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Comments & ID Thoughts
I found this in my garden and was curious which type it was and especially what it was doing?
I would like to know why it made those specific web patterns around each leg (the zig-zag shape)
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Mar 13, 2019
- Photographed: Mar 13, 2019
- Spider: Argiope (Garden Orb-weavers)
- Location: Battaramulla, Sri Lanka
- Spotted Outdoors: Low foliage (shrubs, herbs, garden, excluding flowers)
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes: Ventral, Webs
Help identify this spider
Aug 4, 2023
Aug 4, 2023
Cocconato, 
This is one of the Argiope species of Orb Weavers in the family Araneidae. The ‘zig-zag’ patterns you are wondering about are called a ‘stabilimentum’. There is a fair bit of debate in the literature as to what the function of the stabilimentum is. It is a feature common to nearly all Argiope species and the shape of the stabilimentum is often quite specific to species. The name comes from early thinking that since Argiope build large webs, they needed this additional structure to strengthen or stabilize the web. However, many species of Orb Weavers build webs as large or… Read more »
Thanks for the reply, it’s interesting to know that something called ‘stabilimentum’ exists. It seems that orb weavers are pretty common and that there are many different types; i didn’t know much about them so it’s interesting to learn about the type of spiders in my direct environment 🙂