Spiders of North Carolina

Arachnids of North Carolina

Order:
Scientific Name: Common Name:		Family (Alpha):

Mecynogea lemniscata - Basilica orbweaver Araneidae Members:			NC Records	BugGuide Account	Public View

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Eggs stacked vertically

Male

Distribution Records
PDF

Vetting Levels

Adult phenology:
High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
Piedmont (Pd)
Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge

synonym

taxonomic_comments

The latin name, lemniscata, meaning "hanging ribbons", appears to be descriptive of the eggsacs. The common name comes from the shape of the snare, resembling the domed ceilings inside some cathredrals

species_comment

Also called Basilica Spider. Formerly called Allepeira conferta.

id_comments

Abdomen is relatively long and shiny white with dark green, brown and yellow lines, and patches of red orange. Cephalathorax is brown with a black median stripe and margin. Legs are green. This species is larger and more boldly marked than Leucage species, and dome shaped web eliminates confusion.

total_length

Small, female total body length 6.0-9.0 mm, male total body length 5.0 - 6.9 mm.

structural_features

silk_web

Orb web built low in vegetation and branches, up to 1-2 meters off the ground. Web begins as an orb with raidal and spiral strands spaced so closely that is resembles fine mesh screen. The holes in the mesh are less than 1mm and almost square. This orb is held in a dome shape by fibers forming a tangle both above and below. The spider hangs upside down within the dome. Males also build a web close to the female and are much smaller. Female builds a vertical string of 5-10 rough edges gray spheroid egg sacs hanging above the web. Egg sacs are 3-4 mm in diameter and contain 8-30 eggs. Web is detached each evening and provide another layer of protection to egg sacs. Leucage webs are small horizontal orbs, Filmy Dome spider, Neriene radiata, does not have the pattern of radial and spiral silk. The horizontal, dome shape of their webs has caused some controversy as to what family this spider really belongs to, as webs like this are usually characteristic of spiders in the Linyphiidae family. Many orbweavers build the classic, vertical, spiraling webs that most picture when trying to imagine a spider web. However, morphology and behavior tend to place these spiders into the Araneidae family, and most researchers believe, nowadays, that the M. lemniscata web structure is simply a classic example of convergent evolution with the Linyphiidae family web structure.

fld_guide_descriptions

online_photos

prey

Beetles, flies, wasps and plant bugs. Sixteen discrete behavioral acts were identified in the predatory behavior of M. lemniscata 1.) Pluck. Rapid, longitudinal displacement of web radii with tarsi of legs I and sometimes II (= "jerk" sensu Lubin, 1980), or jerky movement of entire body to shake web; usually a response to prey movement, often as spider orients toward prey. 2.) Bite. Inserting chelicerae while holding prey with legs I-III and grasping web with legs IV. Bites may be single and sustained or repeated, brief, and in multiple locations. 3.) Wrap. Of two types: ao) Immobilization Wrap. Extensive swathing of prey at capture site, with wide ribbons of silk while using legs I-III or II-III to hold prey. Leg b.) Postimmobilization Wrap. Less extensive, methodical wrapping at hub where spider rotates prey with legs I-III and applies spinnerets directly to prey (="prey-rotation wrapping" sensu Robinson and Olazarri, 1971). 4.) Cut Out. Pedipalps and legs I sever and pull web silk from prey, then chelicerae and legs I remove entangled prey from web. 5.) Carry. Spider carries prey toward hub, either attached to silk strand and carried underneath body with one or both legs IV or carried in jaws. 6.) Attach. Spider attaches silk to web, often while manipulating prey, with spinnerets, by means of a dabbing motion to secure prey to web surface. 7.) Manipulate. Spider applies several short bites to prey while using pedipalps, legs I-III, and chelicerae to maneuver prey into feeding position. 8). Feed. Spider begins to feed after it plucks or tenses web with legs I-IV. Typical posture involves spider at hub, with legs I-IV on web surface and chelicerae embedded in prey (= "cruciform attitude" sensu Robinson and Olazarri, 1971). 1992] Willey, Johnson & Adler 163 9.) Interrupt. Defined as any break in predatory behavior caused by natural (e.g., wind, leaves hitting web) or unnatural (observer) disturbances. 10.) Reject. Spider drops prey from web prior to feeding. 11.) Rest. On web with legs I-IV contacting web, generally on hub but sometimes at prey capture site or in retreat. Females with egg sacs may have legs IV in contact with sacs. Alternatively, legs I-III may contact prey while legs IV contact web. 12.) Groom. Legs and palps passed between chelicerae. 13.) Shake. Violent, large amplitude, movements of web surface produced by legs I-II, often in response to prey trapped in barrier web above dome. 14.) Palpate. Pedipalps used to touch prey. 15.) Retreat. Spider moves away from prey to any location on web (usually hub) or drops off web. l6.) Cut Through. Spider severs hub silk with chelicerae and moves to barrier region of web.

predators

Found in mud dauber nests. Green Mantidfly, Zeugomantispa minuta, feed on eggs. Chalcid wasps in the genus Genus Tetrastichus, parasitize eggs. Egg suspension protects them from ants and terrestrial insect predators, but wasps, birds, aerial and climbing predators can still obtain.

behavior

Individuals will occasionally aggregate on trees or bushes, in areas with high prey density and numerous web support structures. Some will even share support lines, though they keep their own, individual retreats. It is likely that they do this to increase prey capture efficiency. Eggs hatch in 16 days and spend the next 290 days in the cocoon until the next spring when they emerge.

distribution_reference

technical_reference

Spiders of North America - Bradley; Spiders of the Carolinas – Gaddy; Bugguide; https://www.hindawi.com/journals/psyche/1992/035716/abs/; https://www.jstor.org/stable/4220107?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00650327; http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00025841/00001

adult_id

1 identifiable by photo 2 identifiable by photo of specific features and/or supplementary info 3 identifiable from specimen only

abundance

Common.

distribution_comments

Common throughout North Carolina and the southeastern United States. Males mature in summer, female summer through Autumn.

checklist_mt_high
>=4,000 ft.

Regular	Frequent	Infrequent	Occasional	Seldom	Frequency Regular – almost always observed on given visit; >=90% chance of observation Frequent – usually observed on a given visit; >=50%<90% chance of observation Infrequent – observed less than 50% of visits; >=25%<50% chance of observation Occasional – observed on only on a small minority of visits; >=10%<25% chance of observation Seldom – not usually seen on visits; <10% chance of observation These terms refer to visits to appropriate habitats made at appropriate times of the year, making use of common sampling/observation methods. Under those conditions, Frequency refers to the chance of observing at least one individual on a given visit made anywhere within a particular region, or over multiple visits to a single site.

checklist_mt_low
<4,000 ft.

Regular	Frequent	Infrequent	Occasional	Seldom

checklist_pd
Piedmont

Regular	Frequent	Infrequent	Occasional	Seldom

checklist_cp
Coastal Plain

Regular	Frequent	Infrequent	Occasional	Seldom

habitat

Forest understory, brush, down branches

observation_methods

Visual observation, sweep netting.

state_protection

NHP_ranks

NHP_status

status_comments

Photo Gallery for Mecynogea lemniscata Basilica orbweaver
	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment: Different female specimen to my earlier dated submissions of Mecynogea Lemniscata.
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment: Different female specimen to my earlier dated submissions of Mecynogea Lemniscata.	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment: Different female specimen to my earlier dated submissions of Mecynogea Lemniscata.
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment: Different female specimen to my previous submissions of Mecynogea Lemniscata.	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment: Different female specimen to my previous submissions of Mecynogea Lemniscata.
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment: Different female specimen to my previous submissions of Mecynogea Lemniscata.	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steven Acesta Forsyth Co. Comment: A tighter crop of my previous submission. Photographed at 8:04 am.	Recorded by: Mark Basinger Wilson Co. Comment: Bead-like egg sacs are characteristic of this species.
	Recorded by: Donald Zepp Harnett Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Donald Zepp Johnston Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Travis McLain Cleveland Co. Comment: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/174297911	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Hyde Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman Scotland Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman Scotland Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman Scotland Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Erich Hofmann and Kayla Weinfurther Columbus Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Erich Hofmann and Kayla Weinfurther Columbus Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Owen McConnell Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Owen McConnell Orange Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Durham Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Iredell Co. Comment: Male
	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Iredell Co. Comment: Male	Recorded by: Vin Stanton Buncombe Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn, C. Bowers, H. Anderson, J. Brown Cumberland Co. Comment:	Recorded by: J. Thomson, B. Bockhahn Orange Co. Comment: OCMO - Near Fishing pond sign @ -79.116449, 36.061477
	Recorded by: J. Thomson, B. Bockhahn Orange Co. Comment: OCMO - Near Fishing pond sign @ -79.116449, 36.061477	Recorded by: E. Conway, NEW Moore Co. Comment: WEWO - on holly road trail
	Recorded by: Donald ZEPP Johnston Co. Comment:	Recorded by: B. McRae Macon Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman Scotland Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Camden Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Orange Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman Scotland Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Wake Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman Scotland Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman Scotland Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman Scotland Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Rockingham Co. Comment:	Recorded by: j.wyche Gates Co. Comment: MEMI - 1 off Cypress Point Trail; the rest on the metal parts of Millpond Bridge extention
	Recorded by: j.wyche, n.dominick Gates Co. Comment: MEMI - near Millpond Rd. & Bridge	Recorded by: j.wyche Gates Co. Comment: MEMI - attached to Millpond Bridge braces
	Recorded by: j.wyche Gates Co. Comment: MEMI - attached to Millpond Bridge braces	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jane Wyche Gates Co. Comment: MEMI - in webs attached to Millpond Bridge railings	Recorded by: SBW Camden Co. Comment: DISW - North deck of visitor center.

Photo Gallery for Mecynogea lemniscata Basilica orbweaver