Wild Facts About The Zipper Spider
Meet The Zipper Spider
Have you ever walked through a garden and spotted a big spider web with a large yellow and black spider in the middle? If so, you’ve probably seen the Zipper Spider.
These spiders are beautiful, helpful, and fascinating creatures that are common in many parts of the eastern United States.
Let’s take a closer look at how to identify them, where they live, and why they’re good to have around.
How To Identify A Zipper Spider
Zipper Spiders are sexually dimorphic, which means males and females look different—not just in color but also in size.
Female Zipper Spiders are large. They can grow up to 1.1 inches (2.8 cm) in total body length. They have:
- A black cephalothorax (the front body section) covered in long, silvery-gray hairs, giving them a furry look.
- A black belly with a thin yellow line running down the middle.
- A large black abdomen with bright yellow or white blotches on top.
- Two to four pairs of yellow or white spots running down the center of their backs.
- Sides of the abdomen marked with yellow or white, giving a striped look.
- Underneath, they have a black belly with tiny yellow or white dots and red or orange spinnerets.
- Long legs that are orange or yellow near the body, turning black or black-and-white toward the tips.
Male Zipper Spiders, on the other hand, are much smaller—only about 0.3 inches (0.8 cm) long. They are less noticeable and less colorful than females. They have:
- Similar markings to the females, but in brown and tan instead of black and bright yellow.
- A thinner body overall.
- Long legs for their body size, mostly brown in color.
How To Find Zipper Spiders
Zipper Spiders are found throughout the United States, although they are less common in the western states.
In places like North Carolina, they build huge, obvious spider webs in humid, open areas like fields, gardens, and forest edges.
Zipper Spiders sit in the middle of their webs, head-down, with their legs stretched out in an “X” shape. Since the females are so large and brightly colored and hang suspended from the webs in mid-air, they are very easy to spot.
Impressive Webs For Very Impressive Spiders
Zipper Spiders are skilled web builders and spin very large webs. Their webs can be up to 2.5 feet (0.75 m) (Gaddy 2009).
The center of their web has an obvious, zigzag pattern made of thick silk. This pattern is called a stabilimentum. Scientists think the stabilimentum helps the spiders by:
- Hiding them from predators.
- Making the web stronger.
- Warning birds so they avoid flying through the web.
- Attracting insects by reflecting ultraviolet (UV) light (Rose 2022).
Zipper Spiders build their webs so that the web centers are about one meter above the ground. They spin large amounts of silk and spiral the strands around the web center. On average, a single spider winds 34 sticky spirals in the upper half of the web and 42 spirals in the lower half (Carrel and Deyrup 2019, https://doi.org/10.1653/024.102.0215).
Zipper Spiders: Powerful, Smart, And Tricky Besides
Zipper Spiders are powerful predators. Both males and females will eat anything they catch in their spider webs, as long as they can safely subdue the prey.
But the female Zipper Spiders are in a class by themselves as far as the variety of insects they prey upon. Because they are so big they can catch, kill, and eat large insects that are simply too over-sized and potentially dangerous for other, smaller spiders to tackle.
Large insects that are on the menu for female Zipper Spiders include:
- Dragonflies
- Robber Flies
- American Bird Grasshoppers (Schistocerca americana) (Carrel and Deyrup 2019, https://doi.org/10.1653/024.102.0215).
In fact, a study found that prey caught in their webs was, on average, 2.4 times heavier and 1.6 times longer than those caught by a related species, Argiope florida (Carrel and Deyrup 2019, https://doi.org/10.1653/024.102.0215).
Adult female Zipper Spiders can mimic the scent of female moths. They release a special chemical that tricks male moths into flying toward the web, thinking they’ve found a mate (Warren and Severns 2024, https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15010053).
Unfortunately for the moths, they collide with the spiders’ webs instead and end up caught in the sticky silk.
Why Zipper Spiders Matter
While they may look scary to some (and walking straight through one of their webs accidentally is definitely not for the faint of heart), Zipper Spiders are harmless to people and very helpful in gardens. They help control insect pests and are a key part of the ecosystem.
So next time you see one of these striking spiders resting in the center of a big, beautiful spiral web, take a moment to appreciate the artistry and impact of this fascinating creature.
Zipper Spider Classification
Zipper Spiders have many other common names, which is why knowing the scientific binomial name for this species is so helpful.
Other common names for Zipper Spiders include:
- Yellow Garden Spider
- Black and Yellow Garden Spider
- Black and Yellow Argiope
- Golden Garden Spider
- Writing Spider
- Zigzag 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 |
