Orb Weavers

My daughter and I couldn’t resist a visit to the Spider Pavilion at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles last Sunday. Fall is spider season in Southern California and, in our neighborhood, early fall morning encounters with large webs in front and back gardens are common.

At the Spider Pavilion, we learned that the large red-brown spiders who spin these webs are Neoscona crucifera. Their short lives peak in September and October. Like most spiders, they are not aggressive and, in any event, their bite doesn’t have serious effects on humans.

That’s not the case with another spider plentiful in Southern California, the black widow. Our visit briefly took on a patina of menace as we overheard a conversation between an observant security guard and a Museum docent.

“I don’t see the black widow anywhere in the tank,” the guard whispered, as she and the docent stood in front of the glass cases that housed the venomous spiders. “Have they removed it? Did anyone say anything to you?”

“No,” the docent said, a hint of concern in her voice. “I’ll ask around.”

My daughter and I moved away. We entered the main portion of the Pavilion, a light and airy mesh structure where the spiders move freely and in the open, weaving their webs. We were only a little unnerved – black widows are reclusive and are prone to bite only when actively disturbed.


We chatted with a docent and learned a few things. All spiders are eight-legged and all spin silk. Typically, some of the silk dries and some remains sticky. It is the sticky portion of its web that the spider uses to catch intects. Once the spider has caught its prey, it may use venom to immobilize or kill it. Some spiders envelop their prey in a silken shroud first.

Despite the fact that most people view spiders as frightening or have strongly aversive responses to them, very few species pose a threat to humans. In North America, only a half dozen species (including, of course, black widows) are potentially harmful to humans.

Spiders spin various kinds of webs, but the most beautiful (and most complex) webs are spun by a family of spiders call “orb weavers.” Their webs are typically large and round, with radiating spokes and concentric circles.

We stood with the docent and admired a large and sleek banded yellow-and-brown spider in perfectly still repose on an ornate web.

“It’s a ‘argiope,’” she said. “They are famous for putting additional silk on their webs, something called a ‘stabilimentum’ that resembles written words. Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web was a barn spider, but it was argiopes and their stabilimenta that gave E.B. White one of his key ideas.”

I was digesting this meld of arachnology and literature, when another docent – the one we had overheard conferring with the security guard earlier – sidled up and pulled our guide aside and whispered in her ear.

The docent we had been speaking with, a tall blonde with a confident and friendly demeanor, listened and then smiled at her colleague.

“Not to worry,” she said in a normal voice. “The black widow died last night. We’ve ordered a new one, but it hasn’t arrived yet.

My daughter and I felt a certain relief as the black widow peril faded from consciousness.



The Spider Pavilion at the Natural History Museum continues through November 5. Happy Halloween!