Araneus diadematus dorsal abdomen, with four or more segments forming a cross. The markings are formed in cells filled with guanine, which is a byproduct of protein metabolism. Adult females range in length from , while males range from . Occasionally, the female will eat the male directly after mating. (See video below.) The legs of orb-weaver spiders are specialized for spinning orb webs. The webs are built by the larger females who hang head down in the center of the web or remain hidden in nearby foliage, with one claw hooked to a signal line connected to the main orb waiting
Botanical garden (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 1670); and in France ("Jardin des plantes de Montpellier", 1593; Faculty of Medicine Garden, Paris, 1597; "Jardin des Plantes", Paris, 1635), Denmark (University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden, 1600); Sweden (Uppsala University, 1655). During the 16th and 17th centuries, the first plants were being imported to these major Western European gardens from Eastern Europe and nearby Asia (which provided many bulbs), and these found a place in the new gardens, where they could be conveniently studied by the plant experts of the day. For example, Asian introductions were described by Carolus Clusius (1526–1609), who was director, in