Hobbies And Interests
Distribution
Shamrock orb-weaving spiders have a wide distribution range across North America. The eastern edge of the spiders' natural range lies in Canadian Labrador, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The spiders are found across the Canadian provinces, from Ontario to Manitoba and Alberta. They live as far north as the Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory and the Alaskan coastal islands. The spiders are found across the western North America, too, from Montana in the United States to British Columbia in Canada. West Virginia and Colorado provide the southernmost U.S. habitats for shamrock spiders.
Habitat
Shamrock spiders live in rural or urban habitats. They build elaborate, circular webs in gardens, parks, meadows, open fields and back yards. The spiders ocupy low-hanging tree branches at the edge of forested areas or anywhere they can find two fairly stable objects to anchor the webs. The spiders suspend their large webs between buildings, trees or shrubbery. The spiders eat the webs at night and build new ones daily.
Ecological Niche
Shamrock spiders' favored ecological niche is in heavily vegetated areas such as tall-grass prairies. Shamrock spiders, other orb-weaver spiders and unrelated spiders all gravitate toward areas with high levels of insect populations. A wet climate region, fostering growth of tall plants, is a favorable niche for an established population of shamrock spiders. Tall, sturdy stalks of prairie grass provide anchors for the shamrock spiders' prey-catching webs.
Micro-Habitat
Shamrock spiders prefer the micro-habitat at the tops of the vegetation. Their diet of large, flying insects such as moths, butterflies and dragon flies is satisfied by webs situated at the uppermost reaches of the plants. The high vertical distribution of the spiders as a result of their eating preferences allows them to coexist with other species of orb-weaving spiders that feed on large hopping and crawling insects.