Jewel spider

Description

Araneus gemmoides, commonly known as the jewel spider (a name shared with Austracantha minax) and cat-faced spider (a name shared with Araneus gemma), is a common outdoor orb-weaver spider found in Canada and the USA. They are considered harmless and have low-toxicity venom. A. gemmoides are useful natural predators for insects. A. gemmoides make their webs near lights, closed spaces, and on the sides of buildings. They can also be found under wood, overhangs, or guarded places such as animal burrows. They come in varying colors but are easily identified by the two horn shaped growths on their relatively large abdomen. Their color changes from summer to winter. The female will die within days of laying a single egg sac with hundreds of eggs. Egg sacs can survive over winter, and the emerging spiderlings will eat their brothers and sisters. The babies ride strands of silk in warm air currents, able to transport them to locations miles away. Araneus is a genus of common orb-weaving spiders. It includes about 650 species, among which are the European garden spider and the barn spider. The genus was erected by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1757. Spiders of this genus present perhaps the most obvious case of sexual dimorphism among all of the orb-weaver family, with males being normally 1⁄3 to 1⁄4 the size of females. In A. diadematus, for example, last molt females can reach the body size of up to 1 in (2.5 cm), while most males seldom grow over 0.3 in (1 cm), both excluding legspan. Males are differentiated from females by a much smaller and more elongated abdomen, longer legs, and the inability to catch or consume prey bigger than themselves. In females, the epigyne has a long scape (a tongue-like appendage). Male pedipalps have a hook-like terminal apophysis. Abdominal tubercles are present anterolaterally. Araneus spiders possess various venoms, but will deliver a dry bite on 8 of 10 occasions. Females bite more often than males, who would rather flee or feign death.