The basilica orb weaver spider (Mecynogea lemniscata) is remarkable – its body length measures only half an inch. It sports a brown hue, except for the top of its abdomen, which boasts striking white wavy lines with thin red bands within them and black and yellow markings decorating the middle.
Basilica Orb Weaver: Named for its treacherous web.
The Basilica orb weaver gets its name because of its dome-shaped web part. The whole web maybe 20 inches across. Its spiderlings weave perfect orb webs. As they mature, spiderlings spin more specialized webs like adults. Like many orb-weaving spiders, it removes its web at the start of each day (It seems to me like a lot of effort to have to spin a new web each night!).
The basilica orb weaver spider takes a unique approach to clean her web. She wraps the old one tightly around her egg mass every time she lays eggs, and it looks like strings of beads or tubes with “beads” consisting of egg masses.
Orb weaver spiders possess eight minuscule eyes but have inadequate sight. So instead of relying on their vision, they use the vibrations from their web to sense and locate prey caught in its sticky strands.
Further recommended reading about spiders.
Spider pages: Learn how to identify and avoid these spiders.
Can house spiders hurt you? Are house spiders Venomous?
Do Spiders Sleep? Do They Dream like Humans?
Black Spiders: How to identify them.
Long-Palped ant-mimic sac spider.
The most venomous spiders in the world.
Red house spider identification.
Orb weaver Spiders: How to identify and get rid of them.
Common house spiders: How to Identify and get rid of them.
Six-Eyed Sand Spider: Is the White Sand Spider Dangerous?
10 biggest spiders in the world.
Giant Huntsman Spider: How to Identify the Largest Spider
Brazilian salmon pink bird-eating tarantula
Brazilian Giant Tawny Red Tarantula
Colombian Giant Redleg Tarantula
Cerbalus Aravaensis: Middle East’s Largest Spider
Camel spiders: Myths and Facts.
Net-casting spiders: How to identify these spiders.
White-tailed spider: How to identify and manage.
Katipo Spider: How to identify New Zealand’s venomous spider
Brown widow spider: How to identify and avoid the false widow.
Redback spiders how to identify them and prevent bites
Funnel weaver spiders vs funnel-web
Cellar spiders how to identify and get rid of them
How to identify the wolf spider
How to identify the hobo spider
Brazilian wandering spider how to identify and avoid
Huntsman spider how to identify the eight legged freak
Jumping spiders how to identify these harmless hunters
Black widow spiders how to identify and avoid
