The other day I spotted a big black and yellow spider with its web just outside my parents patio and I was immediately interested, so I took some photographs and then totally forgot about it. A few days later when visiting my folks again, I saw it there and decided to feed it – yup, I caught some flies and gave it some lunch, it devoured the flies, I was really amazed! I’m cross that I didn’t take a video, perhaps next time.
Then, whilst fishing at UCT Dam, I spotted the same species near my tackle box and finally I decided to Google it and came up with the following..
The Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope australis) belongs to the Araneidae family.
The larger female has a yellow and black scalloped abdomen. The legs are thin and black striped. They support the spider to normally hang upside down with its two back and two front legs together. From a distance the spider appears to have four instead of eight legs. The head is silvery grey. The males are far smaller and quite insignificant in comparison.
These spiders are harmless to man.
They construct large wheel-like webs (orbs). As a diurnal species they continually repair their webs, using them for a number of days. The characteristic orb-web has two zig-zag bands of silk radiating outwards from the center to the corners of the web. These are known as the stabilimenta. Each stabilimentum functions to stabilize and strengthen the web. Some experiments have shown that its function is to advertise the presence of their web to birds allowing them to avoid the web. The webs, mainly stretched across bushes, are normally built within one metre of the ground.
The webs occupy the aerial passage amongst vegetation in the path of flying insects. The spider sits on the web waiting for prey to get trapped. As prey is caught, the spider cautiously approaches, wraps it in silk to immobilize it and kills it with a bite. The prey is then moved to the center of the web to be consumed.
The male is attracted by the scent of the female. When the female is eating, the male climbs down onto her abdomen and mates with her, then beats a hasty retreat to prevent her consuming him too!
The females lay eggs in heart-shaped egg sacs from May to June and these hatch in early Summer. Up to 9000 eggs can be produced. However only about 2% survive to maturity.
Information via take-a-hike.
Random post, but perhaps you’ve seen one in your garden and wondered what it was :) Always amazes me how the freakiest looking ones are the least dangerous!
Haha! Spider-feeder!
:)
Urgh! Spiders…*shudder* I HATE spiders – they’re all out to get me.
Suggest you invest in a decent camera/lens so as to be able to take some good shots
Hehe, I’m just glad to hear that it’s not a threat :)
@Ted – I can’t, I’m broke now!
For future reference you can contact SA’s very own spider guru, Dr. Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at the University of Pretoria. She can identify most things from a photo :)
You can see her profile here: http://www.up.ac.za/zoology/staff.php?person=158
Hi Tara, that’s very useful, thanks a million for sharing that, I’ll contact Ansie the next time I stumble across a spider or bug that creeps me out :)
Chris, that’s a nice blog post. Even though I handle snakes and had a boa for several years, I’m shit scared of spiders!!
I saw that exact type of spider several times and I always thought, “if that thing bites me, I’m screwed”.
In nature, the bright colours usually funtions as a defense mechanism to warn off other predator insects and animals, and says that they are toxic and “dangerous”. I find it odd that they are not. I’m also relieved though.
Thanks for the post!
Gallo
Hehe, my fear is cockroaches hey, those things seriously freak me out. Lol.. the one time, my fiance squashed one with her bare foot because I couldn’t even do it in a shoe – true story *blush*
Yar bro, for some reason it looks like a spider that would spit poison, duno why, just kept thinking that. It’s often the bright and colourful ones that aren’t dangerous because that’s what the colours are for, however, for those who aren’t as pimped, they get the BITE.
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Spiders are awesome! Orb spiders are spectacular! Did you see the golden orb while you were in Bots?
Hehe, they’re ok, I guess ;)
Nope, I didn’t! Only saw brown household spiders whilst there and a few others, but nothing that stood out to be honest..
Tara, i’m definitely going to use that contact.
Chris – They’re amazing. Build webs across roads with golden silk. You actually can’t imagine how awesome it looks when the sun rises over the web…
Wow, going to go and have a Google :)
Pretty sure that was a golden orb (though photo is not 100% clear.) Did it have what looked like two eyes on a black and yellow banded body?
Sorry did not see the second photo.. def not a golden orb
I recently found two in my garden! thank you for the information as we wondered if she now named”Charlotte” was posonous! she gets fed crickets for breakfast and she is absolutly gorgeous!
My pleasure Bessie! Glad I could assist :)