Signature Spider

Description:

Argiope luzona (Walckenaer, 1841). Picture #1 When I spotted this spider, shortly before 4:00pm on Apr 3. I was very pleased to see its stabilimentum (web decoration), but I noticed that the upper right arm of the stabilimentum was much shorter than the other three. There is some stringy/papery "skin" from the stem of the banana plant showing in the top right corner of the photo and the spider had obviously avoided this when writing the zigzag. I thought that I should remove this obstruction, but the spider had trapped it in the fabric of the web when spinning the mooring strands and the spiral. So, I was faced with a dilemma. There was a stiff breeze which was causing the banana stem material to flutter furiously and I could see that the web was going to be ripped apart pretty soon, but if I knew that I could not remove it without causing serious damage. I decided to remove it, in the knowledge that the spider could make repairs. As soon as I gave it a little "tug", it came away in my hand, but the top right section of the web, including the stabilimentum arm collapsed and hung down, between the two lower arms and the spider dropped to the ground and vanished into the grasses. I was so upset, I could not continue taking pictures and went back into the house. Please see notes.

Habitat:

This Signature Spider was spotted on its web, suspended between two banana stems in our backyard.

Notes:

It took me some time to recover from what I had done, but by 10.30pm, I decided to go out and see if the spider had returned to its web and were repairs underway. Pic #2 Shows what I saw. The spider was back and had replaced the top right arm of the stabilimentum with a rather poor looking substitute. I realised that the tension of the entire web was out of balance and the spider could not work very well with what was left. But it was only 10.00pm and there was a whole night ahead. So, I felt much better, expecting to see a completely new web and decoration in the morning. That did not happen. April 4 and April 5 came and went and there was no further repair or replacement carried out by the spider and I was feeling more and more guilty as the time passed and nothing was happening. Late in the afternoon of Apr 5, I thought I noticed the spider "twitch" - just a small movement, but it confirmed that it was still alive. So, I decided to observe it, over night, and take pictures because I somehow felt that it was about to rebuild and that always happens during the night. Pic #3 Was taken at 2:15 am - no progress yet. I continued taking pictures at intervals, partly to keep myself awake. Pic # 4 Taken at 5:23am and no action from the spider. So, I gave up, at least for that session. By now, it was clear that the spider was not going to survive. With a destroyed web, there was little chance of trapping prey and the days were passing. I was now resigned to the fact that, instead of helping the spider, I was going to be the cause of its death, by starvation. Pic #5 Taken this morning, Apr 7 at 7:38am. I could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw this resilient little creature sitting, as if nothing had happened, on its sparkling new web with a regular Four-armed Discontinuous Cruciate Stabilimentum.