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!