WHAT YA GOT SWAP Chat Thread

[CapricornFarm]

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That would be Corancher, she has to keep tabs on you all so you don't swap yourselves to death.

 

[meepitqueenie]

Hi west knoll.... well so far I have had 2 hatch from you- don't know if I will have any more but looks like one yellow sizzle and a silkie of unknown color maybe black?
maybe you can tell me.

a few picts of the japs enjoying there new yard.... i found someone on craigslist selling this pen for $75 had to buy it

does anyone know anything about spiders????

this one was on the pen for the chickens - very creepy

 

[reesepoultry]

Looks like a Banana spider.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=bana...bnw=137&start=59&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:59

I found one here about 6 yrs ago in my garden.

But it was huge......

 

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

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I have seen them listed as Garden Spideror Writing Spider. We have them and let them stay in the flower beds and all as long as they aren't setting up shop where we need to walk through. They are harmless and this time of year produce egg sacks for next years babies. They make a zipper looking line in the middle of the web and tend to stay there. They will bounce the web if they feel threatened but do not jump at you. They like to stay in one spot it seems and are very good at keeping down the biting bug population. You are lucky to have one

Argiope aurantiaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Black and Yellow Garden Spider

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Argiope
Species: A. aurantia
Binomial name
Argiope aurantia
Lucas, 1833
Synonyms
Nephila vestita
Epeira aurantia
Epeira cophinaria
Epeira ambitoria
Epeira riparia
Epeira sutrix
Argiope riparia
Argiope personata
Argiope cophinaria
Argiope godmani
Miranda cophinaria


The spider species Argiope aurantia is commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Writing Spider, or Corn Spider. It is common to the lower 48 of the United States, Hawaii, southern Canada, Mexico, and Central America. They have distinctive yellow and black markings on their abdomens and a mostly white cephalothorax. Males range from .2 to .35 inches (5–9 mm); females from .75 to 1.1 inches (19–28 mm). Like other members of Argiope they are considered harmless to humans.

Contents [hide]
1 Habitat
2 Reproduction
3 Eating habits
4 References
5 External links

[edit] HabitatGarden Spiders often build webs in areas adjacent to open sunny fields where they stay concealed and protected from the wind. The spider can also be found along the eaves of houses and outbuildings or in any tall vegetation where they can securely stretch a web. The circular part of the female's web may reach two feet in diameter. Webs are built at elevations from two to eight feet off the ground.

Female Argiope aurantia spiders tend to be somewhat local, often staying in one place throughout much of their lifetime.


zig-zag webThe web of the yellow garden spider is distinctive: a circular shape up to 2 feet (60 cm) in diameter, with a dense zigzag of silk, known as a stabilimentum, in the center. The purpose of the stabilimentum is disputed. It is possible that it acts as camouflage for the spider lurking in the web's center, but it may also attract insect prey, or even warn birds of the presence of the otherwise difficult-to-see web. Only those spiders that are active during the day construct stabilimenta in their webs.

To construct the web, several radial lines are stretched among four or five anchor points that can be more than three feet apart. The radial lines meet at a central point. The spider makes a frame with several more radial lines and then fills the center with a spiral of silk, leaving a 5/16 to 3/8 inches (8 to 9.5 mm) gap between the spiral rings, starting with the innermost ring and moving outward in a clockwise motion. To ensure that the web is taut, the spider bends the radial lines slightly together while applying the silk spiral. The female's web is substantially larger than the male's, who builds a small zig-zag web nearby. The spider occupies the center of the web, usually hanging head-down, waiting for prey to become ensnared in the web. If disturbed by a possible predator, she may drop from the web and hide on the ground nearby. The web normally remains in one location for the entire summer, but spiders can change locations usually early in the season, perhaps to find better protection or better hunting.


Female
MaleThe Garden Spider can oscillate her web vigorously while she remains firmly attached in the center. This action might prevent predators like wasps and birds from drawing a good bead, and also to fully entangle an insect before it cuts itself loose.

In a nightly ritual, the spider consumes the circular interior part of the web and then rebuilds it each morning with fresh new silk. The radial framework and anchoring lines are not usually replaced when the spider rebuilds the web. The spider may be recycling the chemicals used in web building. Additionally, the fine threads that she consumes appear to have tiny particles of what may be minuscule insects and organic matter that may contain nutrition.[citation needed]

The Garden Spider does not live in very dense location clusters like other orb spiders such as the Golden Orb Web Spider. The Garden Spider keeps a clean orderly web in comparison to the cluttered series of webs built and abandoned by groups of Golden Orb Spiders.

[edit] ReproductionYellow garden spiders breed once a year. The males roam in search of a female, building a small web near or actually in the female's web, then court the females by plucking strands on her web. Often, when the male approaches the female, he has a safety drop line ready, in case she attacks him. After mating, the male dies, and is sometimes then eaten by the female.

She lays her eggs at night on a sheet of silky material, then covers them with another layer of silk, then a protective brownish silk. She then uses her legs to form the sheet into a ball with an upturned neck. Egg sacs range from 5/8" to 1" in diameter. She often suspends the egg sac right on her web, near the center where she spends most of her time. Each spider produces from one to four sacs with perhaps over a thousand eggs inside each. She guards the eggs against predation as long as she is able. However, as the weather cools, she becomes more frail, and dies around the time of the first hard frost.

In the spring, the young spiders exit the sac and are so tiny that their collection of bodies look like dust gathered inside the silk mesh. Some of the spiderlings remain nearby, but others exude a strand of silk that gets caught by the breeze, carrying the spiderling to a more distant area.

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

We call that a Writing Spider.........when it mends it's web, sometimes it looks like writing

Reese - got my soaps & duck basket Friday! Thank you!







My stuff is ready to ship - still sitting on the desk. Will take those Tuesday.


I feel better finally - and wouldn't you know, allergies are acting up today.

 

[meepitqueenie]

thanks for the information on the spider. I moved it yesterday but didn't kill it.
it was near the entrance of the new pen and my daughter was scared cause it looks so creepy.

 

[reesepoultry]

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Great glad they made it to you okay. The soaps that I made are the ones in the zip lock bags.

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

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Great glad they made it to you okay. The soaps that I made are the ones in the zip lock bags.

I know

I used one of the strawberry last night. OOOOOOOOOOO I smelled GOOD!

 

[reesepoultry]

Quote:
Great glad they made it to you okay. The soaps that I made are the ones in the zip lock bags.

I know

I used one of the strawberry last night. OOOOOOOOOOO I smelled GOOD!

Glad you liked it. I am still trying to perfect the Lavender soap. Having difficulty getting the smell I want on this one.

 

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Quote:

I know

I used one of the strawberry last night. OOOOOOOOOOO I smelled GOOD!

Glad you liked it. I am still trying to perfect the Lavender soap. Having difficulty getting the smell I want on this one.

Ooooo sounds real nice. Will be waiting for that one