One of the children found this when clearing weeds a couple of weeks ago. It is still there today. Even though I couldn't get a picture of the upperside, I was thrilled to know they are on our property. The second picture was quite a feat and I am glad I didn't hurt myself. I held the camera up and over and had to point it somewhat in my direction. I didn't want to mess up the web.
Interesting web. I gather the zigzag is a normal part of the web, although it looks like a repair.
It is a norm for this orb weaver to zigzag but I don't know why. I love this spider! They cover every door and window of my houses with impunity. I duck for orb weavers. :) Well funnel weavers are cool too.
Okay, I looked it up. The zigzag is called the stabilimentum and they speculate on it's purpose. Maybe camo when the spider is in the center or maybe to keep birds from flying through open construction. Meanwhile, it's interesting to disturb the web gently and watch it trampoline to try and snare a morsel.
Last year, I saw how the funnel weaver's web worked. A cricket crawled onto it, but couldn't hold on. It tumbled toward the bottom, where the funnel weaver quickly grabbed the cricket and went back into hiding.
I had a writing spider by one of my native patches and one day it disappeared. Likely something got it. These spiders are popping up all over the place, giving me a better chance for photos. :)
