Yellow Garden Spider Argiope aurantia. Arachnid. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.

Complete Guide To The Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spider

ByChristine Species Guides

Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spider

Yellow Garden Spider Orb Weaver Images

How To Identify Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spiders

  • Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spiders are sexually dimorphic in both size and appearance.
    • Females are large spiders and grow up to 1.1 inches (2.8 cm) in total body length.
    • Males are much smaller and grow only to about 0.3 inches (0.8 cm).
  • Female Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spiders have:
    • Black cephalothoraxes covered in thick, long silvery-gray hairs that give them a furry appearance dorsally.
      • The ventral surface is black with a thin, yellow stripe down the mid-line.
    • Large black abdomens decorated with a series of yellow or white blotches on the dorsal side.
      • Two to four pairs of yellow or white spots run down the mid-line of their abdomens.
      • The sides have yellow or white markings that give the spiders a slightly striped appearance.
      • The ventral surface is black with pairs of small yellow or white spots in the central area with red or orange spinnerets.
    • Long legs that are orange or yellow near their bodies (femoral segment) and either solid black or banded black and white to the tips.
  • Male Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spiders are inconspicuous compared to females, both because of their smaller size and because of their coloration.
    • Male Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spiders have the same markings as the females but in shades of brown and tan instead of black and bright yellow or white.
    • Both body segments are smaller and thinner than those of females.
    • Their legs are also very long compared to their total body lengths but are mostly brown rather than the females’ high contrast black and orange legs.

Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spider Notes

  • Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spiders are found throughout the United States, although they are less abundant in the western part of the country.
  • In North Carolina, these spiders build their webs in humid, open areas throughout the state.
    • Individual spiders hang head-down from the web centers with their eight legs stretched into an X-shape along the web lines.
  • Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spiders spin large orb webs—up to 2.5 feet (0.75 m) (Gaddy 2009).
    • Web centers contain conspicuous, zigzag patterns of thick silk called “stabilimenta” (singular “stabilimentum”).
      • Stabilimenta may:
        • Camouflage the waiting spiders.
        • Strengthen and stabilize the web structure.
        • Increase visibility to birds, who could damage the webs by flying into them.
        • Attract insects to the web by absorbing ultraviolet light (Rose 2022).
      • Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spiders build their webs high enough to position their web centers (or “hubs”) a meter or so above the ground.
      • They wind 34 sticky spirals in the upper half or the web and 42 in the lower half, on average (Carrel and Deyrup 2019, https://doi.org/10.1653/024.102.0215).
  • Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spiders are powerful predators that successfully attack and consume large prey, including dragonflies, robber flies, and bird grasshoppers (Carrel and Deyrup 2019, https://doi.org/10.1653/024.102.0215).
  • Adult female Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spiders can tempt male moths of certain species into dangerous proximity by manufacturing and releasing chemicals that mimic the sex pheromones released by the female moths.
    • The scents trick the male moths into flying to meet what they believe to be potential female mates (Warren and Severns 2024).
    • But instead of finding the expected female moths, the poor male moths collide with the spiders’ sticky capture webs and meet their unfortunate demise.

Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spider Classification

  • The Yellow Garden Orb Weaver Spider is also known as:
    • Black and Yellow Garden Spider
    • Black and Yellow Argiope
    • Golden Garden Spider
    • Writing Spider
    • Zigzag Spider
    • Zipper Spider
    • Corn Spider
    • Steeler Spider
    • McKinley Spider (Rose 2022)

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Araneidae (Orb Weaver Spiders)

Genus

Argiope

Species

A. aurantia

Binomial Name

Argiope aurantia

author avatar
Christine
Christine is the creator and author of NowIWonder.com, a website dedicated to the animals and plants that share our world, and the science that helps us understand them. Inspired by lifelong exploration and learning, Christine loves to share her knowledge with others who want to connect with wild faces and wild spaces.
See Full Bio

Similar Posts