The Yellow Garden Spider

Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia).
Photo taken by blog author C.W. Roden on 11-11-2024.

Hello Y'all!

I'm a female Yellow Garden Spider, or Argiope aurantia. I'm a North American arachnid and largely active in the fall months. You can find me everywhere in North America from southern Canada to Central America.

Okay, I know I'm a big spider and I look really scary, but I'm very beneficial to the environment, especially to your flowers and gardens. I often build my large webs in areas near sunny fields away from the wind, or along the eaves of houses and storage buildings.

More often I like to spin my beautiful large silky webs in tall vegetation like those in your garden, but please don't worry! 

I may look poisonous with my beautiful black and yellow stripes, but my bite is not dangerous to humans.

I eat flies, mosquitos, wasps, aphids, and other harmful bugs. I stay outside and I'm largely active during the daytime. I'm not aggressive to humans, birds, or other animals. I'll even shake my large web at you to make it obvious if you get too close.

So now that y'all know that, please don't kill or hurt me, even if you don't like spiders. We may not be best friends, but I'll help out around your garden if you please let me stay there.