down, wait for a gust of wind. With the first breath they go on a journey. A migrant can land near a nearby tree or fly hundreds of kilometers.

Spider bite

The tiger predator is not at all aggressive. It does not attack humans, it only hunts insects, their larvae, lives in the wild. He can bite only if the person shows excessive curiosity, presses the abdomen.

On the spot spider bite there is a slight swelling, redness, pain. Passes independently within 2 days. The pronounced consequences of a bite appear in people prone to allergies, young children under 3 years old. In the presence of an allergic reaction, antihistamines are used.