Writing Spiders

Inquiry Project

By: Jessica Goolsby

What My Experience Was

• In my backyard, next to the house and the fence, there was a Writing Spider that decided to take up residence. I noticed it one day when I was mowing the yard and I left it there. The next week when I mowed again it was still there. I wasn’t going to knock it down because it wasn’t in the way, but it did eventually go away itself.

Questions that arose from the experience

• What is the scientific name?

• Why are they called “writing” spiders?

• Where can they be found?

• Are they poisonous?

• What do they eat?

What is the scientific name?

• Argiope aurantia

• It is commonly known as:

black and yellow garden spider

corn spider

writing spider

Why are they called “writing” spiders?

• They are called writing spiders because of the intricate web that they weave. It is almost like they are writing or scribbling things to make it.

• Charlotte, the spider in Charlotte’s Web, was a writing spider.

Where can they be found?

• These spiders can be found in the contiguous 48 states of the U.S. Also, Mexico and Canada.

Are they poisonous?

• No, they are not poisonous. They are harmless to humans. The only reason they may bite is in defense.

What do they eat?

• They eat insects that fly into their web. They can eat something as big as one and half times their body size. They don’t have teeth so they use their fangs to almost suck their blood.

Connections with the Indicators

• 4.4.2 Investigate, observe, and describe that insects and various other organisms depend on dead plant and animal material for food.

• 4.4.6 Explain how in all environments, organisms are growing, dying and decaying, and new organisms are being produced by the old ones.

• 6.4.5 Investigate and explain that all living things are composed of cells whose details are usually visible only through a microscope.

References• Berger, Melvin (2003). Spinning Spiders (Let's-Read-and-Find... Science 2).

New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.• Glaser, Linda (1999). Spectacular Spiders. Minneapolis, Minnesota:

Millbrook Press.• Howitt, Mary (2002). The Spider and the Fly. New York, NY: Simon and

Schuster.• Humphries, Tudor (2003). Are You a Spider?. London, England: Kingfisher

Publications.• Squire, Ann (2000). Spiders of North America (Animals in Order). United

States: Franklin Watts.• The Biogeography of a Writing Spider Retrieved on September 20, 2009

fromhttp://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/Fall%2003%20project/writing_spider.htm

• Wikipedia Spiders Retrieved on September 20, 2009 fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_(spider)