identify this spider please!

[tmotulsa]

ive tried searching a little bit but i know nothing about spiders so i didnt get very far. any ideas? also the pics are of the underside of the spider. it was on the back side of the web when i took the pic and i guess he didnt like something i did because he started bouncing the web.

 

[crg1372]

Its a black and yellow argiope. Its a common garden spider. See these all the time.

 

[skrinar70]

Its a black and yellow argiope. Its a common garden spider. See these all the time.

Yep, totally harmless. I have them all around my place.

 

[tmotulsa]

as long as he stays outside hes cool with me.


also whats up with the accordion like piece of web? is that normal for them?

 

[skrinar70]

as long as he stays outside hes cool with me.


also whats up with the accordion like piece of web? is that normal for them?

yeah it is in all of their webs, I am not sure of the significance of it though....

 

[Koveras]

As noted above, it is a female of genus Argiope. It's species is A. aurantia (aka: black and yellow garden spider). It's a member of the "Orb Weaver" family.

Here is the wikipedia article if you are interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia

They will hang around all summer and the females rarely leave their web. If you want to see speed and precision in action, feed it a grasshopper or cricket.

 

[tmotulsa]

thanks for the link! im guessing that she has moved her web as its gone and i dont see her anywhere around.

i also found a small hairy brown spider adjacent to where she was. didnt have any markings on it just solid brown and a LOT smaller than her too. Do they get territorial with other species?

 

[tm8634]

as long as he stays outside hes cool with me.


also whats up with the accordion like piece of web? is that normal for them?

hez as scared of you as you are of him, ya they've got some really cool webs...

 

[BoomerShooter]

Spiders and Snakes are the one thing that really freak me out - just something bout those little critter crawling all over me UGH.

Glad to see its harmless but still don't think I could let it crawl over me - it would be a dead spider

 

[BadgeBunny]

That is all.