The yellow garden spider is a very common spider found throughout the contiguous United States, Hawaii, southern Canada, Mexico, and Central America.
This yellow garden spider had built its nest in my parents’ backyard. I took this photo one morning in late August. Throughout my childhood these massive spiders would suddenly show up with their zipper like webs and black and yellow bodies. I was always excited to see these predators ready to ensnare their next prey.
The yellow garden spider is a very common spider found throughout the contiguous United States, Hawaii, southern Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Its scientific name is Argiope aurantia. It has many common names, including: black and yellow garden spider, golden garden spider, writing spider, zigzag spider, zipper spider (which is what I knew them as growing up), black and yellow Argiope, corn spider, Steeler spider, and McKinley spider. It has a black and yellow abdomen, white cephalothorax, and gold and black legs. The males are smaller than the females, with the males growing to about .35 inches and the females growing to just over one inch. Based on the size, this is most likely a female.
Yellow garden spiders are predators. They capture most of their prey when they become caught in their webs. Their webs typically have a zigzag shaped stabilimentum, an extra thick section or line of silk, in the middle that is oriented vertically. Once the prey is entangled in the web, the spider kills the victim by injecting it with its venom. It then wraps the prey in a cocoon of silk. They typically eat the prey 1-4 hours later. They will eat small vertebrates, such as geckos and anoles, as well as insects. Don’t worry. If you were to be bit by this spider, it would only hurt as much as a bee sting.
The mating ritual of yellow garden spiders is quite interesting. Males will go out in search of a female. Once they find one, they will build a small web near or inside of the female’s web. They will then pluck the strands of her web in courtship. As the male goes to approach the female, he has a safety drop line ready, just in case she decides to attack him. Once they have mated, the male dies. The females are known to then eat the males.
Once they have mated, the male dies. The females are known to then eat the males.
Did you know?
- Yellow garden spiders will lay up to 4,000 eggs at a time.
- The yellow garden spider is a type of orb spider.
- The females tend to adopt a “home” that they will stay in for most of their life.
- Aurantia comes from the Latin “aurantius” meaning “gilded”.
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