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Here's some photos of those
common Garden spiders from the Orb Weaving family. My
apologies if there are some Araneus on pages where they don't belong but
they are very hard to classify. Try this page for a species guide:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/1972/bgpage
Orb weavers (Araneidae) are
often brightly coloured with
rounded abdomens, some with
peculiarly angled humps or
spines. However, there is
considerable variation in size,
colour and shape in this group.
They are often recognized for
building beautiful, large, round
webs, on which they rest, head
downward, waiting for prey.
The webs consist of a number
of radiating threads crossed by
two spirals. The inner spiral
begins in the centre, winds
outward, and is made of smooth
threads like the radiating
threads. It covers only the
central 1/3 of the web. The outer spiral begins at the edges
and winds inward. It is made of more elastic, sticky threads, coated with a liquid substance.
One of the largest and most commonly encountered members of this group is Argiope aurantia, the yellow garden spider
and we have photos of them on their own page.
Garden Orb Weavers are NOT dangerous (but can bite as can most
spiders) and rid your garden of many unwanted insects. They only
live for one season and die off as Winter approaches, leaving their
egg sacs behind to hatch out next Spring. Please select a section below. Here's a short video (3Mb) sent in by
Aaron Knapp.
Click here.
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