Building Social Web Applications

Colophon

The arachnids on the cover of Building Social Web Applications are garden spiders (Argiope aurantia). Found largely throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Central America, the garden spider is distinguished from other spiders by the yellow and black coloring on its abdomen. It is not poisonous.

Female garden spiders weave a very distinctive web. It is circular and can be as wide as two feet. At the center of the web is the stabilimentum, a conspicuous silk structure. Only garden spiders that are active in the daytime weave webs with stabilimenta. There are a variety of theories about the stabilimentum’s purpose, including that it camouflages the spider in the center of the web; it traps prey; and it helps birds spot the web to avoid flying through it. Spiders usually spend the summer in one location and move in early fall.

When it is time to mate, males will build a small web nearby a female’s and woo her by plucking strands on her web. Males must always be cautious when courting, as females are likely to attack them. Males die after mating, and females will sometimes eat their carcasses.

Females can produce as many as four sacs, each with 1,000 eggs inside. They suspend the sacs from the center of their webs because that is where they spend most of their time. They guard their eggs for as long as they can, but as the weather cools, they become weaker and usually die around the first frost. The young spiders emerge from the sac in spring.

The cover image is from Dover Pictorial ...