Scientific Name
Argiope aurantia
Common Name
Black and Yellow Argiope
Other Names
Yellow Garden Spider, Writing Spider, Yellow Garden Orb Weaver, Golden Orb-weaver (in California)
Explanation of Names
- Author: Hippolyte Lucas. First year published: 1833, as Argiope aurantia.
- Pronunciation: Ar-GUY-oh-pee our-RAN-chee-uh
- Meaning: Argiope is Latin for “with bright face”; aurantia, in Latin, basically means “overlaid with gold”.
Appearance
- Size: Body length of mature female 14-28 mm; mature male 5-8 mm.
- Color: Carpace silver; top of abdomen boldly patterned in black and yellow; underside of abdomen mottled black with two vertical, parallel yellow stripes. Legs of mature specimens yellowish or reddish brown at base and black distally. Immature specimens have banded legs.
- Eyes: Eye arrangement typical of orb weavers. Total of eight eyes.
- Legs: Legs long; first two pairs of legs held together and directed forward at rest in web; hind two pairs of legs directed backwards.
- Body: Abdomen oval, mature females usually with two rounded humps toward the front.
Range
Found over most of the United States and southern Canada, south through Mexico to Costa Rica. It is apparently uncommon in the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin.
Habitat
Typically common in gardens, orchards, forest edges, old fields, and farms.
Web
Large, vertical, orb-shaped web is usually built amid tangled grasses, weeds, briars, and other vegetation, from near ground level to about three feet above it. Web usually decorated with a bold, zigzag band of silk called a stabilimentum. Spider occupies hub (center) of web, hanging head down. Immature spiders may spin an oval or circular stabilimentum in the hub of the web. The web is usually eaten and rebuilt every day, with the exceptions of the periods around molting and egg-laying.
Season
Males mature around July and August, females from August to October. Maturity can be reached somewhat quicker in warm regions (e.g. Florida).
Food
Prey is insects that jump or fly and are intercepted by the web. These spiders can tackle large prey such as grasshoppers. They have even been known to capture lizards.
Life Cycle
An annual species, males die not too long after mating and females die off when the first frost hits. Studies have actually shown that the males’ death is triggered upon inserting the 2nd palp into the female during mating (Foellmer & Fairbairn 2003). Egg sac is produced by the mature female spider in late summer or fall. It is spherical to pear-shaped, about 20-25mm long, covered in tough brown silk, and placed on the periphery of the web. Females typically lay 3 or 4 egg sacs, roughly 7-15 days apart. Each sac can contain 400 to 1,200 yellowish eggs, sometimes even more (1,200 in one sac is not uncommon). Spiderlings hatch within the egg sac in late autumn and overwinter inside the protective, insulated sac, emerging the following spring. Argiope are diurnal (daytime active), but might also occasionally feed at night if the temperature is warm.
Comments
This is one of the largest members of the orb weaver family Araneidae in North America. Because of its size and bright coloration, this species is one of the most commonly known and recognized by observers. Random fact: Argiope aurantia takes almost all of its potty breaks at night. Another fact: this spider will rapidly shake and vibrate in its web as a defensive strategy to scare predators off. The shaking blurs the spider and makes it appear bigger than it really is.
