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“The artist is a receptacle for the emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web".......Pablo Picasso
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 The Argiope aurantia is without a doubt one of the most hauntingly beautiful of garden creatures. If Picasso were to have painted a spider, she could have been his inspiration.
Her large size makes her one of the most intimidating spiders in North America. Although she looks imposing, she’s beneficial, non-aggressive, and non-poisonous. She graces our gardens with her unique beauty, and her voracious appetite for grasshoppers and other garden pests make her a welcome addition to most landscapes.
She is known by many common names: Black and Yellow Argiope, Yellow Garden Spider, Writing Spider, and Scribbler are just a few. The last two common names describe the decorative zig-zag she works into the center of her web.
Readers paying attention will note that I’m addressing her with a feminine descriptive. That is because all of the large, colorful spiders in these webs are ladies. She builds her web, and stakes out her claim to a section of the garden. The tiny male suitors come courting, only to have their one moment of passion, ultimately to become dinner. Occasionally, one may see a diminutive male clinging to a corner of the female’s web, waiting until she feels romantic, not knowing that he’s ultimately doomed. The female will then lay between 300 and 1400 eggs, and protect them with a tan covering shaped like a large marble, or ping-pong ball. She attaches it to a corner of her web and can have as many as three or four of these cases in a season. The spiderlings hatch in the fall, but will remain dormant in the protective case until spring. When they emerge, predators will hastily consume all but the quickest of the babies, so very few actually make it to maturity.
Technically, a spider is not an insect. The Argiope aurantia, along with all spiders, are of the Arachnida Class. She is of the Order Araneae , and the Family Araneidae . Spiders have eight legs, as opposed to the six that insects have. As a confirmed Arachnophobe, I tend to beat a hasty retreat when confronted with an eight-legged interloper, but I’ve made my peace with the Argiope’s, and have actually come to enjoy their presence in my garden.
A great number of gardeners have had the honor of having the Argiope aurantia take up residence in their plantings, as the many entries in BugFiles attest. She is easily one of the most photographed creatures in the whole database.
Her range is wide, and she can be found in many places and climates. From Southern Canada, throughout the lower Forty Eight, Mexico and Central America to Costa Rica, she lives in sunny gardens, city balconies, shady forests, urban lots and swampy wetlands. About the only areas where she’s hard to find, would be the Rocky Mountains, arid deserts, and the Canadian Great Basin. In climates where it does not freeze, she can even live several years, but as fall comes, and frosts occur further north, she only lives one year.
Many people have actually named these colorful gals, and helped them along by tossing them grasshoppers, stinkbugs or other garden pests. I’ve read blogs on the Web, (no pun intended) about Argiopes named Agatha, Isabel and Charlotte. Although the real "Charlotte" was not an Argiope aurantia, she was an Araneus cavaticus. The scribble down the center of the Argiope’s web may have contributed to the idea for the book. My Argiope’s are all named Cindy. Since childhood, I’ve had the honor of having a "Cindy" live in my garden each year. It makes no difference if I have one or twenty, they are all Cindys at my house.
People automatically assume that a creature that looks as threatening as the Argiope aurantia would surely be aggressive, or her bite would be deadly. They run immediately for the nearest weapon, and send her to an early demise. While she can bite, she rarely does, and the effect is no more uncomfortable than any other non-poisonous insect or creature. The area may be red and itchy for a week or so, but no lasting harm will result. When her web is threatened, she will sometimes bounce like she’s on a trampoline, which must be an attempt to scare off the potential intruder. If this tactic fails to achieve the desired retreat, she will turn coward, and scurry to a corner of her web, or under some foliage, until she deems it safe to return to her customary head down position in the center of her domain.
She’s a particular housekeeper, and tends her web with such care and diligence, that one could almost think she takes pride in her creation. She’s an artist who spins a new masterpiece every night, eating the old web in an ultimate act of sustainability.
Graceful and beautiful, the Argiope aurantia decorates my gardens. Her presence lets me know that my landscape is a living, breathing entity. "Cindy" brings balance and stability to her world, and by the same token, into mine as well. It is my hope, that gardeners who may have automatically considered her dangerous, will step back and reconsider. Colorful as a child’s crayon drawing, she almost glows with intensity.
Picasso would have approved.
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I come from a long line of Kentuckians who love the Good Earth. I love to learn about every living thing, and love to share what I've learned. Photography is one of my passions, and all of the images in my articles are my own.
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Subject: Salute to your Cindys....
Posted by Pyewacketcat54 (from Fort Worth, TX) on March 15, 2008 at 11:16 PM:Where I live before I bought my house,I had these,they are awesome.I miss my garden friends,I used to sit and watch,and bring people outto my yard to see them,most weren't impressed as I was.... thanks for the salute to your Cindys... Becki ...
Subject: Encouraging Argiope Aurantia
Posted by Lynne_ (from Silver Spring, MD) on November 17, 2007 at 1:59 PM:How do I get them to live in the crawlspace of my house near Ocean City MD. ... Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on November 17, 2007 at 6:04 PM: These are a garden spider that likes to be in sunny areas near plant material and growing things. They'll spin their webs where flying insects and grasshoppers are plentiful. I'm not sure that they would use a crawlspace as a habitat. ...
Subject: Thankyou Melody Rose..
Posted by lobelialady (from Cornwall
(Canada)) on October 31, 2007 at 9:21 AM:Bless all who love "the good earth".. I, too, have had Cindy (s) in my garden, they are shockingly large, but anything that brightly coloured is advertising it's supremacy. I have lots of wildlife in my backyard and I wonder does the spiders colouring serve to warn off birds? I am in an area where a lot of lawn spraying is done, (not in mine, however), and have been sorry to see that in the last two seasons I have not had an Argiope to watch. I think that some of the sprays contain miticides, and since mites are minute arachnids, I wonder if that is why I haven't seen any Argiope? Have you found any info on arachnid sensitivities? people go to such lengths to have their velvet lawns and never realize the wider effects of their pursuit. well..there it is...I scrolled down the page and theres a link about pest control... :'( ... Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on October 31, 2007 at 1:35 PM: My Cindys were in short supply this year. I only had one, and she didn't last all summer. I think the severe drought may have hurt them here. It was brutal in this area.
The miticide may have hurt yours. It makes sense. If people would stop trying to improve on nature and accept the diversity in the plant and insect populations, we'd all be better off. ...
Subject: They are lovely!
Posted by KyWoods (from Melbourne, KY) on October 31, 2007 at 12:26 AM:Yes, we have them, and I admire them and their webs! I had no idea they had that many offspring, and that they withstand our winters--amazing creatures. Thanks for the interesting info and pretty pictures. Next one I see, I will name "Cindy" in your honor. LOL ... Posted by Dyson (from Moneta, VA) on October 31, 2007 at 7:59 AM: When a friend showed up at the house, I told him on the way in the front door "don't mess with the spider web" referring to the enormous web spun between the front wall and the porch railing. The web is looking sad now and I believe the occupants have moved on so I will clean it out (no hurry) and wait for next springs arrival. ... Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on October 31, 2007 at 8:26 AM: They only live for more than one year where there is no frost. Unfortunately, we have freezing temps here in KY, so our gals only have a summer.
Lucky folks in south TX and south FL will be the only ones that have them longer. Sorry.
I loved doing this article, it almost wrote itself. I'll be doing more insect articles throughout the year, but I fear they won't be quite as poetic. She just inspired me. ... Posted by LouC (from Desoto, TX) on October 31, 2007 at 9:39 AM: We have them here but I didn't know much about them. Only that they are beneficials so I have left them alone. The zig-zag in the web is so unique. Great article that gives more understanding.
LouC ... Posted by randbponder (from Hornick, IA) on October 31, 2007 at 3:58 PM: I have never noticed that they ate their web. Since they seem to have it in the same place each day. But I do leave them be, as I have seen many a grasshopper meet his demise. Then too a large grasshopper can reek havoc with the web. and she will patiently make the necessary repairs. I do tend to work around them cautiously as all spiders make me feel creepy. I don't like getting bit by any eight legged critter. My sister in law had the unfortunate experience with a trap door spider. They had quite a go around with getting the wound to heal.
But knowing more about this little gal, I will make sure she will always have a place in my garden. ... Posted by Islandshari (from Kwajalein
(Marshall Islands)) on October 31, 2007 at 4:32 PM: Lovely article about one of Nature's beneficial spooks....and such timing...did you do that intentionally? ... Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on October 31, 2007 at 5:36 PM: Timing was all Dave... ... Posted by JanetS (from Braselton, GA) on October 31, 2007 at 10:33 PM: I had one earlier this season and she seems to have disappeared, but her TWO very large egg sacks are still hanging on...is there anyway to protect them, or are they best just left to nature? ... Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on November 1, 2007 at 8:11 AM: Just leave them be. They're perfectly fine where they are unless they are in danger from lawnmowers or other similar stuff.
It won't hurt anything for them to be out in the weather. ... Posted by JanetS (from Braselton, GA) on November 1, 2007 at 11:12 AM: No, they are not in that type of danger...I just didn't know if I should put them into a cage of some sort for them to hatch out...and maybe save some from being eaten...just a thought...lol ... Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on November 1, 2007 at 1:40 PM: I generally don't mess with nature unless it's a 'have to' case. As a rule, things left to the natural happenings tend to do just what is needed.
(I can't bring myself to actually hatch several hundred spiders voluntarily, regardless of how beautiful she is) ... Posted by KyWoods (from Melbourne, KY) on November 1, 2007 at 8:41 PM: Janet, you're as bad as I am--I'll bet you'd take in all the wildlife for the winter if you could, just like me! LOL, I guess we just have to trust that Mother Nature knows what's best in the big picture. Besides, you'd have to be running to the pet store buying crickets for those hundreds of little hungry spider mouths, all winter long...and if they escaped, well, let's not go there. LOL ... Posted by JanetS (from Braselton, GA) on November 2, 2007 at 10:59 AM: Well I was thinking more along of the lines of putting them into a "bug catcher" little cage and when they hatch letting them go in the garden..lol I guess it they are in the garden already then that would not give them much of a head start...I just hated to think that most of them do not make it because they get eaten...lol They are just so pretty!! I will show you pictures of the bags of eggs when I get home...I am not home at this time. I took pictures though and they are really cool. They remind me of Figs. ... Posted by cnswift (from San Diego, CA) on November 5, 2007 at 11:20 AM: That was a great addition to the newsletter! I really enjoyed the article and learned a lot about this beautiful spider. I actually have a photo of one I saw while I was on vacation, but didn't know anything about it until now. I just thought she was interesting and now I know that my fear of her was unjust. I'd post the photo, but it doesn't look like you can do that here - bummer.
Hope you're all having a great start to your week! Christina
... Posted by JanetS (from Braselton, GA) on November 5, 2007 at 11:36 AM: I was going to post a picture of the egg sacks, but I do not see that option on this thread...sorry. ... Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on November 5, 2007 at 12:19 PM: [HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]
You are invited to post your images here on her BugFiles page. Please check off your zip code too, so that we can keep track of where she has been seen. ... Posted by tswilb (from Latrobe, PA) on November 5, 2007 at 2:52 PM: Melody, thank you for writing about one of my favorite neighbors (at my house, her name is Genevieve). Genevieve lived at the corner of my porch for quite a while this summer. All of my human neighbors knew her name -- she had many visitors, and she graciously allowed many photos to be taken. I'm looking forward to seeing her descendants and relatives next year. Your article made me smile and got my week off to a good start. ... Posted by MsDepp (from Murfreesboro, TN) on November 5, 2007 at 9:13 PM: I have several this year, but can't remember a year I haven't seen them. My kids always called them writing spiders and were afraid of them. I always told them to leave alone they won't hurt you if you don't hurt them. ...
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