Wednesday October 19, 2011

 

 

Yellow Garden Spider

…and a Leaf

Tuesday, October 18

 

 

I am going to begin with the leaf, because that is how I discovered the spider. While standing at our kitchen sink yesterday, I noticed this leaf glistening in the late morning sunshine, and went outside to photograph it – I needed something for tonight’s post.

 

 

Then as I tried to get into a better position, I saw it…a large Yellow Garden Spider

or

Black and Yellow Argiope

or  

Arglope aurantia

 

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The following information is from the Internet. The pictures are mine.

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The Black and Yellow Argiope is a common orb web spider. Orb web means it spins a web like a circle.

 

 

Female spiders are much larger than males, growing almost an inch and a half long. Males grow about 3/4 inch long. Both spiders have a cephalothorax (small front body section) with silver hairs on it. The abdomen (large back section) is egg-shaped with black and yellow coloring.

 

 

The web of this spider spirals out from the center and can be two feet across. The female builds the large web, and a male will build a smaller web on the outer part of her web. The male’s web is a thick zigzag of white silk.

 

 

A beneficial insect, the yellow and black garden spider feeds primarily on flying insect pests including flies, moths, wasps and mosquitoes. They are not poisonous.

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That is your spider lesson for the day.