Poison Spider Argiope lobata is a species of spider belonging to the family Araneidae.

Argiope lobata is a species of spider belonging to the family Araneidae. It has a wide distribution encompassing the whole of Africa and stretching to southern Europe and into Asia. The male of this species is small (body length 6 mm) but the female is large and spectacular at up to 25 mm in length. The silver abdomen is marked with black and red spots and carries deep furrows and distinctive lobes around the edge. As with other spiders in this genus, the large web is usually decorated with prominent zig-zag stabilimenta. Tell me, did you have the temptation to have at home not a cat or a dog, but something more exotic, for example, a beautiful spider? Imagine these creatures can also be beautiful. For example, argiope. Its brightness pleases the eye, it does not require special attention, is not aggressive and is not heard. There are people who enthusiastically study the life of these creatures, as you know, spiders are some of the oldest creatures on earth. To maintain it, you need an aquarium, which is desirable to slightly refit, it is better to tighten one wall and lid with a very fine mesh. Put some branch or twig inside and you’re done. You can populate a pet, then he will do everything himself. But before you dwell on such a neighbor, let’s get to know this interesting creature a bit. To describe the appearance of argiope, we need a number of special “spider“ terms. 1. First, introduce you to the concept of chelicerae. If translated from the ancient Greek language, you get two words - a claw and a horn. This is the first pair of limbs, or jaws of arachnids and other arthropods. They are located in front of and above the mouth. Standardly have the appearance of claws and consist of several segments. At the tip of such claws are ducts of poisonous glands. Now you can explain who they are araneomorphic spiders - their chelicera are located towards each other, and add up, sometimes going one on top of the other. Such chelicerales are designed to attack a large victim, sometimes larger than the hunter himself. The second important term in the description of spiders - pedipalps. Translated from ancient Greek, two words are again obtained - a foot and a touch. This is the second pair of limbs, the tentacle, located on the cephalothorax (called millet in chelicerae). They are located on the side of the chelicera, and behind them is the second pair of walking legs. “Divided“ into several segments, like phalanxes. Adult spiders males use each last pedipalp segment at the moment of copulation with the female. They are transformed into a certain genital organ called cymbium. It is used as a reservoir for sperm, as well as for direct introduction into the female’s genital openings. And the last difficult concept - stabilization (or stabilization). This is a prominent thickening on the web. Usually made in the form of a zigzag weaving of numerous threads at the center. Such pronounced thickenings may be one, two, three or more, depending on the type of spider. It can be vertical in the form of a line, it can go in a circle, and it happens in the form of a cross. Moreover, the cross is made in the form of the letter X. It is a very important thing for spiders, as you can see, since they constantly do it on their web. Its exact purpose by people has not yet been studied, despite numerous attempts. Some spiders initially had a linear form of stabilization, but eventually became cruciform, which also speaks in favor of the version of luring prey. As they say, they do any “tuning” in order to achieve the desired goal. Externally, the spiders look as follows: The abdomen is entirely covered with transverse stripes of lemon and black, between them there are light gray stripes. Closer to the cephalothorax, the color completely becomes pearl gray or brown. The millet itself is covered with a velvet-silver undercoat. The head is black and there are four pairs of eyes on it, different in size: 2 pairs of small eyes at the bottom, 1 - the middle pair of large eyes looks straight and 1 pair of eyes, medium in size, on the sides of the head. He also has eight paws, arranged in pairs, the first and second are the longest. The third is the shortest, and the fourth is the middle. The sizes of argiopes are not the largest among spiders, however noticeable. Females are large, body length up to 3 cm. And with a leg length of 5-6 cm. Chelicerae are small. In shape, the body is closer to the oval, twice as long as wide. On the abdomen are spider web warts. These are the organs that form the spider web. It has been described by female argiopes. “Men“ are several times smaller than “ladies“, they grow up to 0.5 cm. They look plain and, in the literal sense, gray - they are most often mouse-colored or black, without any stripes. The cephalothorax is usually hairless, chelicera are even smaller than in females. The family of orbiting spiders (Araneidae), to which argiopes belong, is ch