Photo Essay: Mid-Winter Observations of a Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) Egg Sac

Abstract

Yellow Garden spiders (Argiope aurantia) are large and colorful, orb-weaving arachnids commonly seen here in Kansas. Their range actually includes most of North and Central America. The female body length is 2-3 cm (0.75-1.1 in), while the male is much smaller, less than 1/3 the size of the female (Fig. 1) Their early life cycle begins as hundreds of tiny spiderlings emerge in the spring after overwintering in a large egg sac. Most perish quickly through cannibalism, or predation, and the survivors remain inconspicuous for most of the summer as they feed and go through multiple molts. Around August, the large, showy females become more visible as they spin their webs in brushy areas, usually at the edge of a woodland. The attrition rates of these adult spiders is high, often evidenced as gapping holes in otherwise complete, but vacant webs.