Megan's Nature Nook
Nature Notes, Phenology, Photography, Fun Facts, Trips, Maybe Even a Bad Joke or Two... and More!
Last fall we had the unique opportunity to observe a Yellow Garden Spider that took up residence in the hostas next to our front door. She used the flower stalks of the hosta to anchor her large web. It was fun to see her dew-covered web each morning and see what she had in her web each afternoon. She occupied her web for quite some time and even laid two egg sacks before she disappeared when the weather got too cold. It was a cool experience, and I can only hope that one of her young will take up residence in the landscaping this year. Yellow Garden Spiders (Argiope aurantia) are members of the orb weaver family. They are known by many names like black and yellow garden spider, golden garden spider, zigzag spider, and zipper spider. Orb weavers have an additional claw (most spiders have two) that helps them to spin complex webs. Garden Spiders are fairly large with the female’s body reaching ¾ inch to a little over an inch in size. The female’s body is black with a yellow pattern on the abdomen. The legs are brown at the base with black towards the tips. Males at about 1/3 the size of the female with brown legs and less yellow. Garden Spiders can be found in the Continental U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Central America. They’re often found in prairies, gardens, yards – any sunny spot with plants that they can anchor a web to. Garden Spiders are a welcome friend as they eat a variety of things including flies, bees, and flying insects that get caught in their web. They immobilize their prey by biting and injecting them with a venom which is harmless to humans. Because they’re part of the orb weaver family, Garden Spiders weave complex webs that they anchor on plants. They have an intricate zigzag pattern in the middle of the web, but researchers aren’t exactly sure why. It could possibly be to alert birds to the web, attract insects, or stabilize the web. Garden Spiders use their webs to catch prey. They’ll sit on the web waiting, and when something gets stuck in it, they feel the web vibrate, then run to the prey, bite, and inject it’s venom to immobilize the prey. Webs aren’t only for catching prey. Males will court a female by plucking the web. Once they mate, the female will deposit an egg sack made of brown silk about an inch in diameter. Egg sacks can hold hundreds to thousands of eggs. That may seem like a lot of baby siders, but egg sacks are often parasitized by wasps and flies. Babies will hatch in the spring or fall. In colder climates the young will stay in egg sacks overwinter and emerge in the spring. Garden Spiders will usually live for one year, females will die the first hard frost after mating. If there is no hard frost, in warmer climates, the females may live several years. Fun Fact: Garden Spiders may eat and respin their web each night.
1 Comment
Amanda Medaries
9/20/2022 09:40:01 pm
Wow! You got some awesome pictures! That was very nice of you to let her stick around. She is an absolute beauty. I didn’t know the females could potentially die after only the first year’s hard frost. Interesting read!
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