Don't smile at a spider!

You might be sorry!

Watch out! If you see this spider, don't smile. If you show it your teeth, it will write your name in its web. You see, its a writing spider, and If it gets a look at your pearly whites, you are a goner! Sorry if I scared you. Of course, it's just an old superstition. But, one that I believed when I was very young.

Of course, this spider really is a killer. But, relax. This arachnid, of the species argiope aurantia, doesn't target humans. She does, however, poison her mate, causing him to convulse and die within twenty minutes. Afterwards, she bags him up in style, in silk that she spins around his body. He lies in state within this cocoon, at the edge of the web, until she gets hungry. Then she snacks on him.

You can see in the photo why this spider's common name is the writing spider by the 'z' shapes throughout. It destroys its circular web, which is stronger than steel, every day just to spin it again. A spider just like this one saved a pig named Wilbur by writing his name in her web. Wilbur was bound for the slaughterhouse in the book 'Charlotte's Web' by E. B. White.

+ This particular creature lives in the shrub bed in front of my house. I visit it every day and marvel at its beauty. At a safe distance of course. They will deliver a bite that they say feels like a bee sting. And, I tell my grandson, "Don't show it your teeth!" +