Family: Araneidae, Orb Weavers view all from this family
Description Male 1/8-1/4" (4-5 mm), female 1/2-5/8" (12-16 mm). Silvery short hair on upper surface of female's cephalothorax and 1st abdominal segment. Most of abdomen black to brownish yellow with silver spots. Underneath also black to yellow-brown. Legs blackish brown to yellow with 2 pale bands and black hair.
Food Insects.
Web Spiraling orb with zigzag cross strands forming X-shaped mark at center, measuring to 32" (81 cm) across.
Life Cycle Female rests head down at center of orb web. Main spiral of sticky strands begins just beyond reach of outstretched legs. In autumn female attaches sac containing several hundred eggs to a leaf or branch just beyond orb web and dies. Spiderlings soon hatch and disperse, each spinning a new web every night after eating the old web. Spiderlings overwinter and resume spinning in spring. Few females survive to maturity, but many males survive, eventually spinning little orb webs in outlying parts of the webs made by prospective mates. The male twitches the web of female to learn when it is safe to approach. Male is often eaten by female.
Habitat Fields and gardens.
Range Southern Florida to southern California.
Discussion Primarily a spider found in tropical regions of the New World, this species is able to survive frost only when very young and seldom is found in the North.
Well there is a little bit about our neighbor... cool spider, eh?
