Spider cross: a description of the life of a spider with a photo, as well as features of the external and internal structure of the cross. Class Arachnids - spider-cross Spider spider has

Cross spider (Araneus) - arthropod belonging to genus of araneomorphic spiders and family of orbs(Araneidae). They live in almost every country, except for the southern and northern latitudes. This type is the most common. There are 2000 species of this spider in the world, about 10 species live in Russia. Most often, this insect can be found in the Republic of Mordovia, Astrakhan, Smolensk and Rostov regions.

Appearance

The external structure of the cross is represented by the abdomen and spider warts, the cephalothorax and walking legs, consisting of the thigh, knee joint, lower leg, pretarsus, paw and claw, as well as the chelicera and pedipalp, acetabular ring and coxa.

Crosses are spiders quite small in size, however, the female of this arthropod is much larger than the male. The body length of the female is 1.7-4.0 cm, and the size of an adult male cross, as a rule, does not exceed 1.0-1.1 cm. time for another molt.

The cross has 10 limbs:

• One pair of chelicerae, which serve to seize and kill the victim. These limbs point downward, hooked inward.
• Four pairs of walking legs with claws at the ends.
• 1 pair of pedipalps that recognize and help hold prey. A characteristic feature of these limbs is the location on the last segment of the copulatory apparatus. This apparatus receives seminal fluid, which is subsequently introduced into the female's seminal receptacle.

The spider-spider has very poor eyesight, despite the fact that it has 4 pairs of eyes. This spider distinguishes only light, shadow and blurry silhouettes. But this does not prevent him from being perfectly oriented in space, because he has a well-developed sense of touch. It is carried out thanks to the tactile hairs covering the body. Every kind of hair has its own function: some perceive the sound, others catch the change in air movement, and still others react to various kinds of stimuli.

Adult males on the last segment of the pedipalps have a copulatory organ, which is filled immediately before mating with seminal fluid, which enters the seminal receptacle located on the female, due to which offspring appears.

It is interesting! The visual abilities of the cross are very poorly developed, so the arthropod sees poorly and is able to distinguish only blurry silhouettes, as well as the presence of light and shadows.

Cross spiders have four pairs of eyes, but are almost completely blind. An excellent compensation for such a visual deficiency is a well-developed sense of touch, for which special tactile hairs located on the entire surface of the body are responsible. Some hairs on the body of an arthropod are able to respond to the presence of chemical stimuli, other hairs perceive air vibrations, and the third pick up all kinds of ambient sounds.

The abdomen of cross-spiders is rounded and completely devoid of segments. In the upper part there is a drawing in the form of a cross, and on the lower part there are three pairs of special spider warts, which contain almost a thousand glands that produce spider webs. Such strong threads have various purposes: building reliable trapping nets, arranging protective shelters or weaving a cocoon for posterity.

The respiratory system is located in the abdomen and is represented by two lung sacs, in which there is a significant number of leaf-shaped folds with air. Inside the folds, liquid hemolymph circulates, enriched with oxygen. The respiratory system also includes tracheal tubes. In the dorsal region of the abdomen there is a heart, which in its appearance resembles a rather long tube with outgoing, relatively large blood vessels.

Food

Crosses are hunters who are most active at twilight and at night. During the day, they prefer to sit in secluded places. Their diet contains:

• vile, etc.

During the hunt, the crusader spider is located in the center of its web and freezes. From the outside, it looks like he's dead. But as soon as the victim gets into the net, the hunter reacts with lightning speed. He quickly runs up to the entangled insect, plunges his sharp claws, which are located on the front pair of legs, into its body, and injects paralytic poison. After a while, the caught victim freezes. At the same time, in different situations, spiders either immediately eat their prey, or leave it in reserve.

The spider-cross eats quite a lot - the total amount of food absorbed per day is approximately equal to its body weight. And at one time he is able to eat about a dozen insects. For this reason, he spends almost all his time hunting, constantly being in the web and waiting for the next victim. A small part of the day is allotted for rest, but even during this period, the signal thread is necessarily tied to one of the hunter's legs.

On a note! Not all insects are included in the diet of the spider-cross. If a victim with an unpleasant odor, someone poisonous or too large gets into the web, then the hunter prefers to let the unwanted guest go in this case. He bites through the restraining threads and lets go!

Spiders, along with most other spiders, have an external type of digestion.. In anticipation of their prey, spiders are usually located near the network, located in a hidden nest, which is made of a strong web. A special signal thread is stretched from the central part of the web to the spider nest.

The arthropod is unable to digest the caught prey on its own, therefore, as soon as the victim gets into the network, the spider-cross quickly injects its very aggressive, caustic digestive juice into it, after which it wraps the prey in a cocoon from the web and waits for some time, during which the food is digested and turns into a so-called nutrient solution.

The process of digestion of food in a cocoon usually takes no more than one hour, and then the nutrient fluid is absorbed, and only a chitinous cover remains inside the cocoon.

How long does a cross live

Cross-spiders of different species, in comparison with many of their counterparts, live quite a short time. Males die immediately after mating, and females die immediately after weaving a cocoon for offspring.

Thus, the life expectancy of male crosses does not exceed three months, and females of this species can live for about six months.

Spider venom

The venom of the cross is toxic to vertebrates and invertebrates, as it contains thermolabile hemolysin. This substance can adversely affect the red blood cells of animals such as rabbit, rat and mouse, as well as human blood cells. As practice shows, a guinea pig, a horse, a sheep and a dog have a fairly high resistance to the toxin.

Among other things, the toxin has an irreversible effect on the synaptic apparatus of any invertebrate animal. For human life and health, crosses are in most cases absolutely harmless, but if there is a history of allergies, the toxin can cause a strong burning sensation or local tissue necrosis. Small cross-spiders are capable of biting through human skin, but the total amount of venom injected is most often harmless, so its presence under the skin is accompanied by mild or quickly passing pain symptoms.

Important! According to some reports, the bites of the largest crosses of some species are no less painful than the sensations after a scorpion sting.

Cross web

As a rule, crosses settle in the crown of a tree, between branches, where large trapping nets are arranged by a spider. The foliage of the plant is used to make shelter. Quite often, a spider web is found in shrubbery and among window frames in abandoned buildings.

The spider-cross destroys its web every other day and starts making a new one, as the trapping nets become unusable because not only small, but also too large insects get into them. As a rule, a new web is woven at night, which allows the spider to catch prey for itself in the morning. The webs built by an adult female cross spider are distinguished by the presence of a certain number of spirals and radii woven from sticky threads. The distance between adjacent coils is also precise and constant.

The building instinct of the cross-spider is brought to automatism and programmed in the nervous system at the genetic level, so even young individuals are able to very easily build high-quality cobwebs and quickly catch the prey necessary for food. The spiders themselves use exclusively radial, dry threads for movement, so the cross is not able to stick to trapping nets.

Range and habitats

The most common representative common cross(Araneus diadematus), is found throughout the European part and in some North American states, where spiders of this species inhabit coniferous forests, marshy and shrub plantations. Angled cross(Araneus angulatus) is an endangered and very rare species that lives in our country, as well as in the territory of the Palearctic region. The Australian cross spider Araneus albotriangulus also inhabits the territory of New South Wales and Queensland.

In our country, the most common oak cross spiders(Araneus seroregius or Aculeireira seroregia), which settle in tall grass on forest edges, in groves and gardens, as well as in fairly dense shrub thickets.

Cross Araneus savaticus or barn spider, for arranging a hunting net, it uses grottoes and rocky cliffs, as well as inlets into mines and barns. Quite often, this species settles in close proximity to human dwellings. Cat-faced cross spider(Araneus gemmoides) lives in the western part of America and Canada, and the natural range of a typical representative of the Asian fauna of the spider Araneus mitificus or "Spider Pringles" became India, Nepal, the territory of Bhutan and part of Australia.

Reproduction and offspring

Young males during the spring and summer are mainly engaged in weaving webs and hunting, trying to provide themselves with normal food. Closer to the mating season, they leave their shelters and move from place to place in search of a female. At this time, they eat extremely poorly, which explains the significant difference in mass between them and spiders.

Spiders are dioecious arthropods. The courtship process usually takes place at night. Males climb onto the net of females, after which they arrange simple dances, consisting in raising their legs and shaking the web. Such manipulations serve as a kind of identification signals. After the male touches the cephalothorax of the female with his pedipalps, mating occurs, which consists in the transfer of the sexual fluid.

This period falls approximately at the end of summer or the beginning of autumn. As a rule, the cocoon woven by the female turns out to be quite dense, and for some time the female cross carries it on herself, after which she hides it in a safe place. The cocoon contains from three to eight hundred eggs, which are amber in color.

Inside such a “house”, eggs with spiders are not afraid of cold and water, since the spider cocoon is quite light and absolutely waterproof. In the spring, small spiders emerge from the eggs, which for some time continue to sit inside a warm and cozy shelter. Then the spiders begin to gradually spread in different directions, and become completely independent.

Due to the very large natural competition, the little spiders that were born risk dying of starvation and can be eaten by relatives, so young individuals try to disperse very quickly, which greatly increases the chances of the cross to survive in adverse environmental conditions.

It is interesting! Possessing small and weak legs, small spiders use a web to move around, on which the crosses plan from place to place. In the presence of a fair wind, spiders on the web are able to cover a distance of up to 300-400 km.

Cross spiders are often kept as pets. To grow such home spiders, you need to use a terrarium of sufficient size, which is due to the scope of the web. The bite of the cross is not dangerous, but when caring for indoor exotics, all precautions must be observed.

• Due to its high strength and elasticity, the spider web threads of the crosses have been used for the manufacture of fabrics and jewelry for a long time, and the inhabitants of the tropics still weave nets and fishing nets from it.
• Immediately after mating, the spider tries to hide faster. However, it is possible for units - the most agile. Most die from the poison of the female.
• The spider's web is used in microbiology to determine the composition of atmospheric air and as the thinnest optical fiber.
• The spiders themselves inside the web move along radial, dry threads, therefore they do not stick to their own trapping network.

Description of popular species

Common cross

It is the most common type of spider with a cross on its back. Such a spider can be found in Europe, North America. This species prefers to settle in swamps, bushes, and also in coniferous forests. The female has a size of 20–25 mm, while the male reaches 11 mm in length and has a narrower body. In both sexes, the body has a waxy coating that retains water. The cephalothorax is under the reliable protection of a strong shell.

Angled cross

It is one of the rarest species. This species of arthropod is on the verge of extinction and is even listed in the Red Book of the city of St. Petersburg. The range of the angular cross is Europe, Asia, Russia and northern Africa. A characteristic difference of this species is the absence of a cross of white spots. Instead of spots on the spider, there are 2 angular humps on the abdomen. The body of this species is covered with numerous light-colored hairs. Females reach 15–18 mm, while males grow up to 10–12 mm.

barn spider

This species can be found in the northeastern United States, North America, and also in Canada. Prefers to settle in places of rocky cliffs, near the entrance to the mines. The size of females differs slightly from males. The female representative has a size of 13-22 mm, and the male grows up to 10-20 mm. The body of the female is lighter or yellow, and the center of the belly is represented by brown jagged edges. In the lower part of the spider there is a strip of dark color, and on top of the black background you can see two dazzling white spots.

Spider Pringles

He is a resident of India, Austria, Nepal. They named it after an interesting pattern in the upper part of the abdomen, reminiscent of a mustachioed uncle, from a package of well-known chips. During the hunt, spiders sit in a shelter with a signal thread that is triggered when the victim enters the trap. These spiders are small. The female grows up to 6–9 mm, and the male up to 3–5 mm.

Meadow cross

This spider can be found in damp areas with densely planted grass. In shape and size, it can be compared with an ordinary cross. The characteristic cross-shaped spots on the belly are dark or light in color, depending on the color of the surface of the abdomen. At the bottom, you can see a blurry drawing in the form of a sheet. The body is light green or dark brown. On the paws you can see stripes of light color. The female grows up to 17 mm, while the male is only 8 mm in length. Adult females have the properties of a chameleon, in other words, they can merge with the environment.

The cross is chilly

This species is a lover of temperate climates. Lives in forests with deciduous trees. In appearance, it resembles a meadow cross. The difference is the color of the spider. This species is dominated by beige and orange. On the abdomen there are numerous specks of light color, due to which it resembles a strawberry. The female reaches a length of 13 mm, and the male is only 6 mm.

oak cross

The favorite habitat of this spider is thickets of bushes, as well as tall grass. The spider prefers a temperate climate. A distinctive feature of this species is the abdomen of females with a pointed shape at both ends. It also has numerous hairs covering the cephalothorax. Against the background of a brown abdomen, you can see a pattern in the form of a white Christmas tree. In the lower part of the belly there is an elongated yellow spot. The female reaches 14 mm in size, and the male grows up to 7–8 mm.

cat face spider

Lives in the western part of the USA, as well as in Canada. The body, covered with villi, can have a dark and light color. In the place where the cross should be, there is a drawing that resembles a cat's face. The size of the female of such an arthropod is 13–25 mm, and the male reaches up to 8 mm in length.

Video

The common cross spider (lat. Araneus diadematus) lives in the temperate climate zone of Europe and North America. It belongs to the family of Round Spiders (lat. Araneidae). You can meet him in forests, gardens, orchards and attics. It got its name due to the presence of a characteristic pattern of white spots on the abdomen, forming a figure resembling a cross.

The cross spider is of great benefit, because a huge number of pest insects get into its web. Its bite is not dangerous, but in some people it can cause severe temporary swelling, which can be easily removed by applying a cold compress to the bite site.

Behavior

The common cross is a staunch predator-hermit who cannot stand his relatives, and even more so share his prey with them. He earns his livelihood with the help of a trapping net, similar to a wheel.

Nature deprived him of sharp eyesight, but rewarded him with a sharp sense of smell and taste.

Groups of taste and olfactory receptors are located in its throat and on its paws, and the whole body is covered with hairs that sensitively capture any vibrations and vibrations. The filtering apparatus of the muscular pharynx, the narrow esophagus and the strong sucking stomach are ideally suited for the absorption of liquid food.

Araneus diadematus is a true master of net weaving. He methodically places his nets in several places of the greatest accumulation of insects, and then focuses on the tools that give the most plentiful catch.

To weave its nets, the cross uses two types of threads.

The support frame and radii are woven from strong dry fibers without adhesive coating. First, the spider pulls the frame of the future network out of them, fixing it on branches or any other supports, then weaves radial threads that diverge from the center to the edges like the spokes of a bicycle wheel, and an auxiliary spiral thread, which will serve as the basis for weaving a trapping spiral. Having completed the preparatory work, the cross moves to the center and from there is engaged in laying the adhesive web, biting the now unnecessary auxiliary thread in the course of work. Within an hour of painstaking work, the new trapping net is ready for use. Its owner hides and patiently waits for the signal thread to falter. Having received the long-awaited signal, it rushes at full speed towards the prey floundering in the sticky web, which it inflicts a fatal bite with poisonous chelicerae and carefully entangles with the web, preventing its possible escape.

The victim in a woven cocoon either remains hanging in the web, or is wisely transferred to the spider's lair. Together with paralyzing poison, the predator injects a drop of saliva into the body of the victim, which turns its internal organs into a liquid broth. He drinks the resulting broth with pleasure to the last drop, leaving only a chitinous shell.

In the event of an attack by aggressors, the cross spider strongly shakes the network, trying, if not to scare it, then at least to prevent the attack.

If this military stratagem turns out to be useless, he does not tempt fate, quickly descends along the thread to the ground and hides in the fallen leaves.

reproduction

The mating season falls at the beginning of the month of August. After fertilization, the male runs away from the female with all his might. A bad runner immediately becomes her birthday dinner. The male is much smaller than the female and is powerless in front of her powers.

The female lays eggs rich in yolk in a specially woven cocoon and vigilantly guards the clutch until the offspring appears. Young spiderlings are born in April-May of the following year and grow very quickly, shedding several times during the season. They become sexually mature only the next year after wintering.

Description

An adult female reaches a body length of up to 20 mm, and a male only up to 8 mm. The entire body of the spider is densely covered with hairs. On the abdomen is a pattern in the form of a cross.

The cephalothorax is covered with a strong and thick cephalothoracic shield, in front of which there are 4 pairs of simple eyes. Dark stripes are visible on long thin legs. Each paw ends with three claws.

The spider-cross catches its prey with the help of a web. The spinning apparatus of spiders consists of external formations - arachnoid warts - and internal organs - arachnoid glands. Three pairs of arachnoid warts are located at the posterior end of the abdomen. Each such wart is riddled at the end with a hundred tiny holes. A drop of sticky liquid flows out of each hole, which, when the spider moves, is drawn into the thinnest thread. These threads merge into one and quickly thicken in the air. The result is a thin but strong thread. Such a sticky liquid is secreted by numerous spider glands located in the back of the abdomen. Their ducts open on arachnoid warts.

To form its trapping web, the cross spider first attaches the thread in several convenient places, forming a frame for the web in the form of an irregular polygon. Then it moves to the middle of the upper thread and, going down from there, draws a strong vertical thread. Further, from the middle of this thread, as from the center, the spider draws the threads in all directions, like the spokes of a wheel. This is the basis of the entire web. Then the spider begins to draw circular threads from the center, attaching them to each radial thread with a drop of adhesive. In the middle of the web, where the spider itself then sits, the circular threads are dry. Other threads are covered with droplets of a very sticky liquid and therefore always sticky. In this network, there are over 100,000 such droplets-nodules. Insects stick to them with wings and paws, flying on the net. The spider itself either hangs head down in the center of the web, or hides to the side under a leaf. In this case, he stretches a strong signal thread to himself from the center of the web.

When a housefly enters the web, the spider, sensing the trembling of the signaling thread, rushes out of its ambush. Sticking claws with poison, the spider kills the victim and secretes digestive juices into her body. After that, he entangles a fly or other insect with a web and leaves it for a while.

Under the influence of the secreted digestive juices, the internal organs of the spider's prey are quickly digested. After some time, the spider returns to the victim and sucks out all the nutrients from it. From the insect in the web, only an empty chitinous cover remains.

Making a trapping net is a series of interconnected unconscious actions. The ability to do so is instinctive and inherited. This is easy to verify by following the behavior of young spiders. When they emerge from the eggs, no one teaches them how to make a trapping web, but the spiders immediately weave the web correctly.

The structure of the body of the spider-cross

The cross-spider is an ordinary inhabitant of our forests. It is also easy to meet him in your yard or even in your house. This spider, which has a yellowish-brown or almost black color, is very easy to recognize by a white cross-shaped spot on the dorsal side of the body. Due to this feature, it is also called a cross. Its coloration has a protective value, it makes it invisible in the twilight among dense shrubs, between tree trunks.

In some structural signs, the spider-cross resembles crayfish, but at the same time differs from it in a number of features associated with a different lifestyle. The class of arachnids changed under the influence of the transition from aquatic to terrestrial lifestyle. Like crayfish, the body of the arachnid class (spider-cross) consists of two sections: the cephalothorax and abdomen. But his abdomen is strongly swollen and not dissected. Unlike crustaceans, there are no antennae on the head of the cross-spider. The spider-cross, like the tick, does not have compound eyes. On the upper side of the head are eight simple eyes, and on the lower side, around the mouth, two pairs of jaws. Spiders are predatory animals. They feed mainly on insects. With the front pair of jaws, the spider kills prey. Poison glands are located at the base of the jaws. When the claws that end in the jaws pierce the prey, the poison flows into the wound and kills the victim.

With the second pair of jaws, the spider gnaws its prey. Behind the jaws are four pairs of long walking legs. Like crayfish, spider legs are made up of individual segments. Each leg ends in serrated claws so the spider can run on its web without becoming entangled in it. The claws also help the spider to weave its web. Unlike crayfish, the spider brooch has no limbs.

Virulence

The spider-cross is poisonous, but not deadly to humans. As a rule, crosses are not able to bite through human skin, but if this does happen, then a red spot forms at the site of the bite and a slight necrosis of tissues from the action of the poison.

Treatment for a bite

Apply cold compresses to the site of the spider bite.

In the garden, forest and other places you can always see a trapping net spider-cross(Fig. 75A). He himself either sits in the center of his web, or hiding in a shelter nearby on a branch or trunk. If we throw a fly or some other small insect on his structure, he will immediately run to prey beating in sticky nets.

The cross-spider is the most typical representative of the Spider order, therefore it is characterized by most of the life processes of all spiders.

External structure

The body of the spider-cross consists of two sections: a small, elongated cephalothorax and a large spherical abdomen, between them there is a narrow interception. There are 4 pairs of eyes on the front of the cephalothorax, and a pair of powerful jaws - chelicerae - below.

The top of each jaw has a movable sharp hook - with which the spider-cross seizes and kills its prey. At the base of the chelicerae are poisonous glands, from which a canal extends into the jaw, opening at the end of the jaw hooks. Next to the jaws are toe-toes. They are thick, soft, covered with sensitive hairs - these are the organs of touch of the cross-spider. On the sides of the cephalothorax are 4 pairs of walking long legs.

The abdomen is spherical, smooth from above. The cross-spider has a light cruciform pattern in front of it - hence its name. There are no legs on the abdomen, but at the bottom at the end of the abdomen there are 3 pairs of arachnoid warts - from them the web is secreted.

The cover of the spider-cross is chitinous, light. The body cavity is mixed (as in crayfish).

Trapping net (web)

The spider-cross builds a trapping web from sticky and non-sticky cobwebs (Fig. 75B). The trapping net is built by the females.

At the same time, he first makes a base in the form of an irregular polygon from non-adhesive strong threads. Then, in this frame, also from non-adhesive threads, the radii are pulled. Finally, at these radii, the spider winds a sticky thread in a spiral. The prey that has fallen into the net (that is, stuck to sticky threads) fights, trying to free itself. Feeling the shock of the web, the spider runs towards the victim using non-adhesive radial threads. If a fly beats in the net, the spider immediately kills it. If the prey is larger, for example, a butterfly, the spider preliminarily envelops it with a cobweb secreted immediately so that it turns into a swaddled cocoon. material from the site

Rice. 75B. Spider web

Food

After killing the prey, the spider does not immediately begin to eat it. It can only absorb liquid food. To do this, the spider lets a drop of saliva into the victim, which liquefies dense tissues. The saliva turns the contents of the fly into liquid food and the spider sucks it out. If the victim is large, then the spider repeats the same technique several times, and, in the end, only an empty chitinous shell remains from the prey. This is how all spiders eat.

Position in systematics (classification)

Spider-cross - one of the species of the numerous detachment of Spiders.

The cross is a representative of the genus of amorphous spiders of the family of orbs. More than 2 thousand types of crosses are known.

A characteristic feature of the appearance of this spider are spots of light brown or white color, located on the upper side of the belly, which form a cross.

Appearance

The abdomen itself is rounded with no segments. If you look at its lower part, you can see 3 pairs of arachnoid warts, which contain about a thousand glands. The glands are responsible for the production of webs for a variety of purposes: to build a trap, weave a cocoon, or to create a shelter.

Female size larger than the male. For example, the body length of a female is 17–40 mm, and a male.

10–11 mm. This type of cross has a body cavity of a mixed type or, in another way, a mixocoel. This cavity was formed as a result of the merger of the primary and secondary cavities. The body of the crusader is covered with a yellow-brown chitinous shell. During molting, the cross sheds the shell, thereby updating the chitinous layer.

The cross has 10 limbs:

The spider-spider has very poor eyesight, despite the fact that it has 4 pairs of eyes. This spider distinguishes only light, shadow and blurry silhouettes. But this does not prevent him from being perfectly oriented in space, because he has a well-developed sense of touch. It is carried out thanks to the tactile hairs covering the body. Every kind of hair has its own function: some perceive the sound, others catch the change in air movement, and still others react to various kinds of stimuli.

The life expectancy of a spider is from 1 to 2 years and depends on the type of crusader.

Respiratory organs and heart

The crusader breathes with the help of the abdomen, because the organs responsible for this important function are located there. Respiratory organs are represented in the form of a pair of lung sacs with numerous leaf folds. They contain air and hemolymph circulates, while being enriched with oxygen. This name refers to the fluid flowing in the vessels instead of blood. And also the respiratory organs of the cross include trachea-tubules, collected in two bundles. They open with a hole located at the bottom of the abdomen.

The heart in the form of a long tube is located in the dorsal part of the abdomen. Large vessels will withdraw from the heart.

excretory system and digestion

The excretory system is presented as:

• coxal glands. A system of channels departs from them, which ends in the form of excretory ducts in the region of the base of the walking legs.
• Malpighian tubes. With their help, metabolic products leave the body of the crusader.

Digestion in the cross-spider is external. In other words, the crusader's body is not able to digest food, so he builds traps from the web.

Web features

Crosses update their web almost every day, due to the unsuitability of the old one. The reasons why a spider needs to change its web are:

• Holes, due to falling into the trap of prey.
• Holes caused by large insects that are unsuitable for the spider to feed on.

The weaving of the web takes place at night time. This is due to the fact that at night the cross feels completely safe, because the birds that feed on insects have been sleeping for a long time. In the morning, a new prey trap will be ready for use.

A spider for weaving a web has a scheme laid down at the genetic level. The web always has a certain number of circles and spirals, and the gaps between the weaves are the same. Young males build webs as well as adults until they reach sexual maturity.

reproduction

Spiders begin to mate in the autumn season. Male who has reached puberty, goes in search of a female who is waiting for him in her weaving. As soon as the spider has found its chosen one, it attaches a thread to its web, as if inviting it to itself. For the female, this means that it is time to breed and she leaves her network. The male representative dies after mating.

In turn, the fertilized female builds a cocoon, where she later lays her eggs. For several days, the cocoon is under the protection of the mother. Then the female finds a secluded place in the cracks of the walls, in which the cocoon survives the winter. The female dies, and spiders appear from the cocoon in the spring. In summer, new offspring are ready for breeding.

Description of popular species

Habitat

This species of spider prefers temperate and tropical climates. Various types of cross can be found in countries such as:

The cross spider feels comfortable in wet areas, near water, as well as in parks, gardens and forests. In other words, the crusader can be found wherever there are trees. . After all, it is between the branches trees crusader and weaves his web. The spider's circular web is found under rooftops and in the doorways of abandoned houses.

Food

The spider's diet includes:

• flies;
• small grasshoppers;
• vile;
• mosquitoes;

Males are poorly fed, so they grow at a slow pace. Females have excellent appetite. In 24 hours, she is able to eat an amount of food that is equal to her weight.

If food unsuitable for a spider in the form of a poisonous or large insect falls into the trap, then the crusader, as it were, cuts out the object by breaking the threads. Wasps that lay eggs on living creatures are afraid of spiders and bypass them. After all, the body of a spider is a favorable environment for the development of their larvae.

When a spider hunts, it sits not far from the hunting net in the foliage or in the very center of the web and waits for the victim to become entangled in sticky threads. When prey enters the web, the spider's hairs pick up the vibration of the web. The spider then squirts into its prey gastric juice and rolls it into a cocoon created from the web, and waits for dinner to be prepared. The gastric juice turns the prey into a solution, which the spider soon drinks.

For whom is the cross spider dangerous?

Crusader venom contains substances such as hemotoxin and neurotoxin, which are fatal only to invertebrates, as well as small vertebrate organisms. For humans, cattle, sheep and other living organisms, the bite is not particularly dangerous, and some do not even notice it. The bite site can be recognized by a slight pain that passes very quickly. Spiders never attack first on a person, and they bite only in case of protection, if the web was accidentally touched.

• How do crusader spiders move along their own web, because its threads are covered with a sticky substance? The fact is that this arthropod moves along radial threads, on which there is no adhesive substance, so it does not stick.
• The spider's web can show the composition of the air, which is why it is so actively used in microbiology.
• The web is needed not only for spiders. Thanks to the strong threads of the spider's web, some inhabitants of the tropics use it for weaving jewelry, fishing tackle, and also in the manufacture of fabrics.