Talk:Argiope aurantia

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Contents 1 Clean up? 2 Cleaned up enough? 3 Venom/Bites? 4 Photo for physical appearance section 5 Fact validity 6 Misdirection redirection

[edit] Clean up?

The tag says it needs clean up, but it doesn't say why. I'm adding an unreferenced tag, too, but if progress is to be made, what exactly needs changed should be mentioned here. Garnet Avi 22:50, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

I think the article perhaps a bit too colorful and suffers from Inappropriate tone. Some examples:

Orb-web spiders build circular webs which serve a dual purpose as full-time residence and place of business.

A hiker rummaging through brush on the edge of a field or a child retrieving a ball from behind bushes can sometimes enjoy an exciting face-to-face encounter.

The spider cocoons the catch and later removes it to the center of the web to be consumed like a malted milk.

So where did they go after leaving the egg sac and how did they change into large colorful adults?

It's doubtful they are reading books during the winter-stay in the protective sac, but they must be doing something that affects which spiders reach maturity.

74.192.152.246 01:19, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm running through and trying to remove some of the more "colorful" bits. I think it will shorten the article substantially, but I'll try not to take out any hard information. Joyous! | Talk 20:48, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cleaned up enough?

I've removed the casually-toned bits and essentially rewritten the article. Any objections to removing the "tone" tag? Joyous! | Talk 02:06, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Venom/Bites?

Is there a way to add some information about this spiders venom or biting capability? Especially it's effects on mamals? Thanks!137.240.136.81

I added a line to the first section acknowledging that they are harmless to humans. (I don't have any information about other mammals.) BobbyPeru 17:33, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Photo for physical appearance section

A few weeks ago, I replaced the image in the Physical appearance section with another photo. This change was subsequently reverted a week later by 194.200.201.82. Since the image I added was my own image, I may be biased in preferring it, so I would like to present both images for you to judge:

Personally, I think that the bottom image is too similar to the infobox image and is also slightly out of focus. The top image is higher resolution and also presents a better view of the spider's thorax and pedipalp. What do the rest of you think? Kaldari 01:50, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

I prefer the top image. The focus is better, and the background is much less distracting. Joyous! | Talk 11:35, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

The bottom image is exactly what I have living next to my garage door for the last couple of weeks. The "zig-zag" web design shown is much more informative and conclusive to what I was looking for. Even with my wife's and daughter's objection, I have chosen to adopt the spider and allow it to "do its thing." I've even given it a grasshopper or two. Its design and abilities are amazing: [seventhson] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.154.40.180 (talk) 04:19, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, but the section the image appears in is Physical appearance, as in physical appearance of the spider, not the spider web. Kaldari 20:25, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fact validity

I noticed the following statement: "Female webs can exist as close as ten feet from each other, but there is usually more distance between webs." I have to question that. I have a large cactus plant in my garden, and it is inhabited by about 5 or 6 yellow garden spiders. Some of them are as little as three feet away from each other.

Of course, since I don't have a citation and this would be considered "original research", I'm not going to edit the article, but I thought I'd bring this up. WordyGirl90 22:02, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Here in Colorado we have one that looks just like the bottom picture. We have noticed, after watering our garden, that it can spit a couple of feet. This is not a venomous spider, RIGHT?63.231.108.3 17:59, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Argiope aurantia is not venomous. I've never seen any mention of them spitting, so I can't guarantee that what you've got is this kind of spider, though. Joyous! | Talk 01:54, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm curious about the image in the 'Webs' section. What's the purpose of holding up a coin to the spider? (Did the spider accept it?) I don't see how this tells us any more than the article already does about the size of the spider. We don't know how far behind the coin the spider is - they're not in focus at the same time. Pavium 22:35, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Misdirection redirection

The species epithet of this spider should not redirect to a common name. The species epithet is the only clear, scientific, unambiguous designation for any plant or animal, and should be used as the definitive article title. Any an all "common" names should redirect to the scientific taxon.

The lead sentence of any species account should take note of and provide disambiguation of any common names. This sentence should be clear and direct and to the point. Most people should reach the articles on species' epithets by redirect after researching common names, an explanation of their redirect to (perhaps) unfamiliar territory is in order.

Common names are notoriously variable and, well, uncommon. They are almost always local, vernacular, or colloquial expressions for certain plants or animals which others, unfamiliar with the term, will reject outright as unacceptable, if only due to their unfamiliarity. These common names are ancillary to the scientific taxon and morphology of any flora or fauna, and should not be treated as the primary designator as such. (In my humble opinion). Nickrz 15:35, 26 October 2007 (UTC)