Marvel of God's Creation 3: The Black and Yellow = Garden Spider

MARVEL OF GOD'S CREATION #3

The Black and=20 Yellow Garden=20 Spider

The black and yellow garden spider is a special = creation=20 of the God of the Bible. As does each species of spider, it has = its own=20 unique web, which may be spun more than two feet in diameter. At = the=20 center of the web, the spider makes a dense area of silk that = often=20 gives the appearance of a zipper or zig-zag bulk of = silk.

The female weaves an egg-sac that is pear-shaped = and about=20 one inch in diameter. She then hangs the egg sac somewhere close = to her=20 main web.

"This spider = lays all her=20 eggs at once. There are usually 40 or 50. As each egg is = expelled the=20 female dusts it with a powdery substance. This dusting gives the = egg a=20 coating that looks like the bloom on a plum or a grape.=20

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The eggs are enclosed in a silken cup at the = center of the=20 sac. The cup, in turn, is covered by a layer of flossy silk. And = for=20 additional protection the female weaves another layer of silk = around=20 both the cup and the floss. This outer covering is tightly woven = and=20 brown in color. Shortly after the eggs are laid they = hatch. The=20 young are known as spiderlings. They break out of the shells by = means of=20 an organ known as the "egg tooth". This later=20 disappears." ^[1]=20

The black and yellow garden spider is like a = miniature=20 manufacturing plant. It produces different kinds of webbing in = more than=20 one color for different purposes, as well as making the powdery=20 substance with which it coats its eggs. Some of its webbing is = sticky to=20 entrap insects for food. Other parts of the web are not sticky, = enabling=20 the spider to move rapidly across the web without ensnaring = itself. How=20 does evolution (the impersonal plus time plus chance) explain = the=20 complicated ability of one spider to produce different types of = webbing=20 for different purposes and even in different colors (varying = from white=20 to brown)? And how does evolution explain the presence of an = "egg tooth"=20 in a baby spider?

When the spider decides it is time to move on to = new=20 territory, it has an ingenious means of travel: =

"To reach new = locations the=20 spider travels by a means of transportation known as = "ballooning". A=20 spiderling or spider throws out streams of silk. These threads = form a=20 sort of "flying carpet." It rises on warm currents of ascending = air, and=20 spiders and spiderlings are borne aloft and scattered far and = wide.=20 Sometimes they go as high as 14,000 to 15,000 feet and = travel=20 hundreds or even thousands of miles." ^[2]=20

Spiders undergo several moults before they are = fully=20 grown. If they do not shed their skin, they die. How would the = spider=20 know this until it grew too big for its shell and died? Dead = spiders do=20 not evolve new abilities!

The skin moults and splits open in a special = manner.=20 First, the spider injects a certain liquid called "moulting = fluid"=20 between his outer old skin and his newly developing skin. Where = does=20 this special fluid come from, and how does the spider know what = to do=20 with it and when to use it? Using the moulting fluid too soon or = too=20 late is fatal!

The way that the old skin splits is crucial. If = it cracks=20 open in the wrong places, or at wrong angles, the spider = perishes.=20

"Once the old = skin is=20 sufficiently loose, splits appear along the sides of the body = and in=20 front of the eyes. But no horizontal split occurs across the = body. The=20 vertical split along each side of the body and the one crosswise = in=20 front of the eyes form a flap of skin. =

The spider = pushes up the=20 flap like a man thrusting up a hinged trap door. It pushes and = pushes=20 and pushes until the flap drops back over the abdomen. Out of = the=20 opening wriggles the spider." ^[3]=20

What infinite care our Creator-God has taken in = the design=20 of the spider! This little creature breaks the rules of the = evolution=20 model with its marvelous complexity. It needed God to create it = just=20 like it is with all its abilities and peculiarities. The black = and=20 yellow garden spider is a marvel of God's creation -- the God = for whom=20 nothing is impossible (see Luke 1:37), and who daily lives to = make=20 intercession for us (Romans 8:34) and who loves us so much that = He=20 willingly gave His life for us (John 3:16).

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