Marbled Orbweaver Spider

Araneus marmoreus

About twenty years ago, I suffered several spider bites that required me being in the hospital for a week. The experience gave me an irrational fear of spiders because we never learned what type of spider bit me. But my camera has helped me overcome this phobia. I won't tolerate spiders in the bedroom and have been known to scream if one lands in bed. But I don't react that strongly at other times. I have found spiders to be beautiful and fascinating creatures.

This is a marbled orbweaver. It is a female because the males are very small. The "marbled" part of her name refers to the pattern on her back. Orb weavers weave webs every night after eating the web that they made the night before. Barn spiders, like Charlotte in Charlotte's Web, are orb weavers.They have three claws on each "foot."

When a bug lands on the web, the spider runs down to it, bites it to numb it and then wraps it up in silk. Orb weavers lay eggs in the fall and leave them over the winter in an egg case. The spiderlings hatch in the spring.

I'm on the lookout now for these egg cases in the garage. I plan to make a photographic study of a barn spider over the summer and I need to find my spider!

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